Dozens of City of Lethbridge employees reportedly laid off

Jun 29, 2021 | 10:12 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A “workforce adjustment” is underway at Lethbridge City Hall.

LNN was informed by a family member of a city employee that upwards of 61 workers were recently given their pink slips.

We reached out to the city for more details and received the following statement from the communications team.

“As directed by City Council, we are implementing an approved workforce adjustment initiative which will be reported out to the community at an upcoming City Council meeting.”

It was not confirmed which departments are being impacted or to what scale.

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The workforce adjustment is being made after a number of “Workforce Reduction Initiatives” were approved on November 16, 2020, introduced by Councillor Blaine Hyggen.

These include:

10% salary reduction for city council in 2021 – expected to save $77,300
0% wage increase for management non-union staff for 2021 – expected to save $513,000
Implement KPMG-identified workforce reductions over a three-year period using a combination of attrition and retirement – expected to save $5-million
50% reduction to mayor and council travel budget for 2021 – expected to save $56,000

The city was unable to say at which council meeting this matter will be discussed further as it has not yet been scheduled.

by David Opinko