A game of control

Things have been relatively quiet so far.  The picketers didn't picket, spending much of the morning hanging out at a black SUV in front of the townhouses that seems to be their new headquarters, now that the rental van is gone.

They've left chalk messages for Artspace members on the sidewalks.

In front of the high rise, they left these.

Really?

Uh huh.


On the townhouse side, at the top of the ramp that goes down to the entrances below street level, they left this little present for us.

Really?  I always thought multiple choice answers were supposed to be the correct ones, not predetermined.

Ah.

Now, for us on the blog, we are not part of SAIL Inc.  This is not from the co-op.  We are Artspace members who are appalled by what is being done to our home, to us and to our friends and neighbours.  So we're not privy to any particular information that is not available to any other Artspace member, and are bound by the same privacy by-laws.

We don't know SAIL's decision, yet.  There's a proceedure for such things, and the first people entitled to know anything are the SAIL user members.  There will be no official announcement until Friday.

That's how things go when proceedure is followed properly.  Slowly.

AUPE, meanwhile, is using this time to take control.  They've got their statement on their website.  The Edmonton Journal dutifully published their position in record time.

Now, they are here, playing with chalk.

So what does this tell me?

It tells me that whatever the mediator recommended, AUPE knows that SAIL is unlikely to accept it.  So, by coming out here and leaving passive aggressive statements for Artspace members, telling us what we should be thinking and what we should be deciding (not that Artspace members have any say in SAIL decisions - they still can't wrap their head around the fact that Artspace and SAIL are two different organizations), they are setting themselves up to be the "good guys" and precondition Artspace members to view SAIL as the "bad guys."

Abuser Tactics Bingo, anyone?

Something AUPE manipulators are forgetting.

The board members are people we know and trust.  Our friends.  Our neighbours.  Their attempts to turn us against our boards (both Artspace board members and SAIL board members) is wasted.  They are the ones who have proved themselves untrustworthy.  They are the ones who have shown themselves to be aggressive, manipulative, abusive and worse.  On top of that, their actions have been so bizarrely counter-productive, many of us truly wonder at the level of intellect involved here.  Just how stupid do organizers have to be abuse the people whose support they actually need?

Based entirely on what the picketers are doing as we wait, I predict that things are going to get very messy for Artspace members on Friday, and that AUPE is going to try to blame SAIL for it, rather than accept responsibility for their own abusive behaviour towards a community that has nothing to do with their labour dispute.

Because it is really AUPE's labour dispute.

Not the care workers, who are allowing themselves to be used for AUPE's larger purpose.

It's not SAIL's dispute, because they can only work with what AHS gives them.  They have made offers that are within budget, which have dismissed out of hand by AUPE (not the care workers, who probably have no idea how badly they are being represented).

It's not Artspace member's dispute, because we just live here, and AUPE has decided to picket our homes rather than the place of employment.

This is all AUPE's game of power and control.

These latest messages to Artspace members?

These are just another part of the AUPE attempt to manipulate people and control the public narrative.

What it really is, however, is a warning.  A warning that, if SAIL doesn't do what they demand, all of Artspace is going to be punished for it.

And they will engage in escalated misconduct and abuse, just as they have threatened to previously.

What I would hope is that they would do the right thing.

Picket properly, according to labour board regulations.

Peacefully.

At the employer's place of business (I'm sure Artspace members would still be open to allowing them to picket on private property, at the SAIL office, like they're supposed to, even after all the abuse we've had to endure - though their real target seems to be AHS and government funding, so perhaps AUPE should be holding demonstrations at the legislature or at wherever AHS has its main office).

No unlawful acts (threats, use of noise as a weapon) or misconduct (incitement, intimidation, coercion, undue influence, provocation, infiltration).

Given what we've seen on the picket line and how AUPE has responded to it, I'm not about to hold my breath.