February 21, 2005
Public Service bargaining meetings were held on January 17-19 and February 16-17. To date things have progressed slowly but several housekeeping items have been cleared off the table. Your bargaining committee will meet with the employer representatives on March 8-10 to continue the process.
At these upcoming meetings, we hope to start dealing with the substantive issues in order to see where they may be going. These issues include several proposals regarding job security and protections during these very difficult times of change. There are also various proposed changes to the contract language that will hopefully rectify some of the abuses that are being propagated by the employer.
Also of concern at this bargaining table are proposals by the employer that would actually result in some losses by the Union if they were conceded to. At this time, we don't believe that job action will be necessary however, that could all change as we get into the more substantive issues. We will keep you advised as we go forward.
As many may have heard in the news, a community psychiatric care worker was stabbed to death at Richmond Community Mental Health team. This was a very traumatic event for the workers over there as it struck home how vulnerable we all are.
People who work in mental health around B.C. are well aware of the potential for violence in their jobs. It is not uncommon for workers who have spent any time in this field to have a long list of war stories where they can list the various injuries that they have sustained over the years from patients or their families.
As caseloads increase and the government continues on their push to reduce costs no matter what the impacts we will see more of these situations arise unless people begin to say enough. Each worksite should have an Occupational Health and Safety Committee. If they don't then you should ensure that one is started. If you do have one, make sure that you know who your representatives are on that committee and pass on your safety concerns so that they can deal with them for you. Get involved and make sure that your concerns are brought forward and acted upon.
As may have been heard, the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) has been going through a major reorganization. One of the first changes that is in the works is the carving off of the Community Living portion of their mandate into a separate Authority. This new authority will be called Community Living B.C. (CLBC).
This will have a big impact on Willow Clinic which has now been moved to the old Burnaby In-Patient Unit site on Willingdon Avenue and renamed the Provincial Assessment Centre (PAC). PAC will become part of CLBC when the actual transition occurs and will thus leave the Public Service. At this time, it is not exactly clear as to whether this unit will fall under the Health Authorities or Community Social Services. Once a determination is made, we will need to sit down with the employer to lay out the terms by which the jobs are transferred to the new employer. We will keep you posted as we learn more.
Douglas McLaren
Director, Operations & Member Services
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