This article spoke volumes to me. And actually lifted my spirits. To think that I could be useful and feel productive during these times would be a gift. The comments made me realize that the organizations would have lots of issues with us grannies entering the picture. So I am going to search for a small community run organization that might need my skills. I might not make a big difference but perhaps I can make a small difference and stop feeling useless, defeated and hung out to dry. I am not done yet.
Volunteerism has fallen victim to lawyer led liability concerns.
To the person who said the administration bill to the FT staff is not worth the scratch, well get a volunteer to be the overall administrator of the volunteers! There are literally thousands of people with the experience required to organize, delegate, and control armies of staff.
Thank you Laura….so true there are lots of us very willing to help. I am tired of negative messaging it is time for positive action. Doom and gloom news creates defeatism and despair….we must stop it and start moving forward.
Laura is right of course. But imagine the fallout from demonstrating that a lot of protected unionized jobs can be performed by volunteers. Don't look behind the curtain, whatever you do!
It's not hard to imagine that unions could easily decide to oppose volunteers for entirely parochial reasons. They'll see the use of volunteers as allowing employers to get work done for free that would otherwise require paying another union member. They'd be correct to a certain extent, but holding out for more union members to do the work just ends up meaning there's nobody to do the work. They wouldn't even have to pitch it that way - just raise concerns about competency, legal liability, and safety.
Wonderful sentiments. Unfortunately, Big Labour owns all the work the author suggests be done and without Gil McGowan’s permission it’s unlikely to be allowed.
The thing about volunteering is that it needs to be organic to work well. Once you institutionalise it, it just becomes its own inefficient silo.
The problem isn't with the "bureaucracy and lawyers" the problem is with Canadian culture and it's entitlement mentality around government services, coupled with a cultural acceptance of avoiding personal responsibility and consequences of actions.
Thank you Laura. I totally agree with you. I'm not happy with what the naysayers are saying about unions and lawyers opposing this kind of volunteerism; it's true but it's one example of where we have created too many rules and laws that are still in effect during these exceptional times.
While I agree that as a nation over the course of the pandemic there has been something lacking in terms of rallying the community, this is an incredibly naive take on making a difference at this crucial moment in time. Organizing volunteers within a workplace is an enormous amount of work for staff. The expenditure in terms of staff time in not worth the sparse resources.
This article spoke volumes to me. And actually lifted my spirits. To think that I could be useful and feel productive during these times would be a gift. The comments made me realize that the organizations would have lots of issues with us grannies entering the picture. So I am going to search for a small community run organization that might need my skills. I might not make a big difference but perhaps I can make a small difference and stop feeling useless, defeated and hung out to dry. I am not done yet.
Volunteerism has fallen victim to lawyer led liability concerns.
To the person who said the administration bill to the FT staff is not worth the scratch, well get a volunteer to be the overall administrator of the volunteers! There are literally thousands of people with the experience required to organize, delegate, and control armies of staff.
Start thinking out of the box!!
Thank you Laura….so true there are lots of us very willing to help. I am tired of negative messaging it is time for positive action. Doom and gloom news creates defeatism and despair….we must stop it and start moving forward.
Great piece. Sharing. 😎
Laura is right of course. But imagine the fallout from demonstrating that a lot of protected unionized jobs can be performed by volunteers. Don't look behind the curtain, whatever you do!
Excellent Laura, excellent
It's not hard to imagine that unions could easily decide to oppose volunteers for entirely parochial reasons. They'll see the use of volunteers as allowing employers to get work done for free that would otherwise require paying another union member. They'd be correct to a certain extent, but holding out for more union members to do the work just ends up meaning there's nobody to do the work. They wouldn't even have to pitch it that way - just raise concerns about competency, legal liability, and safety.
Wonderful sentiments. Unfortunately, Big Labour owns all the work the author suggests be done and without Gil McGowan’s permission it’s unlikely to be allowed.
The thing about volunteering is that it needs to be organic to work well. Once you institutionalise it, it just becomes its own inefficient silo.
The problem isn't with the "bureaucracy and lawyers" the problem is with Canadian culture and it's entitlement mentality around government services, coupled with a cultural acceptance of avoiding personal responsibility and consequences of actions.
Thank you Laura. I totally agree with you. I'm not happy with what the naysayers are saying about unions and lawyers opposing this kind of volunteerism; it's true but it's one example of where we have created too many rules and laws that are still in effect during these exceptional times.
Well said, there is much that COULD be being done in schools, and elsewhere!
While I agree that as a nation over the course of the pandemic there has been something lacking in terms of rallying the community, this is an incredibly naive take on making a difference at this crucial moment in time. Organizing volunteers within a workplace is an enormous amount of work for staff. The expenditure in terms of staff time in not worth the sparse resources.