Twenty years ago, the MGEU Resource Centre took its first call.
Deb Jamerson, who currently represents the Legal Component on the MGEU Board and was one of the first Resource Centre reps to go through six weeks of training on everything from pension and benefits, to health and safety, to collective bargaining was on the other end of the line. She laughs at the memory of her first “scripted” message.
Good morning, MGEU Resource Centre. Debbie Speaking...
CALLER: Resource Centre? What's that?
The MGEU has set up a new system for answering inquiries from our members. All calls come through the Resource Centre now, so we can provide more immediate assistance and information. If you tell me what you need, I should be able to help you out, or direct you to someone who can.
“From there, we didn’t look back,” she says. “It was a pilot project that just took off because it worked so well for members.”
Launched as a groundbreaking combination of new technologies and good old fashioned service, the Resource Centre’s central 1-866 number and e-mail address aimed to provide a ready and timely response to a wide variety of member inquiries.
“Our membership was growing in diversity province-wide,” said MGEU President Kyle Ross, “and our union was looking for ways to improve members’ access to their union as a day-to-day source of information and assistance. Staff reps were often out on-site in workplaces, or at the bargaining table, and striving to return messages, or trouble-shoot with members, in a timely manner. A central resource for members to contact was this really innovative alternative.”
Officially kicked-off at a media event on May 2, 2002, with congratulatory remarks from both the Premier and Minister of Labour, the MGEU Resource Centre –affectionately known as “The RC” for short – has continued to do just that, putting union info at members’ fingertips.
“In survey after survey through the years, our members continue to express their appreciation for Resource Centre staff,” Ross said. “There’s someone there at the other end of the line, or ready to respond to that email, which means members have ready access to information that affects them and can expect a prompt response.”
Over the years, the MGEU has worked with other unions throughout North America to help them launch their own Resource Centres.
“It really was a first of its kind,” Ross says. “For years, it’s been a labour case study at Harvard. But for our members and staff, it’s just the RC. It’s an efficient and effective way to keep us all connected on a daily basis.”