With layoffs looming at the end of the month, the Faculty Association of the College of New Caledonia failed to convince an arbitrator to order that breaks of six months or less must count toward an employee’s seniority.
College of New Caledonia (CNC) announced in April that the downturn in foreign student registrations means a $7.1 million revenue decline in the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Layoffs are necessary in order to balance the $92.6 million budget.
In a July 21 ruling, Arbitrator Mark Brown agreed with the union that the collective bargaining agreement with CNC “clearly uses ‘continuous employment’ as the measurement for seniority” — which includes a break in service of six months or less.
“The article is clear and unambiguous,” Brown wrote.
However, the union is legally barred from requiring CNC to change the seniority calculation.
In 2002, the parties agreed how to apply seniority for faculty layoffs. As such, Brown said he was “not persuaded by the union’s argument that the union was not aware,” because memos and other documents were sent or copied to union officials.
Seniority is length of service beginning from the date of becoming a regular employee. Time spent working on part-time or sessional contracts before that point is calculated differently, according to the CNC contract. The employer argued that breaks between such appointments do not count toward seniority.
“The past practice will prevail for the situation at hand,” Brown ruled. “Future situations like the case at hand will be governed by the union’s interpretation, unless the parties address the situation in collective bargaining.”
The contract says that, upon the association’s request, layoffs are referred to a committee to consider whether an employee can exercise seniority and instruct in other disciplines.
Affected employees are paid a month’s severance at the current rate for each year to a maximum seven months, an additional two months for those with 11 years seniority and an additional two months for employees with 15 years seniority.
