The city is laying off about 170 positions and cancelling summer hiring of about 150 in response to the pandemic.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The City of Medicine Hat has laid off 170 workers – about 15 per cent of its workforce – and have deferred filling about that many summer positions as it wrestles with closures and budget stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the News has learned.
Municipal pools and recreational facilities, along with concert venues, the Esplanade Museum and other programs have been closed since mid-March, while other city buildings have restricted access to meet public health guidelines.
Most of the layoffs to date are considered temporary, and comprise part time and classifications considered ‘temporary” in contract language, administrators told the News, meaning they could be brought back as health restrictions are lifted.
But as the financial challenges created by the pandemic are determined, city services and staffing could be altered longer to the budget.
“We are in the process right now to determine what impact COVID is on our budget, and (bringing staff back) will be included on a mitigation plan for our budget to the end of the year,” said Dennis Egert, the city’s corporate services commissioner.
That could mean cancelling or scaling back programs in the fall, such as what happened with spring or summer swim lessons, decreasing transit hours, or other measures in the operations plan.
Egert described the planning as being in early stages,
In terms of providing services to the public, Egert said City Hall is attempting to conduct as much business as possible, but with less physical interaction and higher safety standards. “The City of Medicine Hat has taken the approach that it’s business as usual during an unusual time,” he said, pointing to online, teleconferencing, or directing resident queries via email rather than in-person meetings.
“Service are being delivered in a different way.”
The cuts to this point amount to about 15 per cent of the city’s permanent staff of about 1,200. As well, 150 positions that would be filled this year for seasonal workers, parks staff and programming will not be filled, said Egert, as the city has cancelled all events until Aug. 31 to comply with provincial health orders. Planners said this week they do not expect major facilities to reopen until some time after that point.
The city considers about 800 of its workers to do work deemed essential, meaning related to either utility distribution or public safety, such as the police or fire departments, or the municipal works department, which oversees the transportation network, storm sewers and the city’s emergency flood planning.
That also includes city’s gas and power production units, which is a category that Egert says skews comparisons to other municipalities.
This week, additional layoffs brought the City of Lethbridge’s total to 301 since late March.
The City of Calgary laid off 450 transit workers this week as part of a plan to reduce hours of operation and contain cost as ridership has dropped lost revenue.
Calgary had previously laid off about 10 per cent of its 3,600 person municipal workforce, a total that doesn’t include police, firefighters or utility workers, some of which are legally employed by municipally owned utility company, Enmax.
The Medicine Hat Public Library, with is a legally separate entity from the city, laid off “two-thirds” of its workforce in early April, according to a statement at the time. That could equate to as many as 35 positions.
