Dr Ballem, City Manager of the City of Vancouver, was invited to attend the 391 general meeting as an opportunity for members to meet her and share concerns regarding new directions in public service during the economic downturn.  CUPE 391 introduced themselves through the video starring Vancouver Public Library Workers.  This video was produced and directed by David Philip and Sloan Garrett to show the complexity of work done by library workers, and commissioned by CUPE National for the Canadian Library Association’s annual.  Formal introductions were made of the 391 executive members present.

Background
Dr Ballem shared some of her background and experience with reform, change management, working with stakeholders in the public sector, and her experience as a deputy minister of Health in British Columbia, which gave her a strong understanding of the strategic challenges associated with implementation of government’s agenda. Penny Ballem has been a consultant and a physician with nearly 30 years experience in the health sector as both a senior administrator and academic physician in internal medicine and haematology. She has a rich history of working in unionized environments, and understands the inner-workings of the labour movement.  Dr Ballem has high regard for unions.

Penny Ballem sees it as a privilege to be able to work with the Mayor and Council as the City Manager.  She has been given a mandate to “heal some of the wounds”, and to find ways to make the city function efficiently, within budget.  Dr.Ballem does not believe savings are achieved through layoffs.

Her approach to work is to be honest and transparent.  She understands that the funds the city operates with are the taxpayers’ monies, and they should be able to see where their taxes go.  She also wants to build mutual respect through continual dialogue.  One thing that she will be doing is engaging the management team on an evaluation of core services.  This is a “high level” discussion about the operations of the city.  This is not getting into the minutia of departments.

Dr. Ballem says that we may not always agree with each other but understands that we have common goals.  Council priorities of ending homelessness, finding new economies and Vancouver, as the greenest of green cities, will help to guide us.  She expressed interest and feels she has the ability to act on one of our member’s ideas regarding the library ability to better serve the homeless. 

The city manager did take several questions on the hiring freeze and acknowledged that it was a coarse instrument that is only designed as a bridge.  She sees it being as temporary as possible. Members spoke of the having to contend with the continuing and increased workload, poor morale and lack of evaluation of planning which resulted from recent reorganisation of Central Library’s service delivery.  The hiring freeze compounds these problems.  We urge members to send statistics of the vacant positions and hours not filled, and the any figures and/or descriptions of increased workload.  Dr. Ballem is a big believer in the facts/evidence and a business case.

This is the first time a city manager has expressed interest in getting to know library workers and the public we serve.  She is a big believer in libraries.  It will our job to help educate her about the value direct public service from the VPL staff that select, acquire, process and make access to VPL’s services and collections.

The membership thanked Dr. Ballem for her time and presentation and welcomes future encounters.

December 8, 2008 – Hired as City Manager

January 14th, 2009 The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) welcomed the City of Vancouver’s appointment of Dr. Penny Ballem to VANOC’s board of directors today.

February 12, 2009 – See Courier – “The decision by the IOC to exclude women’s ski jumping from the 2010 Winter Olympics is,” she explained in her usual direct manner, “an embarrassment for the city, if not the province and the entire country. Never mind the minor black eye a few Olympic nay-sayers may deliver with their protests; this deliberate omission by the IOC was a blatant act of discrimination for all the world to see.”

March 17, 2009 – Favourite Ballem quote when asked about her meeting with IOC President Jacques Rogge, “Guess what?  Our uterus won’t drop out when women ski jump”.  Our collective uteri applauded.

Memberships: Canada Health Infoway; Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

National co-chair of the Pan Canadian Public Health Surveillance Information System Project,

Awards: Gold medallist in graduating class in medicine at UBC.
Marion Powell award, Queen’s Jubilee Medal for public service and the Provincial Health Officers Award for her work in public health

from Peter and Alex’s notes

Remove the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act from the budget bill - Please send a letter to the Senate and get 10 of your friends to do the same. see http://petition.web.net/psac/node/27

The Senate has an opportunity to remove the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act from the Budget Implementation Act, without delaying the passage of the budget and economic stimulus measures contained in C-10. Send a letter to the members of the Senate National Finance Committee and to the Senators in your province urging them to support the removal of the PSECA from Bill C-10.  Don’t use the budget bill to eliminate pay equity

On February 6, the government tabled legislation that will radically change the rules governing pay equity in the federal public sector. The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act will remove the right of public sector workers to file pay equity complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and transform it into an issue that can be traded away at the bargaining table. This Act must be removed from Bill C-10, the Budget Implementation Act.

Pay Equity: The Federal government MUST take action!

Despite the fact that the Pay Equity Task Force recommended the adoption of a stand-alone proactive pay equity law, the federal government has done nothing.

1. Criminal Record Review Act -
Do NOT send in your application for a criminal record check under the CRRA until the arbitration is over.  We are going to arbitration to settle which positions are eligible for a check under this new policy for public libraries from the office of the Minister of Public Safety and Attorney General.  Under the Criminal Records Review Act, anyone who works with children or who has unsupervised access to children must submit to a Criminal Record Check.  The act helps protect children from individuals whose criminal record indicates they pose a risk of physical or sexual abuse.

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/criminal-records-review/

2. Please send any questions you have for Dr. Penny Ballem to ayoungberg@members.cupe.ca if you are unable to attend the meeting, are shy, or did not have an opportunity to voice your question.  We will be taking any questions that do not get answered at the meeting, so that Dr. Ballem can respond at a later date. 

READ THESE ARTICLES, THEN CONTACT YOUR MP - SEE MP LINK
The Federal Budget must NOT be passed with the Conservatives “Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act” language within the budget.  Read on why and act now.
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx

Globe and Mail February 2, 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090202.wequity02/BNStory/politics/

From CLC
The Conservative government proposes to radically change the rules governing pay equity in the federal public sector and it constitutes an attack on womens equality.

The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act - included as part of legislation accompanying the January 2009 federal budget - will remove the right of public sector workers to file complaints for pay equity with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The legislation provides for a $50,000 fine on any union that encourages or assists their own members in filing a pay equity complaint.

Workers will have to negotiate for pay equity at the bargaining table. Forcing workers to bargain for their human rights is not an appropriate way to ensure womens right to equal pay for work of equal value and is completely unacceptable.

The legislation disregards the recommendations of the Federal Pay Equity Task Force Report that called for proactive, inclusive, and timely legislation, which would ensure union involvement, and be supported by a new pay equity agency.

If the budget legislation passes, workers will lose the right to challenge gender-based wage gaps under Human Rights law. This provision will never survive a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This is a backlash against women’s equality and we have to organize against it.

General Meeting
The Job-share Committee that was struck following Brian Foley’s recommendations will be at the General Meeting to discuss the progress and process of creating job-share language that may be included in the Collective Agreement.  Job-sharing is part of the solution to lift women out of poverty through increased access to pensions and the ability continue to work while coping with child-care or elder-care.  Female-dominated workplaces also policies and bargaining language on universal daycare, job-sharing, converting auxiliary hours to part-time hours, pay equity and sexual harassment.  We have language on sexual harassment and are attempting to get better and more equitable job-share language. 

Classification Issues Committee

The Classification Issues Committee was also struck following Brian Foley’s recommendations.  Shortly after the election, The Employer informed us that it was time to start discussing a Job Evaluation plan, that we should have this bargaining before the next contract comes up for renewal.  Our committee, is, of course, embracing this opportunity to participate in the development of this plan and will keep you informed.

Hiring Freeze
The Union is asking the question, “how long”?  Our auxiliary workers and part-time workers are suffering from this policy through lack of shifts.  The Full-time employees have increased workload.  Female dominated workforces have far more auxiliary workers and part-timers than male dominated workforces.  This is another area where we are under attack and need improved contract language.  We sympathsize with the new municipal council’s difficulties with the operating budget shortfall due to fallout from globalisation and its market capitalists proponents operating without government regulations.  This is why we, CUPE 391 Vancouver Public Library Workers, have so far been patient as the the City wrestles with how best to present an operating budget that will enable the people of Vancouver to continue to benefit from the public service to which they are entitled.  CUPE 391 continues to deliver our mandate, which is to make sure that our public has equitable access to their historical and cultural collections and to provide direct public service by selecting, acquiring, processing and make accessing to VPL’s services and collections.  The Union is awaiting an answer on the above question and will post information on union and management meetings.

I recently attended the Your Pensions, Your Future session at Kitsilano.  This is the similar to the session that CUPE 391 was going to present at the now cancelled Staff Conference.  It is an excellent presentation for informing you how your pension statement works. 

I am on the CUPE BC Pensions Committee.  At a recent meeting I acquired a powerpoint presentation from BcIMC – British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, the crown corporation that invests your pension dollars for you.  I have asked Human Resources to link this report to the Staff Bulletin Board as it is inappropriate to have this information on the blog.  Here are some acronyms to add to your library workers lexicon.

Municipal Employees Pension Advisory Committee (MEPAC)
Some members and staff advisors to the CUPE BC Pension Committee attend MEPAC meetings three times a year. MEPAC is responsible to provide a forum for education/training and development of pension committee activists and potential union pension trustees. MEPAC provides input and a forum for debate for the Municipal Employees Pension Committee (MEPC) unions and for Municipal Pension Plan trustees. MEPAC is open to all unions who are certified under the Labour Code and have members contributing to the Municipal Pension Plan. Trustees attend as guests but do not have a vote unless they are delegates from their union. The MEPAC delegates from time to time provide recommendations on policy matters to the MEPC for their consideration.

Municipal Employees Pension Committee (MEPC)
The MEPC is the member plan partner in the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP) Joint Trust Agreement. The MEPC consists of 6 union organizations. The major unions are CUPE BC, the Health Services Division of CUPE (HEU), Health Sciences Association of BC (HSA), BC Nurses’ Union (BCNU), the British Columbia Federation of Police Officers, Professional Firefighters Association of BC, and the Council of Joint Organizations and Unions (COJOU) representing smaller unions. They meet as necessary each year. They are individuals who have the overall responsibility for monitoring the activities of the MPP, appointing the MEPC trustee as well as the retiree trustee. Usually, senior officers of these organizations are named by the organization as MEPC delegates.

bcIMC was established as a trust company under the Public Sector Pension Plans Act in November 1999 and became operational January 2000.  The Agency has a long history of providing investment management services to B.C. public sector pension plans:
• 1980s agency was part of Provincial Treasury
• 1994 Minister’s trust duties and responsibilities transferred to the Chief Investment Officer, which led to the Office of Chief Investment Officer (OCIO)
• Gives pension and other trust clients a greater role in the management of the agency (e.g., budget & resources)
• Joint trustee initiative of the statutory pension plans led to bcIMC’s establishment as a separately managed corporation
• Resolves perceived conflicts of interest between government policies/decisions and
• management of trust funds
•
bcIMChas the legal authority to provide funds management services from Public Sector Pension Plan Act.  Its specific mandate is determined by client/trustees (pension trustees) as operating at arms length from the government to avoid potential conflicts that can develop between government’s policy decisions and the management of public sector trust funds;
By legislation bcMIC’s client base is restricted to:
• British Columbia public sector pension plans
• Publicly administered trust funds
• British Columbia provincial government
• British Columbia government bodies

bcIMC’s Funds Management Services

bc MIC provides the following service for the Municipa Pension Fund: tactical asset allocation, risk management, securities trading, security selection, credit review and analysis, cash management, economic and market analysis, and securities settlement