One member's overview

A member gave permission for this portion of their documentation to be used.

AUPE declared and begin to lead a legal strike on May 7, 2014 and began picketing outside our homes.  Since that time this beautiful, kind cooperative community has experienced:

• AUPE organized picketers (including only a small number of our SAIL employees) delaying the transport vehicles carrying replacement workers by as long as 1 hour causing intentional disruption to the services.

• AUPE organized picketers formed their picket line in front of the Artspace Housing Cooperative which is the private home of the 30 SAIL service users, and 58 other families in the Artspace Housing Cooperative who having nothing to do with SAIL. Children going to school, people going to work as well as going in and out of the building with normal activities of daily living being heckled and traumatized by the picketers who gather at 05:30 in the morning and do not leave until the late evening.

• AUPE picketers intentionally making derogatory and morally repugnant remarks about the SAIL service users who can clearly hear the remarks from the windows of their homes. The service users now feel that they will never be in a position of being able to accept care from the striking employees again.

• On Thursday, May 15 AUPE gave 19 hours notice that the SAIL employees would return to work on Friday, May 16 at 07:00. There was no employee schedule in place to know what shifts would be covered for the long weekend and therefore SAIL had no choice but to refuse to permit the employees to return to work. AUPE intentionally created a completely unsafe and untenable situation which SAIL was forced to rectify by choosing to pay the SAIL employees not to return to work.

• Reciting offense poetry in a very loud voice that implies our replacements workers should kill their selves. (Ode to Scabs)

• Offering and giving ice cream to the children living in our neighbourhood without parent’s consent.

• AUPE organized picketers following replacement workers to their vehicles at an off-site location and posting pictures and messages on their cars.

• One of Artspace’s resident who serves on the SAIL board works downtown at the [place of employment] and rides her motorized wheelchair to work. One of the AUPE paid Employees (D___ M___) on the picket line has taken to following her to her place of employment. He has even gone so far as to catch up and pass her on the street and walk in front of her with a camera attached to his back to take pictures of her. He then turns to her and asks if she is following him. This is very upsetting for this Board member and she is concerned about what else this individual is capable of doing. The [place of employment] have been supportive of her and have put in place measures to watch out for him and have him removed from the building if he attempts to come in.

This is not a normal strike against an employer who makes widgets and everyone goes home at the end of the day. The services that have been withdrawn by our employees are essential and required so that the lives of those living there are not placed at risk.