Another day in the siege

With all the recent publicity AUPE has been getting lately, they seem to have tried to reign in the picketers.

About the only thing we can really say is that they're being quieter about their harassment.

Here are a few things people submitted today.

This one was from fairly early in the morning.  While there is a tacit agreement that the picketers can go further into the parking lot to block the security vehicle without also blocking the road, there is no security vehicle in sight.  They're just hanging out, right next to the private property sign on the wall.

This video is from later in the morning.

The picketers are again on private property.  The back lane is partly on City land, partly on Artspace property, but the gravel area is all Artspace property - and no, they don't have permission to be there.

They left for their 4 hour lunch break shortly after that, so we never did find out what plans they had for the care worker they were talking about at the end of the video.

Except, they didn't quite leave.

One of our members had an accident today, and an ambulance was called (she was injured, but she's more or less okay, thankfully).  Another member met the paramedics to give them some information.  That's when it was noticed that they were being watched.

The woman heard talking directly to the person with the video camera was in the union's rental van, eating her lunch, and watching Artspace.

That's some dedication; she sacrificed her lunch period to sit in a van for hours, watching us.  It's not the first time she's sacrificed for the cause like this.

Too bad she's so dedicated to abusing people who live in Artspace.  Later in the afternoon, she verbally harassed a member for looking out her own window.  It seems AUPE picketers expect to be able to invade our community, trespass on our property, but no one living here is allowed to look out their windows while they are there.  They act as if they can do whatever they want, but we who live here as somehow expected to pretend like there's nothing wrong with what they are doing, or even to look at them.

Perhaps the most disturbing incident happened well away from Artspace.  One of our families tried going to a movie this evening.  While there, they were approached by none other than Captain Creeper.  From the statement submitted, it appears he actually stalked them.

Which brings up an interesting problem.

Artspace members, visiting friends and family, and our neighbours, have been targeted by AUPE picketers, including the picketing care staff, for some of the most horrendous abuse.

For the picketers, they come here for their shifts, then they get to go on with their lives and pretend like this is normal.

What happens when Artspace members are going about their daily lives and suddenly find themselves face-to-face with the people who have been abusing them here at home.  We have members who go to the Folk Fest. AUPE has volunteers there, including The Urinator.

Can you imagine standing in line at the grocery store, turning around and discovering the person who threatened to "take you out" is standing there?

Or the person who was heard yelling at you for daring to come out on your balcony just a few hours earlier?

Or walking/wheeling down the street, then crossing paths with someone who had blocked you in your vehicle, shouting insults and you, taunting you, harassing you, just hours before?

That is what we have to live with now.

The people who have invaded our homes are also people who go after us elsewhere, including online.

What AUPE is doing to us goes well beyond our homes.

We're not safe from them anywhere.