At the request of BCGEU president Darryl Walker, a meeting was held this week with the Deputy Minister of the Ministry for Children and Family Development, Lesley Du Toit, to discuss the work environment at the Victoria Youth Custody Centre (VYCC). Also attending the meeting was Component 1 Chair Dean Purdy and BCGEU Staff Representative Mike Eso. Assistant Deputy Ministers Alan Markwart and Pat Doyle also attended.

The parties discussed the problems that continue to plague VYCC. Problems at the worksite were recently confirmed by the results of the Workplace Environmental Survey (WES) and were echoed by the VYCC staff during the recent cultural review, which confirmed that staff morale is a serious problem at the centre. The VYCC's WES of 39 score compares badly to the other two Provincial Youth Centres. Burnaby (BYCC) scored 54, and Prince George (PGYCC) received 64. The overall score for the public service is 68.

The union has held meetings with members and a committee was created to try and deal with the problems. Despite this, and several meetings of the labour/management Article 29 committee, little, if any, progress has been made.

"I was very pleased that the Deputy Minister took the time to meet with us about our concerns," said Walker, who has toured the facility and has met with the members. "I think the commitment and understanding of the staff and residents of the facility which the Deputy showed, will be helpful as we try to find solutions. The officials shared a willingness to work with the union on solving the problems at VYCC."

"We were able to raise the issues of concern we have about the worksite and have agreed to meet again with the senior leadership of the ministry," said Purdy. "Both parties have committed to working to effect change in order to turn the VYCC work environment around."

Further communications will be issued in the coming weeks.