Member helping member
LOWER MAINLAND MEMBERS directly impacted by the Campbell government’s health care privatization agenda now have another resource to help deal with being laid off - peer counsellors.
Fifteen HEU sisters and brothers have recently completed a comprehensive peer counselling training session that covered a number of relevant topics and included working with members who have already been laid off.
The condensed training equipped the peer counsellors to respond to members’ needs in a number of areas. During the week-long course, the PCs practiced basic counselling and interviewing skills, studied job search techniques, reviewed resume and cover letter writing styles and familiarized themselves with the Employment Insurance (EI) application form and the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) training fund form.
“We trained the peer counsellors because in the face of mass layoff, we’re not going to abandon our members,” says HEU spokesperson Zorica Bosancic. “Government and health employers have done nothing for skilled and experienced workers whose lives are being disrupted by privatization.”
Peer counsellors are available to meet throughout the Lower Mainland including some parts of the Fraser Valley. Member confidentiality is maintained at all times.
If you think that peer counsellors could be helpful at your work site, please contact the HEU Provincial Office for more information or to set up a meeting time at 604-438-5000 or toll-free at 1-800-663-5813. Just ask for the peer-counselling program.