Chris Graham, Chair of the GVPL and member of the GVLRA (Phone 896-0451) finally returned my call. He says that the lockout is a direct consequence of the union’s illegal acts – according to him the Food for Fines initiative was not only illegal but also cost the library $80,000. He also had a lot to say about his Board not being able to protect the library’s assets unless they locked us all out.
But the most interesting thing he said was that the key decisions are being made by the GVLRA. The GVLRA’s main job is to ensure consistency across 20 different collective agreements, so they get to set the mandate for the Library Board. But all the GVLRA meetings happen behind closed doors. The public is not entitled to attend their meetings or make presentations or read the minutes of their meetings. Mr. Graham grudgingly admitted that there had been ‘maybe a couple of special meetings’ about the library lockout in addition to their regular monthly meetings. The sense I got was that the GVLRA operates in secret and is accountable to nobody. Certainly not to us ordinary residents of Greater Victoria.
I tried my best to get Mr. Graham to talk about arbitration – a fast, fair way to resolve the issues and unlock our library – but he told me he can’t comment on that. Apparently only Ted Daly, Chairman of the GVLRA and Mayor of North Saanich, can answer questions about the GVLRA. On the library closure notice, Ted Daley and the GVLRA negotiator, Ron Brunsdon, are both listed as the people to contact for more information. The Catch-22 is that nobody that I know has had their calls to either of them returned.
But one of you might get lucky. Here’s their contact information – you can at least leave a message. And, if you actually get to talk to one of them, please email us the details of your conversation at It's Our Library.
Contact information for Ted Daly, Chairman of the GVLRA is 479-4088, and for Ron Brunsdon, negotiator for the GVLRA is 386-6196
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1 comments:
This is the standard buck-passing that's going on these days. The library board decided to lock out library employees and patrons. The library board have the power to open the doors again.
As for the lockout being "a direct consequence of the union’s illegal acts", that's a gross distortion of the truth. Those so-called "illegal" actions had stopped two full weeks before the board made the decided to lock the doors.
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