At the Vegreville Community Council Meeting on March 26, 2007 people talked about the following business:

Presentation on Employment

Shelia Jubenville presented to the group on employment. She works in the Alberta Government building across from the Co-op. It is open from 8:15 am – 12 pm and 1:00 – 4:30 pm. Anyone can come to the building to use the computers and check the job postings. If you need help finding a job you can call Shelia or Wanda at 632-8686. Special funding is available if you need special equipment to do the job.

Employment Problems and Solutions

Some of the problems people have with employment are:

• Low wages at some places that are below minimum wage, for example $1.50 per hour.
• People have trouble getting a raise, getting a job, having the right skills, and there are not enough jobs .
• Employers don’t want ‘handicapped workers’, employers say it is too risky to hire people with disabilities, employers don’t know about people with disabilities, and employers don’t know what supports in the workplace there are, for example, job coaches.
• Individuals are taken advantage of, for example, made to work too many hours.

Some of the solutions people arrived at were;

• Talk to the Rotary Club that meets every Monday.
• Talk to the person at VALID who make up the wages in their programs.
• Go on strike.
• Talk to Mr. Stelmach and/or Mr. Colemen the mayor.
• Talk to Labour Standards about the rules.
• Check out other recycling depots to find out how they work and how much they pay.
• More school options for people with disabilities.
• More education for employers.
• More training time to learn on the job, support on or off site with a job coach.
• Start your own business.
• Volunteer or work experience first to prove you can do the job.
• Have a luncheon to recognize employers who do hire people with disabilities.
• Invite Cold Lake Employment Program to speak at one of the meetings.
• Find someone to talk to if problems come up.
• Call FCSS to put name on casual job list.
• Donna will donate ¼ page to recognize employers or individuals who own their own business.

Next Meeting

The next meeting is April 30, 2007 at 7:00 pm.