BCGEU meets with Minister Cadieux

Representatives of the BCGEU met this morning with Stephanie Cadieux, the Minister of Social Development, and her senior staff.

Attending the meeting were Darryl Walker (BCGEU President), James Cavalluzzo (Component 3 Chair), Doug Kinna (Component 6 Chair) and Sandi McLean (Component 12 Chair).

“This was an opportunity for the BCGEU to raise issues of concern to our members and the important services they provide to the general public,” says Darryl Walker.

Discussion focused on three main issues:

1. CLBC - The Minister was asked to consider increased funding to the sector, the establishment of an independent review of CLBC, and the creation of an independent advocate for adults with developmental disabilities. “We reiterated with the Minister what her government has to do to address the crisis in the community living sector,” says Walker.
2. Employment Assistance Workers - There is already a serious problem recruiting and retaining EAW’s and the situation is likely to get worse. EAW’s in B.C. are among the lowest paid in the country. “Administration staffing levels are also too low to support the work of EAW’s, which means these workers are doing administrative support work when they should be assisting clients,” Walker says.
3. Contracting Out - Concerns were raised about the increasing trend of government contracting out of information systems work. The most recent example is the Integrated Case Management system, which was contracted to Deloitte Touche which sent some of the work to a subsidiary based in India. BCGEU members who are using this system are already reporting serious problems, which are slowing work by 10-20 per cent. The Minister was asked to review the outsourcing of ICM and provide assurances that priority for government contracts is given to government workers or B.C. companies. “At a time when our province is experiencing high rates of unemployment it is unacceptable that this work is going overseas,” Walker added.

 “We will continue to raise these issues with the Minister and will continue to press the government to work cooperatively with BCGEU to resolve these issues,” Walker concluded.