Imagine walking out of your home or apartment building
and having hostile people wave signs in your face. Imagine being in your kitchen
trying to make lunch and hearing bullhorns and profanity outside your window.
Imagine having to ask that strangers not yell at you and your children or take
their picture as you walk them to school.
That’s what the people living here at ARTSPACE have been
facing since May 7, 2014.
On
May 7, 2014, our community began to find out what it is like to face the actions
of the largest union in Alberta.
Psychological abuse and noise pollution were doled out
to all people who live here, their friends and family, and the few people who
work here every day for 42 days.
The last 58 days have been less abusive although the
replacement workers are being held up for longer periods of time and some
residents are still feeling targeted by union picketers.
Accusations have been made by the union that I am to
blame for this violence and disrespect for the people who live here because I
serve as President of the Board of Directors of Supports for Artspace
Independent Living Inc. (SAIL),
This union expects our Board to offer our employees a contract that would
put us out of business. Despite our
numerous efforts to explain and show the union our financial picture, they
refuse to accept our explanation.
Instead of working on creating a great benefit package
which the SAIL Board completely supported and was beginning to discuss when the
union stepped forward to organize our workers, we have spent the last two years
talking about wage numbers that we clearly cannot afford. Instead of talking about improving
working conditions and making this a great place to work, we have spent our time
being accused of “fudging the numbers.”
We
acknowledge that our employees had reason to see how a union could improve their
working conditions. We would have
wholeheartedly welcomed help from this union to do that. Instead, we were pitted against our
employees in a power struggle. SAIL
provides services that are very personal and trust based. Historically, 30 employees provided
services to 30 user members. This
is a small community where love and respect needs to be fostered not
destroyed.
As
SAIL does not have experience with labour relations, we hired a negotiator and
retained legal counsel. For a group
of volunteers, just trying to do the right thing for their community, this
became an overwhelming situation fast.
I’m proud of our Board for sticking through this and making sure we did
the right thing for everyone regardless of what the union was and is
proclaiming. I’m also extremely grateful to all the members of Artspace who have
supported us through this disturbing labour action.
We, the people who already struggle to get by in an
ablest world, are put in an impossible position. Rather than solving political issues in a
political arena, this union chooses to force a political decision onto a small
community organization that helps people live independent lives.
Our relationship with Alberta Union of Provincial
Employees (AUPE) has been one-sided from the beginning. Every time we have disclosed information
to them, they have used it to turn our employees against us rather than foster a
new and better relationship with them.
During the strike, they have done the same to Artspace members by
yelling, harassing and trying to turn people against the SAIL Board of
Directors. Even with the bullying and intimidation tactics, our community
remains strong and united.
AUPE has now promised to settle this issue by filing
endless complaints against us at the ALRB. We can only hope that the Alberta Labour
Relations Board recognizes that AUPE’s actions in this labour dispute have been
inhumane, uncivilized and inappropriate.
Sincerely,
Roxanne
Ulanicki
President,
SAIL Inc. Board of Directors
August 15,
2014
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