The Martlet

During the strike by workers in the Student Union Building, there was no shortage of ideas for how to increase profits in the building to pay for a wage increase for workers.

Now, with the dispute settled and most workers earning an extra 70 cents per hour, the UVic Student Society has created a temporary committee to analyze the suggestions and create a report for the society.

“We are going into deficit this year, but there are lots of ideas out there to help our profits, and we don’t just want those [ideas] to fizzle out,” said Director-at-Large Geordon Omand, who proposed the SUB committee and was elected to chair it during a UVSS board meeting on Nov. 17.

Many revenue-generating ideas were posted on Facebook groups during the strike, from re-branding Vertigo as an alcohol-free alternative for younger students, to playing more popular mainstream movies at Cinecenta.

As well, some made the suggestion of restructuring the society to save money by reducing senior positions, cutting its costly ties with the Canadian Federation of Students, or cutting down the number of cross-country conferences board members attend.

Director of Finance Tracy Ho stressed that many of the ideas put forward by students weren’t feasible.

“Managing expectations is essential. We need to stress to people on the committee that putting forward ideas isn’t a guarantee they will be implemented,” Ho said.

She also expressed concern with the increased workload that would be created by researching the ideas of the committee, noting that in her experience people are more willing to generate ideas than actually look into how they might work in practice.

Much of the grunt work of the committee, she predicted, would fall to her and the senior management. Still, Ho and the rest of the board voted unanimously in favour of forming the committee.

“It can’t hurt,” said UVSS chair Caitlin Meggs. “Nobody knows the SUB like the people who work there every day.”

In addition to workers, all students and managers will be welcomed on the committee. Omand said just having the open dialogue between senior management and others would help everybody understand how the SUB operates and why decisions are made.

“There is sometimes tension and misunderstandings about our finances that could be cleared up,” he said.

While students have always been invited to attend finance meetings, Omand thought having a committee dedicated solely to SUB operations would attract more people.

“This won’t be as dry as finance,” Omand said. “It’s about harnessing the ideas and the energy from the strike in a really positive way.”

Details about the committee, including meeting times, will be posted on the UVSS website.