April 12, 2014
BCGEU President Darryl Walker, senior staff and elected officials were in Victoria Thursday discussing members’ issues within three Ministries.
Walker and the BCGEU delegation met with MCFD Minister Stephanie Cadieux, MSDSI Minister Don McRae, and Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk to discuss members’ concerns in each respective ministry. Meetings were also held with opposition critics David Eby (Advanced Education) and Michelle Mungall (MSDSI).
MCFD/MSDSI:
President Walker raised workload, funding and staffing issues for MCFD/MSDSI staff, and worked together with Ministers Cadieux and McRae to identify potential solutions moving forward.
The union signed off on the terms of reference for the joint MCFD-BCGEU working group as mandated by BC’s Representative for Children and Youth. The working group was established to address staffing and workload issues within the Ministry.
“By speaking with Ministers Cadieux and McRae, we were able to express our members’ frustrations, and to lobby for our members’ rights and their working conditions,” says Darryl Walker. “We are looking forward to the Ministries’ commitment to work with us – this is a positive step forward.”
Advanced Education:
The primary aim of the meeting with Minister Virk was to highlight our concerns about the cuts to post-secondary funding, ITA (Industry Training Authority)/trades training and ESL funding.
The union requested that the Minister advocate within cabinet and in public for greater investment in post-secondary education in BC. Instead, the Minister discussed finding efficiencies in the system and was somewhat dismissive our of members’ concerns.
NT4