http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0127137
data provider: CONTENTdm
is referenced by: http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch
is part of: University Publications
issued: 2015-08-27
issued: 1985-10-01
aggregated CHO: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/Ubysseynews/items/1.0127137/source.json
format: application/pdf
note: THE UBYSSEY Vol. LXVIII, No. 7 Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, October 1,1985 ®<*5Sgb6> 228-2301 Efficiency survey angers unions By STEPHEN WISENTHAL An efficiency review by American firm Ritchie and Associates covering most of the non-academic activities at UBC has probably already cost over $1.5 million, according to a Canadian University Employees union official at UBC. Ted Byrne, CUE union coordinator, said he learned from a UBC finance office source the firm, which has been studying UBC campus for six months to find ways to cut costs, had already been paid $1.4 million a month ago. He said the lack of information and potential layoffs associated with the survey were of great concern at a union meeting last Thurs day attended by 200 members. "We discussed the possibility of work to rule as a reaction," said Byrne. "The meeting was very much in favour of that kind of response." A Sept. 16 memo from UBC acting administration president Robert Smith to the university community about the activities of the company said "Ritchie's fees are a fixed amount" but added "the contract also specifies that Ritchie guarantees the University will recoup in the first year following system installation, annualized savings at least equal to their fees. Byrne questioned this guarantee, referring to a Sept. 23 statement by Jeff Rose, Canadian Union of Public Employees national president which asked if the firm is "being paid fees based partly on the savings they recommend." "If so what guarantee is there that Ritchie and Associates will behave with professional detatchment in assessing potential areas of savings, instead of as bounty hunters?" asked Rose. Byrne said if the university spends $2-3 million on the firm's services, which he expects, the savings will probably come in layoffs. He added the university should have looked to its own management resources including UBC's large commerce faculty for the study. "This didn't need a large American company," he said. CUE president Kitty Byrn…
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