Hi CUPE 402-02,
All staff, including casuals and clerks, will continue to be paid for scheduled shifts, and I encourage you to communicate regularly with your managers. If you do not have email access from home, take the initiative to reach out to your managers.
We are here to support you in any way we can. Please continue to forward your questions and concerns to us through email, phone or text.
Stay safe everyone
In Solidarity
Denise, Eileen, Raqiya, Jan, Sandra, and Colin.
The following is a message from Surinder
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your ongoing commitment and patience during these times of great uncertainty. As I’m sure most of you are aware, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow locally and the responses of health authorities and all levels of government continues to escalate. With our Libraries closed to the public for the foreseeable future, and as COVID-19 cases grow in our communities, our efforts today have been to prioritize as many staff as possible to work from home. Our intent is to have 100% of our workforce working from home by Wednesday. If there is the occasional need to physically go to your work site beyond tomorrow, please speak to your manager.
Please also read today’s email from City Manager, Vincent Lalonde. As the City moves to planning for this pandemic, three levels of service have been established. Excerpt below:
- Level One – Business As Usual. This is our normal level of service, equal to how we operated prior to the pandemic.
- Level Two – Critical Business Functions. There are critical activities and processes that are required to meet the needs of our organization and satisfy regulations.
- Level Three – City Essential Services. These are critical activities that are necessary to preserve life, health and basic societal function.
While we have closed many of our recreational and cultural facilities, we are continuing to operate at Level One. We are regularly evaluating with the latest health notices, when it may be necessary to advance to Level Two. Should we need to advance to Level Two or Three, your Manager will be sharing more information with you on what a change in level of service will mean to you
The Library is currently operating at Level 1, with reduced service levels. We continue to respond to email questions, update our website/social media, and support online services. We have been working on many collection maintenance tasks in the branches and will continue to have work and training opportunities for all staff as you transition to work from home. Please see email sent by Kristen Andrews today with instructions and a ‘Working from Home Template’
All staff, including casuals and clerks, will continue to be paid for scheduled shifts, and I encourage you to communicate regularly with your managers. If you do not have email access from home, take the initiative to reach out to your managers.
At this time, the City is continuing to analyze the financial and operational impacts of closures and we will continue to keep you updated. As we’ve had a number of requests for Records of Employment (ROE), we are working on a process with the City to expedite that request for any casual staff or clerks, in order to apply for Employment Insurance. Please stay tuned – we hope to have more details tomorrow.
It’s going to be strange, and new for all of us. Please find ways to stay connected while practicing social distancing measures. Take care of yourselves, and each other. I am so impressed with everyone’s dedication and hard work during these past few days.
Thank you,
SURINDER BHOGAL | CHIEF LIBRARIAN – SURREY LIBRARIES
Tel: 604.598.7304 Email: sbhogal@surrey.ca
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Surrey Libraries recognizes that our work takes place on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the SEMYOME (Semiahmoo), q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nations and on the ancestral and traditional territory of the sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen) First Nation.