Trying to figure it out

The last couple of posts have seen a lot of attention lately.  For those who are visiting this blog for the first time and checking out the videos, thank you for taking the time to check things out and seeing for yourself what has been happening here - and from the stats, people have been spending a LOT of time checking it out! For our many return visitors, thank you for your continued support. For the picketers, AUPE staffers and certain others that are also visiting regularly, I hope what you see here opens your eyes to the effects your actions are having on our community, and will make you rethink what you have been doing.

Because it's not working.

The last while has been relatively quiet.  The picketers have been showing up at about 5am.  People are still being awakened in the wee hours by loud talking and laughter.  The picketers then leave after a few hours, but return in the afternoon, in time to give the mail carrier a hard time as he tries to deliver our mail, camp out in front of the West raised bed garden, making it impossible for able-bodied pedestrians, never mind people with walkers or wheelchairs, to pass, forcing them to use the road.

They do their usual shtick of sucking up to one group of Artspace members while still verbally harassing others, in an obvious attempt to play Artspace members against each other.  There is still the occasional yelling, horn honking and the use of noise makers.

Under normal circumstances it would all be very juvenile and pathetic.

These are not normal circumstances.

They are still laying siege to our private homes.

They are still holding us hostage.

Some have questioned our use of terms like hostage to describe what is happening here.  Especially as the overt activity has toned down, as the spotlight has been shone on their abusive behaviour towards Artspace members and others.  We know that AUPE's "counsel" has mocked us for the use of the term terrorism in his attempts to invalidate how picketers actions make us feel.

Let's take a quick look at definitions, then.  Hostage means "1 a :  a person held by one party in a conflict as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement b :  a person taken by force to secure the taker's demands  2 :  one that is involuntarily controlled by an outside influence "

This is exactly what is happening to Artspace members.  The "force" is their physical presence around our homes, their abusive behaviour, and their targeting of individuals.  The conflict is the labour dispute between SAIL and AUPE.  The demands are for Artspace members, most of whom have nothing to do with the labour dispute, but also SAIL user members, to turn on the SAIL board and force them to give in to AUPE's demands, even though SAIL can't afford those demands. We are supposed to turn on our friends and neighbours - they've even gone so far as to suggest we evict our board members (showing a complete lack of human decency, never mind ignorance of how a co-op is run).   Plus, as they so loudly demanded of us, many Artspace members have talked to the SAIL board, as well as Artspace board members.  We are informed.  We know that SAIL simply can't meet their demands without eventually going bankrupt.  Since Artspace is NOT an institution or long term care facility, we understand that that means user members would lose the independence and personal autonomy SAIL is able to give them.  For those of us who are not SAIL user members, that remains important even for us.  After all, all it takes is an accident, a sudden stroke or heart attack, or just plain aging, and who knows; any one of us might suddenly find ourselves in the position of applying for SAIL's services.

What about terrorism?  That is defined as "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."

Again, what has been done here qualifies.  We, as a community, have been invaded, laid siege to, used as hostages, harassed, intimidated, etc. for months.  Terrorism isn't necessarily about violence, as we hear about so much in the news.  It's about the effect actions have on the targets.  It's not just about governments and politics, but can also be about domestic situations, or even between individuals.

What we're still trying to figure out is, why did AUPE choose to do what they did, and what are try trying to accomplish?

The why, as far as we have been able to determine in our conversations, seems to be; because they've done it before and gotten away with it.  Either their victims capitulated, or were worn down; I don't know.  However, a number of us had talked to the security guards while they were here, and we were told that they've never seen it as bad as what was being done to us, here in Artspace.

So why has Artspace been singled out?  It's not even about SAIL, because we know AUPE justifies their picketing of our private homes by refusing to accept that Artspace Inc and SAIL Inc are separate legal entities.  They have deliberately targeted people they know have nothing to do with the labour dispute.  People who have no say or control over SAIL's ability to meet their demands.

Why?

What are they trying to accomplish?

They can't be trying to save the jobs of the striking care workers; most already have other jobs - for some, working for SAIL was already their second job, even before the strike.  If SAIL is forced to meet their demands and goes under, they lose their jobs - the union even warned them of that possibility when they voted to go on strike.

Publicly, they blather on about dignity and respect, but those are intangibles.  Their demands are for money.

The SAIL model has a lot of potential.  After almost 25 years, it is a model that has proven to be beneficial.  Users get to have a level of independence and personal autonomy impossible in a care facility they would otherwise be forced to live in.  Health outcomes are better, which not only benefits the user members, but also AHS, as it means fewer care hours needed, less medication needed, few hospitalizations, etc., all of which saves AHS - and the taxpayers - money.  It's even better for the staff, because they get to stay in one location, rather than have to travel from place to place to provide these home care services.  Their workload is reduced, as is the time spent in travel. It's win-win-win.

Now, if the union had accepted SAIL's offers before, this strike would never have started.  Clearly, offers made within the SAIL budget were not acceptable.

Being a non-profit funded entirely by AHS, SAIL has no way to increase their revenue.  Yes, one can argue that AHS should increase funding for care, but that is an issue well beyond SAIL. That is a political issue for the provincial government to deal with, and that could take years.

SAIL - and AHS - can only work with what they have right now.

So what benefit is there to demand increases beyond the company's capability to pay?

What benefit is there to declare all of Artspace as a "facility" and target people who have no say in the labour dispute, rather than focus on the actual employer?

What benefit is there to engage in abusive behaviour at Artspace?

What benefit is there to turn down all of SAIL's in-budget offers, and drag the dispute on and on?

What are they really trying to accomplish, here?

Because what they really seem to be accomplishing is tarnishing their own image (granted, they didn't seem to have a very good image before this; something we would never have known if they hadn't done what they have to our community).

They have accomplished revealing to Artspace members what the picketing "care" staff are really like, resulting in our user members no longer wanting them to come into their private homes, out of fear for their own safety and level of care.

A side effect of their actions is that they have woken up a lot of Artspace members.

We have come to know our neighbours better than ever.

We have come to learn who among our neighbours can be trusted and relied on in the face of adversity.

We have grown closer and stronger as a community.

We have become more aware of just how easily our human rights can be overturned in favour of a powerful and wealthy organization - and we are appalled.

We have become more aware of what is really important, and what is worth fighting for.

Our right to live in peace in our home.

Our right to live independently, even when we need some help to do it.

Our right to control our own lives.

Our right to stand up to those who harass and abuse us.

Our right to speak out about what has been done to us and our community.

Whatever it is that AUPE is really trying to accomplish here, we still haven't been able to completely figure out, though they have certainly provided us with many ideas as to their real motivations.

Somehow, I don't think what they have really accomplished, through their own actions against the Artspace community, is what they intended.

  

THIS is worth fighting for.