RE: LAYOFFS SHORTSIGHTED, ARGUES CHRISTIAN UNION

Canadian businesses, especially large corporations, are increasingly using layoffs with impunity to improve the bottom line. It's a strategy that is short sighted, mean spirited and unethical, according to a Christian Business Association and a Christian labor union.

There are better ways to deal with tough times, methods that actually create jobs and solidify a company's long-term outlook, they both argue.

The Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and the Canadian Christian Businesses Federation (CCBF) jointly held a conference in October outlining some of those "better ways." About 100 delegates - most of them from the labour union - gathered at CLAC's Mississauga, Ont. head office to share information about how downsizing is affecting them, and how business and labor can work together to reduce or avoid layoffs and generate new wealth in the process.

Cutting staff should always be the last resort, argues Ed Grootenboer, executive director of CLAC, a certified union that represents about 17,000 workers in the construction, retail, hospitality and public service sectors. Instead, employers and employees should have open, honest discussions about the real state of the business and what solutions can be found other than cutting the work force. Most of the time, layoffs can be avoided by simply rethinking how business is done and what business is done.

"Look within," Grootenboer suggests. "Ask yourself whether you're servicing your customers properly. If not, ask why. Perhaps you need to trim fat. Most of all, maybe you need to look at diversifying your business and discovering new market niches. That might mean a period of no profit or low income, but the long-term outlook of the company is strengthened."

Grootenboer's views are similar to those of Hans Vander Stoep, executive director of the CCBF, which represents 200 mostly small businesses in Southwestern Ontario. Vander Stoep is disturbed by what seems to be the corporate sector's use of layoffs as a quick fix to improve the financial picture. Businesses should aim to "keep as many people on the payroll" as they can, he argues. Once people lose their jobs they're out of the loop, they're not contributing to the economy and it's a lose-lose situation for everyone.

Layoffs should occur only when all other means have been exhausted, says Vander Stoep. Employees should be viewed as stockholders who deserve input into the direction of the company. That means opening the books. The idea is a tough sell, he acknowledges.

"The problem is communication. Sometimes you don't know how much to share and how to be even handed." Companies and employees must together explore expansion plans and root out inefficiencies.

The CCBF plans to launch an initiative with that in mind "We're setting up regular meetings of business leaders from various sectors who will critique each other's business and look at how it can be improved." Says Vander Stoep.

What happens when layoffs are on unavoidable? Employers have a responsibility to help displaced workers, argues Vander Stoep. "You must help them find other positions. You can use your various business contacts to help ex-employees find another job. Put together a good severance package, and help them with retraining."

Finding new markets, improving efficiencies and retraining staff ar some of the ways to avoid layoffs. Six years ago Tony Van Es, owner operator of a one-stop service station, restaurant, and trucking company in southern Ontario, was on the verge of laying off some his 50 employees as a sluggish economy and competition began to cut away at his business. He took a bold step. He invested $1.5 million and began to expand.

"I did some research, something we need to do a lot more of in this country. I looked at products that weren't readily available," says Van Es, guest speaker at the conference. He launched a business that handles permits for trucks carrying oversize loads. He also began selling a line of truck washing equipment that was high tech, portable and cost effective.

Van Es now employees 80 people, many of whom retrained themselves to cope with the new technology.

Alternatives to layoffs work best for small and medium sized businesses, where employers are much more connected with their staff and more likely to sacrifice short-term profit for long-term stability, the conference heard. As Christian business and labor leaders all acknowledge, the real test comes when those principles have to be applied to major corporations in which owners and shareholders are often well removed from the workers, and communication often means shouting across a bargaining table or chanting on a picket line.

by Dan Lessard as reported in Faith Today Jan.Feb. 1997