The president of CUPE Local 15 says the union is encouraging city and park board employees to take part in an employee engagement survey recently distributed to workers.

Paul Faoro said the union went so far as to post a message to its members on the CUPE 15 website encouraging them to participate. The survey was distributed by the city last month to gauge workers' opinions, not only regarding their jobs, but also the organization that employs them.

"This has never been done before, at least nothing as comprehensive as this," said Faoro. "I've reviewed the questions and have no problem with them. And when the city said they'd give the results to the unions, we decided that would be very valuable information to have as a way to gauge how the employees feel about their work."

The message from CUPE 15, which represents 2,500 city and park board employees, reads in part, "We believe this survey will provide the employer and our union with valuable information to improve your workplace, and your career with the City of Vancouver. The employer has agreed to provide the full results of the Employee Engagement Survey to CUPE 15."

The 14-page survey includes 68 statements or questions, as well as one page dedicated to persons with a disability, members of a visible minority or aboriginal people. Survey statements or questions included range from "I believe I am fairly paid for the work I do," to "My work is free of harassment," to "The amount of stress in my job is a real problem," and "Often decisions made at a higher level would be more effective if made at a lower level."

The survey asks employees to rate their answers on a scale of one to five, with descriptions such as strongly agree to strongly disagree, very good to very poor, and very effective to very ineffective. Faoro notes the union is especially interested in the responses to questions regarding health and safety.

The survey is anonymous for those who choose not to give their name, but those who do identify themselves to the group conducting the survey are eligible to win $50 gift certificates to stores and restaurants. The cover letter from Hay Group that accompanies the survey explains no one from the city will have access to the employee's individual responses.

Faoro said as far as he knows all of the unions representing city workers support the survey.

Gord Ditchburn, president of CUPE Local 18, which represents employees of Vancouver Fire and Rescue, agrees the survey is a positive step in city employee/employer relations.

"We've encouraged our employees to complete it," said Ditchburn. "The good thing about this survey is, it looks like [the city] is actually going to listen this time."

Ditchburn sees the survey as an effort by the city to reach out to employees and get their honest thoughts on their jobs and employers.

"And hopefully our workers will reach back," said Ditchburn. "If they complete the survey at least the employers will know how they feel."

City employees have until Sept. 24 to complete the survey, which was distributed to workers at the city, park board, Vancouver Public Library and Vancouver Fire and Rescue.

sthomas@vancourier.com

Twitter@sthomas10