The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) officially began operating remotely on Wednesday, March 18, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CCSS executive director Michel Turcotte says the CCSS is conducting most services—such as dealing with questions regarding health and dental insurance—over the phone or by email. But services that can’t be done remotely—for example, the food bank and Walk Safer—have been shut down, with employees still getting paid.
“The Camosun College Student Society is continuing to pay all of its employees,” says Turcotte. “Both regular and student employees, currently. In terms of student employees, they’re being paid until the end of what would be their traditional work period.”
At the University of Victoria, the University of Victoria Students’ Society has temporarily laid off some of its part-time student employees and salaried union workers, according to a story published in Martlet last week. Turcotte says it would go against the CCSS’ values to lay off staff when they have money to keep them employed.
“I think it would be contrary to the values of the Camosun College Student Society—and most student societies in general—to be laying their staff off at this time if they have sufficient money on hand to make up that difference,” says Turcotte.
Turcotte says it makes him feel sad when any business or non-profit that has the means to continue paying their employees lays them off in order to save money.
“Most employers save for a rainy day,” he says. “This is certainly a rainy day, and this is the time to step up and support your employees and your communities; to not do that, I think, is reprehensible if you have the means to do it.”
Turcotte says the CCSS’ emergency food bank is currently inaccessible to students because the CCSS doesn’t have control over locked-down buildings at the college.
“The food bank is, unfortunately, in our offices, so when our offices are closed, that’s inaccessible,” says Turcotte. “We had to balance access for those sorts of services off against the concern for the well-being of our staff.”
Over the last month, says Turcotte, the CCSS has been working to put these support mechanisms in place to better allow the CCSS to function remotely.
“We sort of saw this coming,” says Turcotte.
General inquiries can be sent to ccss@camosunstudent.org, while health and dental questions can be directed to ccssplan@camosun.ca.