Public Employee Summer 2020 - Special Edition

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE SPECIAL EDITION

CUPE MEMBERS CONFRONT COVID-19

PULLOUT POSTER: FIGHTING RACISM

SUMMER 2020

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LEADING US

PAUL FAORO AND TREVOR DAVIES

Stronger, safer, and kinder together considerable change and uncertainty as schools were closed Welcome to this special COVID-19 edition of Public Employee. We and then successfully re-opened. Unfortunately we saw layoffs wanted to produce an issue of the magazine that reflects both the in the municipal and library sectors, but we’re pleased to see unique moment in history when a global pandemic changed how many services coming back online. Our community social services we live, work, and socialize, and the awakening of broader society members gained recognition as essential workers, while members to the long history of systemic racism and discrimination — an in post-secondary played a big part in helping students adapt to awakening prompted by shocking video images of the murder of remote learning environments. And while our members in airlines George Floyd. The world has changed forever. were badly hit by industry-wide layoffs, government stepped in to Whether you’ve continued working from your workplace or rescind layoffs for our transit members at SkyTrain and the Coast remotely, have been temporarily laid off or otherwise forced to stay Mountain Bus Company. home and self-isolate to “flatten the curve,” you all have a story to CUPE BC has continued our purpose of supporting tell about COVID-19, and we’ve shared some of locals and members by developing campaigns to them here. We’ve also included a special feature This special edition support the safe re-opening of worksites to ensure that about the importance of anti-racism, with a poster of Public Employee CUPE members have the confidence to return to work insert and information on how and why CUPE is dedicated to our and continue providing the services that are critical members can take action to fight racism. members’ experiences to our communities. We know public services are Our first priority throughout this pandemic often taken for granted, but it’s during these difficult of COVID-19, and our has been to support CUPE locals to ensure our times that we realize just how vital your work is to members are safe and their collective agreement fight against racism. maintaining a safe and just society. rights upheld. We’ve also worked with locals to While work has changed, we’ve also had to manage new stresses help them communicate with their membership at a time when at home. Self isolation has eliminated critical social circles, forcing in-person meetings aren’t possible. No one really yet knows what many of us to become educators for our children while missing the the “new normal” is going to be over the coming months and life-changing moments of our extended family and friends. years. Here in B.C., though, we’ve collectively done an amazing You may have seen the ad campaign we launched this past job in flattening the curve under the guidance and direction Spring.

Featuring the song “We’re All In This Together” by Sam of our steadfast Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, Roberts, the ads talked about how important and vital public and Health Minister Adrian Dix. Regardless of partisan politics, services are — especially during the kind of crisis we’re going there’s no question that Premier John Horgan and this provincial through. From the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of the government are doing a great job navigating our way through this entire CUPE BC Executive Board, we thank all of our members for unprecedented state of emergency. standing strong and continuing our fight for equality.

All sectors and public services have been deeply affected by the And of course, in the words of Dr. Henry: let’s continue to be kind, pandemic. While our paramedics and 9-1-1 dispatchers continued be calm, and be safe. doing their vital life-saving work, CUPE community health members helped contain the pandemic and stay informed of changing information to update the public. Our K–12 members dealt with

In solidarity,

Paul and Trevor

EMERGENCY SERVICES

SPECIAL EDITION

AMBULANCE PARAMEDICS

Putting aside our fears to serve the public As the front of the front line in the fight against COVID-19, ambulance paramedics and dispatchers have put themselves at risk more than most in the course of a day’s work. Many have paid for their dedication with off-the-charts workload stress and mental health challenges. But these emergency response workers have also been moved by the public support they’ve received; their tireless efforts and courage are an inspiration to all British Columbians.

“By late March, 75 per cent of calls to 9-1-1 ambulance dispatch were related to suspicions of Troy Clifford COVID-19 or other influenza-like symptoms,” recalls Ambulance Paramedics of BC (CUPE 873) President Troy Clifford.

“At one point we had to put out a notice reminding the public not to call 9-1-1 if emergency care or hospitalization weren’t required, but instead call the COVID hotline for a test or evaluation. People were scared, but we had enough real cases to deal with, along with other emergencies.”

In caring for COVID patients, ambulance paramedics had to suppress their own fears of exposure and transmission while following government and safety directives

to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) for all emergency calls. Putting on this gear takes time, extending the response period and adding greater stress to the paramedic crew — whose instinct is to begin medical treatment immediately. To prevent contamination of their other work areas, they had to change into and out of their PPE many times per shift.

House call procedure also changed: instead of walking in and sitting down with patients to treat them, paramedics now had to stand in the doorway, fully geared up, and assess the situation from three metres’ distance. On some calls, patients assessed with a genuine emergency refused transport to hospital out of fear of getting COVID. Add to this the number of patients in distress paramedics were dealing with, and it’s no surprise that CUPE 873 saw an exponential increase in the number of its members seeking mental health support.

The dedication of ambulance paramedics during COVID was typified by 59-year-old Vince Ford of Langley, who after 40 years of service had decided to let his license expire at the end of March. Instead, Ford heeded the call of duty when the government extended the licenses of about-to-retire paramedics, committing to stay on the active roster for as long as he’s needed.

These sacrifices did not go unnoticed.

Public gratitude for B.C.’s ambulance

paramedics and dispatchers, which began with the 7 p.m. applause for front-line workers, also included gifts of home baking, drop-offs of fast food treats, or whole dinners at ambulance stations, “art bombing” of stations, and even a massive GoFundMe collection for a paramedic whose equipment had been stolen.

The whole experience has reminded B.C.’s ambulance paramedics and dispatchers of how interdependent communities are.

“What people view as ‘essential’ has changed,” says Clifford. “All those vital services that help us maintain our everyday lives — from water, to grocery stores to truckers, all the people who allow us to do our job — are essential. We can’t do it without them, and that’s what we’ve learned from COVID.”

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SPECIAL EDITION

EMERGENCY SERVICES

MEMBER PROFILE: MEGAN LAWRENCE, CUPE 873

PPE: Overcoming the barriers VANCOUVER | CUPE 873 member Megan Lawrence recalls the first time she stepped out of an ambulance to walk into a patient’s home during a COVID-19 call: people in the neighbourhood were looking out their front windows, staring at her as if an alien from another planet had just landed.

Thanks to the mandatory use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by ambulance paramedics — including N95 mask, face shield, gown and gloves — the harsh reality of potential infection was now embodied in the very presence of the first responder herself.

“Adding the extra PPE to our calls has significantly changed how we speak and interact with patients,” says Lawrence, who serves as provincial public education director for the Ambulance Paramedics of BC and Emergency Dispatchers of BC. “Our elderly patients have a harder time hearing us, and our younger patients are afraid of us. So we’ve had to quickly adapt to overcome some of the new complications in how to treat certain patients — all while still keeping ourselves safe and providing the best patient care possible.”

Adding to this stress, says Lawrence, was knowing she would have to isolate herself from vulnerable and high-risk family members and friends due to the inherent risks and possible exposures from seeing patients on a daily basis.

The support of her husband — who’s also a paramedic — has been invaluable in helping her cope with this emotional challenge.

“What I have learned and seen from the pandemic is how truly connected we all are and the importance of staying connected with your friends and family,” she says. “How we need to tell those who matter to us most just how truly they matter when you’re away from them, and how much you miss them.”

EMERGENCY SERVICES

SPECIAL EDITION

9-1-1 DISPATCHERS

Inside the nerve centre of COVID crises With the arrival of COVID-19 in the spring, B.C.’s 9-1-1 operators and support staff suddenly had a stark new reality to contend with: as essential workers required to stay on the job, their stationary status in the E-Comm call centre made them all a potential risk to each other.

“With this job, you spend more time on a team working directly with 30 or 40 people on a regular basis than most other jobs,” notes Emergency Dispatchers of BC (CUPE 873-02) Unit Chair Donald Grant. “You probably spend more time with this group of people than anyone else, six feet apart for a 12-hour shift. So what if somebody coughs?”

Sharing the common goal of keeping everyone safe, says Grant, E-Comm worked collaboratively with CUPE 873-02 to address contact concerns.

“The company and our members really rose to the occasion,” he says. “Increasing social distancing, and holding additional training to make sure there was no weakness in the system, only ensured our resilience throughout the pandemic.”

Adjustments included keyboard covers Donald Grant for each worker, the removal of desk fans, more frequent and higher quality cleaning, an additional location for call takers, and technological changes to help increase call capacity while maintaining physical distancing.

Although call volumes in general dropped during COVID because fewer people were circulating outside, there was a spike in calls for break-ins and domestic violence.

“While the safest place for us to stop the spread of COVID-19 is in our homes,” says Grant, “those struggling with domestic abuse, child abuse, suicidal thoughts, and mental illness are isolated and, in some cases, stuck in close quarters with their abuser or their thoughts. The regular checks and balances are not there: school for children, work activities and normal routines for adults. All those situations were directly related to isolation from COVID.” With the opioid crisis happening at the same time, he notes, the challenges piled up for first responders.

“It was certainly not easy to deal with, but our members are resilient. We got people the help they need when they needed it.”

MEMBER PROFILE: LAKE RIPPELL, CUPE 873-02

A sounding board for human anxiety NEW WESTMINSTER | CUPE 873-02 member Lake Rippell has worked as a 9-1-1 operator at E-Comm for 20 years, so she knows all about pressure: her first shift as a dispatcher was on 9/11.

“Because we were in Richmond, a lot of flights were being rerouted to YVR. So we were dealing with a lot of calls. I was a bit shell shocked,” she says, recalling those first few hours after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Among other challenges that day, Rippell remembers fielding calls from airport officials who were struggling with logistical issues like rehousing people, locating schools to open their gyms as emergency shelters, and identifying security risks around passengers with criminal records.

The early days of COVID-19 posed a similar trial by fire for B.C.’s 9-1-1 call takers and emergency dispatchers.

“The biggest thing we faced was trying to mitigate the spread of the virus in our workplace because we can’t not work,” says Rippell, noting that separation of staff for physical distancing purposes is harder to achieve in a 9-1-1 call centre.

Another parallel between the shocking impacts of COVID-19 and 9/11, she says, has been the way that fear associated with these traumatic events amplified existing tensions in society. Both revealed how a certain segment of the population will always point fingers and attribute blame. In both cases, people perceived to be of a certain ethnic background became targets for racist revenge — each attack creating a new emergency out of the larger, global one.

“Any type of emergency animates the basic mindset of people,” she says. “They think they’re trying to protect themselves or solve a problem, but they’re creating something bigger when they do. This pandemic has required everyone to look at themselves and at their neighbours. The whole idea of being kind to each other is basic.”

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SPECIAL EDITION

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Adapting on the fly When B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, declared a public health emergency on March 17, many CUPE members in the Community Health sector had already experienced COVID-19 in their workplaces or with clientele. Once emergency measures were in place, these members responded heroically under increasingly stressful, pressure-filled and constantly shifting circumstances.

CUPE Community Health members were already stretched beyond acceptable limits when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. These workers, tasked with excessive workloads and increased complexity of care, were working in a system still suffering from decades of budget cuts due to BC Liberal and federal government mismanagement.

“With the health sector in the eye of the hurricane for COVID-19, we identified early on that our members would benefit from having sectorspecific resources available to address their concerns,” says CUPE 15’s Mia Nickel. “So our locals stepped up to the challenge, each appointing a COVID-19 point person to quickly become experts on the subject in order to field all pandemic-related questions from members.”

To make that work easier, the CUPE Health Care Presidents Council developed a new page for the Community Health website (bcchs.cupe.ca/ covid-19/) dedicated to COVID-19. As questions from concerned members came in, the local contacts were able to address them and — through Health sector coordinator Chris Losito — work with CUPE Communications to update member resources on the webpage while continuing to work on more complex issues.

“Our members’ response to the crisis has been outstanding,” says Nickel.

“While maintaining and excelling at the critical public services they always perform, they learned to adapt in so many ways — from setting up remote offices when asked to work from home to accepting redeployment and working long hours to conduct case and contact tracing, or to screen visitors for COVID-19 symptoms. Our members should all be proud of their outstanding efforts, as we on the COVID team certainly are.”

OUTREACH CUPE 15 member Ellie Schmidt, a registered dietitian in Vancouver, helped develop new ways to guarantee food access for Downtown Eastside residents during COVID-19.

MEMBER PROFILE: LINDSAY FUMALLE

COVID multitasker VICTORIA | Before March 11 this year, CUPE 1978 member Lindsay Fumalle was a part-time employee in name only.

As a social work case manager for the Vancouver Island Health Authority and part of a community resource team with home care strategy, Fumalle developed guidelines, practice standards, workflows, and curriculum while delivering education to support roughly 1,200 Community Health Services clinicians and managers across Vancouver Island.

With COVID-19 declared a pandemic, she had only four days to develop a new virtual care platform, create the clinician education plan and curriculum, and gather resources before starting education sessions.

“The pressure to create and deliver resources in a timely manner was huge,” says Fumalle. “The speed with which the information changed and was updated was so fast that as soon as our team published something on the internal network we were having to update the information again.”

Fumalle says she’s grateful that colleagues and employers have been mutually supportive during the pandemic. For months she worked at home from the computer on her kitchen table, juggling community health needs with those of her two elementary-age children — whose teachers had set up mandatory virtual meetings during the day.

“I have never had to multitask to this extreme before, but it’s been refreshing to see how understanding most people are,” she says. “During online sessions, people can actually see my kids running around behind me. Or I’ve been on a call with my manager, and she can hear them asking for more snacks. And it’s been okay.”

COMMUNITY HEALTH

SPECIAL EDITION

ON THE COVER / MEMBER PROFILE: NADIA WHITE COVID WARRIORS From top, CUPE 4816’s Lauren Garayt screens patients at her Burnaby clinic, a trio of CUPE 15 members visit their union’s “thank you” tent in Vancouver, and in Victoria, CUPE 1978’s Jade Yehia prepares to take a temperature while Dawn Moon makes a house call.

Putting the brakes on infection rates VANCOUVER | As an environmental health officer working in Health Protection for the City of Vancouver, CUPE 15 member Nadia White was ideally positioned to respond to COVID-19.

Charged with enforcing sections of the BC Public Health Act regulating public facilities, White spent her average pre‑COVID work day inspecting restaurants, personal service establishments, or swimming pools as well as shelters, daycare centres, care homes, or schools to ensure compliance with provincial standards.

COVID-19 changed the scope of her work because of the urgent need to respond to outbreaks. Assigned with colleagues to work closely with medical health officers, physician consultants and public health nurses from different parts of the City, White helped co-manage facility outbreaks while dealing with community-acquired cases of the coronavirus.

“We were contacting lab-confirmed, COVID-positive cases and tracing their close contacts to place them all in isolation,” she recalls.

“We were conducting daily symptom-monitoring calls for these people, to ensure their recovery was successful. We also had a team visiting facilities to help introduce infection control measures, and another team completing environmental swab tests to determine where the virus may be hiding on surfaces.”

For those first couple of months, the hours were long and the learning curve was steep.

“I went from having to focus on my own work and progress,” she says, “to leading a team of six members and trying to keep up with the spread and characteristics of the virus while teams, systems and workflows were created quickly and ever-changing.”

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SPECIAL EDITION

K–12 MEMBER PROFILE: CINDY O’HALLIGAN

Adjusting to the New Normal

STEPPING UP FOR CARE More than 200 members of CUPE 728 signed up to work in programs that provided care and educational support to children of essential services workers in Surrey.

Pictured is CUPE 728 Strong Start worker Randeep Brar.

Embracing change in K–12 COVID-19 has brought many challenges to members working in K–12, shining a light on the necessity of the services they provide. From maintaining clean schools to running programs that provide nutritious meals to students — and so much more — CUPE members have stepped up.

“Our members continue to demonstrate their commitment to students and the importance of public education,” says CUPE K–12 Presidents Council President Warren Williams, praising members’ work during the pandemic. “Thank you to K–12 members, who — while dealing with their own challenges around this pandemic — put students and vulnerable children in B.C. first.”

Members adapted to major changes in B.C. schools after spring break, including the return of daytime custodians. It was crucial to have custodians on site sanitizing schools during the day to keep them safe. Most districts brought back these positions, which had been cut due to BC Liberal government underfunding of public education. Support staff working in schools, and parents who brought their children in for childcare (and later for the return of in-class learning), appreciated the work of custodians sanitizing high-touch areas throughout the day.

Pre-COVID, many school kids relied on hot, nutritious meals. When in-class learning was suspended, that need extended to families throughout B.C. In many communities schools became food distribution centres, with CUPE members collecting, sorting, and distributing food to families. In April, Minister of Education Rob Fleming reported that 16,000 families were receiving food services through the school system.

The pandemic underscored the need for childcare services, highlighting a role that schools can play moving forward. CUPE members — including education assistants, early childhood educators, and others with Strong Start positions — provided care for children of essential workers including health care, first responders, and grocery workers. EAs took on the challenge of working with students remotely, learning new techniques and technologies to continue helping students thrive despite COVID-19.

All members embraced new ways of doing things to ensure that everyone coming into schools was safe. They gave input on what was needed and followed protocols so that, wherever possible, safe physical distancing could be maintained. CUPE members were also redeployed from their regular work to provide services such as delivering food or dropping off learning packages to family homes.

HOUSTON | CUPE 2145 member Cindy O’Halligan, a custodian in Houston (School District 54), is chief shop steward for her local and a member of her school’s Occupational Health and Safety Committee. Like many other CUPE members, she had to adapt her work routine in a hurry with the arrival of COVID-19.

Custodians no longer do dry dusting or dust mopping, she says, and now only vacuum when absolutely necessary. Instead, her work day became focused on the health, cleanliness and sanitizing of all touched surfaces — done multiple times throughout the day.

“We are maintaining the highest level of cleanliness and sanitation that we possibly can, in every corner,” says O’Halligan. “Most of our buildings have been done from top to bottom.”

O’Halligan says she enjoyed working day shift and being able to interact with students and staff. But every day has gotten a bit easier because “the New Normal is becoming the routine.”

Her biggest challenge has been calming fears about returning to the workplace. She assures students and staff alike that custodians are doing everything possible to keep everyone safe. O’Halligan believes that people will continue to be hyper-aware about health and sanitizing when the pandemic is over.

“Don’t let COVID become your sole focus and make you a bit bitter or just tired,” says O’Halligan. “Try to find the positive in it and go with the New Normal.”

K–12

SPECIAL EDITION

MEMBER PROFILE: SUSANNE BONNY

Making remote learning work for K–12 students MAPLE RIDGE | As one of three District Behaviour Team education assistant/peer mentors for School District 42 (Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows), and as an active member of her local, CUPE 703 VicePresident Susanne Bonny has had a busy pandemic.

The CUPE 703 executive has always been available to members by phone and e-mail. But since the outbreak of COVID-19, Bonny says she’s often awake as early as 5 a.m. to answer e-mails from members. Some feel bombarded with documentation they don’t understand.

Others feel that their issues are not being addressed.

“Supporting my members keeps me going,” says Bonny. “Now more than ever in our local’s history, it’s really important to reach out to our members.”

Bonny says that education assistants work one-on-one with students and that this work is relationship-based. Some jobs don’t translate well online, and technology presented a new challenge as EAs began working with students remotely.

“It has been quite the learning curve and requires as much patience as being in class,” says Bonny, noting that she’d never heard of meeting platforms like Teams or Zoom before COVID. Bonny says the biggest strength of virtual learning is that it’s easily adaptable to meet the needs of each student. But she misses the daily interaction with students and sometimes feels isolated working from home.

“The connections I make with the children motivate me. As soon as I go into the classroom and look at their faces lighting up, I’m so glad to do this job,” she says.

VIRTUAL SUCCESS CUPE 459 President Amber Leonard (highlighted square) leads her local’s first virtual meeting with a general membership Zoom call.

MEMBER PROFILE: AMBER LEONARD

COVID-19 pressure: A local president speaks VICTORIA | CUPE 459 President Amber Leonard is a full-time custodian but not a full-time president. So when in-class learning was suspended following spring break and she saw an exponential increase in challenges and workload, the veteran union activist — also a CUPE BC regional vice-president and Vancouver Island District Council president — knew that working full time and helping members would not be sustainable.

Leonard told her employer that she needed flexibility. Her employer agreed, trusting her to do what she needed for members while working. She and her local executive then began having conversations with members by phone, in grocery stores, and on the street. Because she had experienced the safety protocols put into place, Leonard was able to reassure members who were fearful of returning to schools.

“Just getting out there and having some human connection relieved some of the pressures,” says Leonard. “I totally believe that it takes people to speak up, stand up, be allies and be vocal.”

Communication was key to meeting the early COVID challenge: Leonard connected regularly with members and with her executive, so that everyone had the same information. She also held twiceweekly calls with the district superintendent. This contact was especially important, given that many of her members work two or three jobs to make ends meet.

“They don’t realize the impact, not only on their physical health, but on their mental health as well,” says Leonard, adding that she would like to see more supports put in place to help people deal with complex life and family situations amidst the added stress of the pandemic.

DOING IT ALL CUPE 2098 member Debbie Dierckens, a bus driver in School District 51 (Boundary), says that bus drivers worked with custodians and maintenance to get their hours in. “We painted, moved classrooms, took apart furniture, and did on-line courses,” she says.

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Fighting racism in everything we do, every day ON BEHALF OF our more than 100,000 members in British Columbia, and our entire provincial Executive Board, CUPE BC stands united in opposition to all forms of racism. Hatred and intolerance must never be acceptable and we must all do our part to fight for a world in which all people are free and equal.

That means calling out and confronting racism, discrimination and hatred wherever we encounter it. Fighting racism will be an ongoing battle, and the poster accompanying this feature is but one small step to take collective action. We encourage all members to display this poster in your home or workplace.

Canadians too often see images of overt racism and police brutality in the United States or elsewhere and somehow think we’re immune. But we’ve seen racist attacks and assaults against Indigenous people, Black people, and people of Asian and Middle Eastern descent right here at home. While we can take some measure of comfort in the fact that a large majority of Canadians have rejected extreme right-wing political movements, we must do more to stamp out hatred and racism. If we as individuals have not faced this directly or indirectly, and we don’t stand in solidarity with our friends who are targeted by hatred, racism and white supremacy, then we don’t stand for anything. Workers formed unions in the first place based on the principle that “an injury to one is an injury to all.” Never has this been more true, or more important, than now.

Racism takes many forms, from systemic discrimination built in to our colonial system of government to conscious or unconscious bias and micro-aggressions that too many of us who aren’t directly impacted don’t see or choose to ignore.

CUPE BC stands with all those who face discrimination, racism, intolerance or hatred. We see you, we hear you — and we are with you.

— Paul Faoro, President, and Trevor Davies, Secretary Treasurer

BLACK LIVES MATTER Top photo, Juneteenth rally in Vancouver. Bottom, BLM rally in Nanaimo.

GUEST COLUMN

Events of 2020 bring a public and personal awakening

By Natasha Tony This year has been one of extreme awakening; a beacon of light firmly focused on the systemic racism embedded in Canadian history and culture. As a country, we are acknowledging that systemic racism exists. We are gaining greater understanding of the hundreds of years of actions and decisions that, by design, tried to deny and erase the existence and experiences of Indigenous, Black and people of colour.

We like to believe we are good people and that Canada is a good place. So our growing sense of accountability is, admittedly, both empowering and painful. Painful because we have all been affected by racism.

Consciously and unconsciously — whether we’re members of the dominant culture that benefited from the system, or members of the cultures that did not — we have internalized the messages which now shape our thinking and our actions.

During this momentous point in history, many of us are trying to make sense of the movements and the messages around us, and to find the way forward to lasting and meaningful change. We are talking about justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. We are questioning everything that separates us — from our private thoughts to our public social systems.

Police brutality is at the blunt end, but we have a lot to learn about even the fine end. For example, many people of colour are courageously sharing their own experiences of discrimination, including the impacts of seemingly small but relentless pointing out of “otherness” for racialized people. There’s a name for it: “microaggression,” those quick, unthinking, tedious little messages that are often Despite our good intentions delivered without intent or awareness of and well-placed political harm. “Where are you really from?” “I love expression, we have habits your hair, can I touch it?” “I don’t see colour.” and beliefs that need to be When heard hundreds of times, the messages examined. We feel defensive can be humiliating and denigrating.

An inclusive union is dependent on its and uncomfortable. members’ full engagement in anti-racist work. In solidarity, we call on each other to mobilize and commit to anti-racism throughout the labour movement, so that we all have equal access to the same opportunities and resources, and we are all treated fairly and respectfully.

Those of us who stand for social justice know we have been called to action to stand up for human rights, and to name the impacts of racism and hate within our institutions, workplaces, and even our unions.

Despite our good intentions and well-placed political expression, we have habits and beliefs that need to be examined. We feel defensive and uncomfortable. We are having to learn humility and how to listen before speaking. We’re having to educate ourselves before being too participative. This is a hard pill to swallow for progressives — but critical to our authentic solidarity and allyship.

Natasha Tony is Principal and CEO of Elevate Inclusion Strategies, a consulting company that focuses on issues management and systemic conflict resolution.

At Elevate, she develops and implements diversity initiatives and respectful workplace programs for client organizations.

SETTING AN EXAMPLE CUPE 23 member Markiel Simpson says the change starts within ourselves. KRISTEN LASER PHOTO

Pulling out racist hate at the root Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S., Canada and around the world have shown that social justice work can’t — and won’t — be put on hold for the global pandemic.

For CUPE 23 member Markiel Simpson, COVID-19 hasn’t slowed his advocacy; on the contrary, he sees the renewed attention to anti-Black racism during this period as an opportunity.

Until the police murder of George Floyd in Minnesota ignited anti-racism protests around the world, he says, “no one was talking about this. But now people are reaching out and asking questions.

We need to grab the momentum.”

Spurred by racism experienced by his younger sister at school, Simpson helped form the BC Community Alliance to combat anti-Black racism in education. One of many Alliance projects is a campaign to include Canadian Black history in B.C.’s K–12 curriculum.

“Students take these lessons home and teach their parents. When they grow up, they’ll bring it to the workplace,” says Simpson. “You’ve got to pull out hate at the root.”

Simpson encourages CUPE members to visit www.bccommunityalliance.com and sign the petition for action on anti-Black racism in schools.

“The change starts with ourselves,” he says.

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SPECIAL EDITION

MUNICIPALITIES

Fighting privatization, ensuring public recreation for all The Municipal sector is CUPE’s hardest hit for lay-offs amid the COVID-19 public health crisis. Among those affected by service cuts, workers in recreation and aquatic services — many of whom are in the most precarious of jobs — took the brunt.

“The uncertainty of the past few months has been hard for recreation workers, not knowing when or if they’ll be coming back,” says CUPE 403 President Sara Manchester, a recreation worker for the Township of Langley.

With the province cautiously moving into reopening, many British Columbians welcomed the reopening of gyms, fitness centres and for-profit recreation businesses. But public services and programs at many recreations centres and public pools remained closed at press time.

Even in the midst of summer, after several challenging months at the height of the pandemic, many public recreation and aquatic

services were delaying plans to reopen until September — some not until December or even later.

These plans have left seniors, low-income families, persons with disabilities, and other community members without access to private, for-profit recreation with few affordable and accessible options.

“When you see other things opening, like private gyms, it doesn’t make any sense that our public rec services are still closed,” says Manchester. “These services keep our communities together, keep our people active. An investment in recreation services is an investment in public health care.”

CUPE BC launched a campaign to get more public parks, recreation centres and public pools opened for the summer. CUPE members are encouraged to visit betterservicesbettercommunities.ca to send a message to their municipal governments that exercise and play shouldn’t be limited to those who can pay.

ON THE JOB From left, CUPE civic workers in Comox, Vancouver, and Burnaby continued working through the pandemic.

MEMBER PROFILE: SHAWN DANYLUK

Keeping the taps safe for everyone KAMLOOPS | Since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, CUPE 900 member Shawn Danyluk and the other operators at Rayleigh Waterworks have seen big changes on the job. The new realities of social distancing, PPE and increased cleaning came fast and quick.

“At the beginning we had to make do with what we had on hand,” says Danyluk, recounting the early days of the pandemic. “We had a lot of work to do, so we just needed to figure out how to do it safely.”

Months later, the Waterworks now have a comprehensive safety plan put in place by CUPE members. “Every button, every knob, locks, switches, anything we touch has to be cleaned. It took some getting used to, but we are in shape now,” says Danyluk.

Despite the challenges his community has faced from the pandemic, Danyluk proudly notes that the people who depend on the Waterworks have one less thing to worry about.

“Our services have had no disruptions whatsoever,” he says.

LIBRARIES

SPECIAL EDITION

OVERDUE FOR REOPENING CUPE BC has launched a new campaign, betterlibraries.ca, that encourages citizens to contact their municipal politicians and ask them to restart library services sooner.

A citizen hub needed now more than ever Eager to get back to the work they love, B.C.’s library sector members mounted a province-wide campaign to get our public libraries reopened quickly and safely.

As popular community gathering places, B.C.’s public libraries had to be closed when the pandemic began. This was a critical public health measure necessary to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

With their doors closed to the public, many public library systems provided alternative services such as online video storytimes and curbside pick of books and other materials. These services helped fill the gap left by closed libraries while keeping some CUPE library members on the job. But thousands remain laid off.

Under the BC Restart Plan, libraries could have reopened in midMay. Many, however, have held off plans to opens their doors until September or even later.

“Libraries deliver services and staff spaces that help to equalize citizens’ participation and place in society — needed more than ever during times of crisis,” says CUPE 391 President Kari Scott-Whyte, whose own local’s campaign advocating for the reopening of the Vancouver Public Library inspired the province-wide effort.

Scott-Whyte says that B.C. library workers are ready to start providing services once again — but they need support from community leaders.

“We are innovative and able to find ways to safely meet the public’s needs when funding is stable and adequate budgets are provided,” she says.

The main push of CUPE BC’s online campaign is the action website — betterlibraries.ca. With the click of a button, B.C. library patrons can send a message directly to their respective municipal Mayor and Council, asking them to accelerate the safe reopening of their public libraries.

The action website, which generated hundreds of messages in its first few days, has led several library systems to work with CUPE library locals to find safe ways to get public library services available sooner.

MEMBER PROFILE: SAMANTHA MILLS

Redeployed: Serving the public in a new way VANCOUVER | For seven years, working for the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) fuelled Samantha Mills’ passion for life-long learning. But then along came COVID-19, thrusting her into a different workplace.

Mills was one of dozens of CUPE 391 members redeployed to the Vancouver Emergency Operations Centre, where she helped document the City’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

“It’s not the most glamorous work,” she says, “but it’s important, and I’ve been working with a great team of folks from all over the City departments.”

Having to stay on top of COVID-19 statistics and reports has been challenging.

“It can sometimes be difficult to be confronted with the numbers, and the tragedies they represent, on a daily basis,” says Mills.

Being away from her regular job delivering literacy programs for adults at VPL READY TO RETURN has been tough, too.

Samantha Mills was featured in CUPE 391’s “It’s been hard to be away social media campaign, from my team at VPL, and to We Miss Our Libraries Too! know that while I continue to work, a lot of hardworking CUPE members have been laid off,” says Mills, who returned to VPL in July to help the library adapt its services.

“The needs of everyone in our communities are evolving rapidly during this time. It’s going to be a challenge to learn what they need from us.”

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COMMUNITY SOCIAL SERVICES

Proving their value with dedication

ESSENTIALLY YOURS CUPE 1936 member Deea Bailey, an outreach counsellor for adults, youth and children, is one of the more than 2,300 community social service workers that CUPE represents in B.C.

It took a global pandemic to do it, but B.C.’s community social service and childcare workers are finally regarded as essential service employees in the eyes of the provincial government — welcome news for the more than 2,300 CUPE members who work in the sector.

“The services our members provide have been undervalued in society, so this new designation not only triggered pandemic pay for most workers — it also increased awareness of and respect for their work,” says CUPE 1936 President Sheryl Burns, a CUPE BC general vice-president and chair of the Community Social Services committee.

“We are hoping that the COVID-19 crisis has brought to light some of the issues around how the sector is funded and will encourage a move toward a more global funding model that recognizes the critical importance of this work.”

Burns says the pandemic caused big changes in how services are delivered for B.C.’s most vulnerable populations. While day programs were shut down, the live-in programs that support

MEMBER PROFILE: ALEXANDRA VELO BARNET

Making a difference for sex trade workers VANCOUVER | If your work involves intimate physical contact with another person, it will inevitably be threatened by a pandemic. So when COVID-19 landed in the Lower Mainland, demand for sexual services declined dramatically and many of the resources women rely on to help them survive were no longer available.

Enter the WISH Foundation and social workers like CUPE 1936 member Alexandra Velo Barnet.

Velo Barnet was a retail worker with no experience in crisis management when she began working at the Downtown Eastside’s WISH drop-in centre two years ago. Since then she has worked the 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. shift for an organization that sees a daily average of 150 women accessing its services.

A lot of heavy emotional work is involved. Bad dates are not uncommon, and there are frequent hostile interactions and escalating conflicts between women at the centre. But not even the coping skills she developed for this kind of work prepared Velo Barnet for a pandemic.

“After COVID-19 we were turning women away, which we’d never done before,” she says, noting strict regulations such as a maximum of 25 women in the centre, including staff, and the cancellation of various programs including the popular music therapy sessions.

As Phase One of the pandemic wound down, WISH expanded its operations from 18 to 24 hours a day. The back yard and adjacent lot are filled with tents and bathroom trailers accessible to women 24/7. Some programs have returned, including the Aboriginal

Health and Safety Project and clothing donations. She also expects the music therapy program to resume.

“This is fantastic, because there’s so much participants rely on,” says Velo Barnet, noting that Telus donated 300 mobile phones (gone within a week), and Lush donated soap for hygiene kits.

Velo Barnet says the union presence has made a difference. When CUPE 1936 finished bargaining its first contract at WISH in January, only weeks before COVID hit, there was some concern among the membership about how admin would respond to the pandemic.

“But lot of us were pretty impressed by how they handled things,” she says.

“Getting PPE wasn’t a problem, nor was guaranteed leave for COVID-related illness, or taking care of family members. Before unionization, the starting wage was $17 an hour; after unionization, it was $20.52. That’s a good pay increase, just as COVID’s kicking in.”

COMMUNITY SOCIAL SERVICES people continued — but often with less than desirable levels of personal protective equipment.

The constantly changing regulatory environment created difficult new working conditions. These included servicing clients remotely with new procedures for entering their homes, and limiting visits for group home clients — even by family members. This added to stress and meant significant challenges for clients, especially those unable to fully comprehend the change in routine.

“The governing bodies of Community Social Services were not addressing the inability of some clients to be able to practice physical distancing, or universal precautions,” says Sherry Errett, president of CUPE 3999. “Members were concerned for the safety of themselves, their families, and the people that they support.”

In childcare, most agencies laid off workers. But thanks to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, some found creative ways to keep employees working and fully paid.

Initially there was concern about the sector’s ability to continue providing these vital services if there were large outbreaks among workers. But the anticipated staff shortages never occurred.

“Between member flexibility around redeployment and better communication with the employer, we were able to deliver the services our clients depend on while, for the most part, keeping our members out of the critically stressed health care system,” says Burns.

“Things could have gone far worse in Richmond, where we lost one member and more than a dozen others tested positive for COVID.”

In memoriam: Warlito Valdez RICHMOND | The harsh realities of COVID-19 hit CUPE BC the hardest in early April, when the union learned it had lost its first member to the deadly coronavirus.

CUPE 1936 member Warlito Valdez, a 47-year-old employee of Richmond Society for Community Living, worked in a residential program supporting people with disabilities. He passed away on April 5, his death occurring 11 days into a 14-day isolation after he’d tested positive for COVID-19.

A GoFundMe page set up to support his family described Warlito as a tireless provider for his wife and four-year-old daughter, a generous spirit who loved his work, and “a father and brother” to everyone.

“Warlito’s passing illustrates the true risk of working on the frontlines in this sector during a pandemic,” says CUPE 1936 President Sheryl Burns.

“Community social service workers are unsung heroes of this health crisis, putting themselves in harm’s way when they attend work. Each of us takes personal risks in order to support other members of our society, and for his sacrifice we hold Warlito forever in our hearts.”

SPECIAL EDITION

MEMBER PROFILE: DAVID JONES

Surviving COVID: One worker’s experience RICHMOND | At age 67, CUPE 1936 member David Jones has always been blessed with good health and is happy to still be working. But during the last couple of weeks of March, he knew something was wrong.

“I’ve had the flu before and just powered through it, but this was different,” says Jones, a social worker for the Richmond Society for Community Living. “My symptoms were mostly fatigue and a very stuffed head. Not really a cold, but a really thick head in my sinuses.”

With 20 years’ experience in community social services, Jones was working in a day program supporting adults with developmental disabilities. He took clients on outings and helped them with things like money management, cooking, reading, and swimming. Then COVID-19 arrived.

“I thought I’d just stay home for a while, but my colleagues started getting sick — like nine-pins, dominoes, one after another,” he recalls. “I got tested on the 25th, and confirmed that day that I had it. I was sick for a couple of weeks.”

Despite being in a high-risk age group, Jones nursed himself back to good health from self-quarantine with the help of his children, friends and fellow church members who brought him food. He was also fortunate to avoid lay-off and received his regular pay, plus sick pay with one week’s WCB coverage.

“I was fortunate in being given a chance to rest and recover.

I didn’t have to feel guilty,” says Jones. “I am very grateful for Canada, and our social contract.”

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POST-SECONDARY COLLEGES

COVID-time bargaining means opening the door to new technology

EARLY ADAPTORS CUPE 4163 Vice-President Matthew Koch, a sessional lecturer at the University of Victoria, is one of the more than 15,000 post-secondary education workers CUPE represents in B.C.

UNIVERSITIES

Helping students succeed As colleges and universities suspended or adapted services in response to COVID-19, staff were required to help transition B.C.’s more than 400,000 students to a system of online learning.

CUPE members were on the front lines of this work. Academic workers like CUPE 4163’s Anita Bonkowski had only a couple of days to re-invent their courses with new delivery models, evaluation systems, and ways of communicating with students.

“It happened very quickly,” says Bonkowski, a sessional music instructor at the University of Victoria. “I taught in-person on Friday and by Monday I had to have everything online.”

Changes to delivery models were not simply about converting presentations to online platforms but required a full re-think of the course content and grading systems, says Bonkowski.

“I really tried to put myself in the students’ position and ask what I could do to best support their success. From additional materials to practice exams, and enhanced communication, I focused on making the experience as successful as possible for students.”

Another CUPE 4163 member, Maj-Britt Marttala, had a similar experience teaching English as an additional language. When in-person classes were suspended, Marttala was given less than two weeks to move her language program online.

“It wasn’t a matter of timeline, we had no idea how we were going to do it. We had to create everything from scratch in a completely new format in just two weeks,” says Marttala.

Both Marttala and Bonkowski say their efforts have made a difference for their students. “I’ve been an instructor since 1996 and I am dedicated to seeing students succeed,” says Bonkowski.

“I’m going to spend the summer learning the new technology and platforms needed to ensure I deliver value to students in 2020/21.”

CUPE represents more than 15,000 post-secondary workers, including teaching assistants, research assistants, sessional and other instructors, as well as administrative, trades, and other campus support staff.

As the COVID-19 pandemic caused mass disruption in services and processes across B.C., it also provided new challenges to CUPE locals in the midst of bargaining. One such local was CUPE 3479, representing support staff at North Island College.

“Though we achieved our goals at the table, we were then confronted with the need to re-think the ratification process,” says CUPE 3479 President and CUPE BC General Vice-President Michelle Waite. “Our members are used to video conferencing, but we had no access to any of the normal systems we use to communicate and make decisions.”

After some research, advice from CUPE National and technology support from CUPE BC, the Local made use of online voting and a virtual membership meeting to enable workers from all parts of the college’s 80,000-square-kilometre service area to participate in decision-making.

The experience of CUPE 3479 was not unique as locals across the post-secondary sector found new ways to execute bargaining and make democratic decisions. From CUPE 15’s bargaining with Langara College by video conference to CUPE 2950’s use of a webinar platform to record and distribute their bargaining results, CUPE locals rose to the challenge of quickly adapting to new technologies with very positive results.

Waite says the lessons learned in recent months will live on past the pandemic and have positive impacts for member engagement.

“Moving forward and looking past this current situation, we will consider how to incorporate online technologies as part of our ongoing work to consistently improve our local,” she says.

DEDICATED SERVICE CUPE 3479 member Christine Xanthopoulos is a Facilities Operations Officer at North Island College. Responsible for providing organizational direction and coordination for the delivery of institutionwide facilities management operations, processes and programs, Xanthopoulos takes pride in her work as a CUPE college worker. She is committed to her role in helping ensure that students continue receiving the services and learning they need to complete their programs and achieve their goals.

TRANSPORTATION

SPECIAL EDITION

COAXING THE PUBLIC For CUPE 7000 President Tony Rebelo and CUPE 4500 President Rob Woods, convincing passengers to wear masks has been a challenge.

TRANSIT

Layoffs avoided as critical service gets a reprieve The transportation sector was hit hard by COVID, with transit ridership plummeting by more than 80 per cent in the early weeks of the pandemic. SkyTrain ridership went from 380,000 passengers a day pre-COVID to about 80,000 a day, and Southern Rail lost almost 50 per cent of its business.

Translink was losing up to $75 million per month when the company announced major service cuts and issued lay-off notices to approximately 1,500 staff — including about 90 CUPE members working for SkyTrain and the Coast Mountain Bus Company (CMBC).

Fortunately, layoffs were cancelled before taking effect as the provincial government stepped in with new funding. As the economy was reopening, 10 lay-offs already in effect for a month at Southern Rail were also cancelled.

“This has been a massive learning experience for all of us and I’m grateful for the people I work with on this executive. We worked well as a team,” says CUPE 7000 President Tony Rebelo, noting that SkyTrain ridership had begun to increase by 10 per cent a week by late Spring.

“Communications with both SkyTrain and Southern Rail have been cooperative and positive. Though there’s still concern about social distancing on SkyTrain, with not enough passengers wearing masks, PPE has been provided to all members as much as possible.”

At CMBC, CUPE 4500 members say they feel fortunate to have escaped layoffs but are not out of the woods just yet: with ridership still down and the company in financial hardship, a second wave of COVID in the fall could affect staff numbers.

“Overall, we’re pretty satisfied with how the company is supporting us,” says CUPE 4500 President Rob Woods, noting that CMBC has held three meetings a week with the union.

The employer has shown enough flexibility to allow CUPE 4500 to establish its own safety procedures, department by department.

The company has also been conducting member profiles that highlight the work of transit supervisors and how they’re dealing with COVID stress.

“The responses have been amazing,” says Woods. “The employer’s not trying to hide anything. They’re asking us to help them by sharing our experiences, then publishing it. So that’s pretty cool.”

AIRLINES

“We are pleased that some of us are going back to work, but Local 4078 will still have more than 90 per cent of our cabin attendants laid off,” says CUPE 4078 Present Christy McGregor, noting that the company’s restart program will include the Vancouver base.

A total of 278 cabin attendants across all three bases received recall notices, with only 19 positions available in Vancouver, leaving CUPE 4078 concerned about the future of the YVR base.

Grounded by COVID-19 When the pandemic first hit and there was little information about the virus, flight attendants across Canada responded to the need to repatriate Canadians stuck overseas. As a result, these workers became some of the first exposed to the virus while on the job with limited or no PPE. Because those still working continued to face global exposure to COVID-19 due to the nature of their job, CUPE is seeking stricter guidelines from Transport Canada.

Meanwhile, airlines began cutting flights or ceasing operations entirely, laying off thousands. Air Transat announced that operations were scheduled to restart on July 23, requiring the work of about 250 to 300 flight attendants. These modest operations will take place at the time when the world is still on high alert for COVID-19.

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REACHING OUT

BIG HEARTS CUPE 606 K–12 members packaged and delivered food to Nanaimo families in need. Pictured far left is CUPE 606 member Mern Pinneo, one of many members who contributed to the hugely successful program.

FOOD BANKS

ORGANIZING

Joining forces to feed struggling families

Connecting with new members during a pandemic

CAMPBELL RIVER | With their members feeling incredibly fortunate to be working while so many people in the community faced layoffs or business closures, CUPE 723 (K–12 support staff) recently donated $5,000 to their local food bank. Then they challenged other K–12 organizations to do the same.

“We recognized the increased need for families struggling throughout our community and beyond,” says CUPE 723 President Andrea Craddock (pictured).

While there are many worthy organizations that help people in times of need, Craddock says CUPE 723 chose the food bank because food is such a basic need and the Local realized that demand on the food bank would increase “exponentially” during the COVID-19 crisis.

After the CUPE 723 executive challenged the Campbell River Teachers Association (CRDTA) and the Campbell River Principals and Vice Principals Association (CRPVPA) to meet their donation, that challenge was met, with teachers topping it up by an additional $1,000.

In the end, CUPE 723, the CRPVPA and CRDTA presented cheques totalling $16,000 to Deb Willis, manager of the Campbell River Food Bank.

TOWNSHIP OF LANGLEY | Following CUPE’s first-ever virtual organizing campaign, Local 403 recently welcomed 147 new members into the union. These workers are employed at FROM A DISTANCE recreation centres and the Museum by CUPE 403’s the Township of Langley. inside committee Bringing these workers into CUPE visited workers’ during a pandemic called for innovative homes to drop off CUPE gift bags ways to reach out and engage workers containing a card while following Provincial Health Officer holder, CUPE 403 guidelines. chocolates, pens, and “It was a challenge because it’s hard lanyards — all without to make connections when you don’t coming into direct have the personal face to face,” says contact with anyone.

CUPE 403 President Sara Manchester.

In advance of the vote, CUPE 403 held Zoom meetings with the Local’s inside committee and the workers. Once they had signed electronic cards to trigger the Labour Board vote and a date was set, the workers received their ballots from the Board and the inside committee got to work. Reaching out by e-mail and phone, the committee conducted a strong “get-out-the-vote” campaign to make sure the ballots got mailed.

Finally, the committee dropped off CUPE gift bags at workers’ homes — but without coming into direct contact with anyone. The virtual campaign was ultimately successful: in a Labour Board vote counted on June 10, recreation and cultural workers voted overwhelmingly to join CUPE 403.

In memoriam: Kim Manton The B.C. labour movement lost a great spirit with the passing of former CUPE member and prominent Victoria activist Kim Manton from cancer on June 26. Described by the BC Federation of Labour as “one of the brightest, warmest and most passionate people in our movement,” Kim inspired many with her steadfast commitment to progressive causes.

“Kim’s was an unforgettable presence on the B.C. labour landscape,” says CUPE BC Secretary-Treasurer Trevor Davies, who as a fellow Vancouver Island CUPE activist knew Manton from her early days with Local 1978.

“She stepped up at a local meeting when no one else would and volunteered to run a campaign against the privatization of the Victoria Sewage treatment project.

That fearlessness and willingness to do something she had never done before is what defined Kim. She took risks and inspired people to do the same. She approached every challenge with such positive energy and her smile was as infectious as her trademark jazz hands and ‘WOOT WOOT’.”

From her long service as a CUPE activist, both with Local 1978 and Local 50, to her four years as labour coordinator with the Greater Victoria United Way and her last years in the BC Legislature, working with the BC NDP government, Kim exemplified our union’s belief in the power and strength of communities.

“CUPE members, other union activists and leaders, New Democrats and so many others mourn the loss of our friend,” says CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “Our world seems a little less bright right now, but we were all so lucky to have had Kim in our lives.”

The BCFED, with the Victoria Labour Council, will establish a scholarship in Kim’s honour.

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Josh Berson

CUPE BC acknowledges that our province of British Columbia is located on the homelands of Indigenous nations and cultures.

To all the members of CUPE BC, Thank you for all your work during this pandemic.

COVID-19 has created challenges for everyone in B.C., but CUPE BC members have put in the hard work to keep our province going. The pandemic has highlighted the vital importance of front-line workers in protecting and caring for our communities. I want to commend each and every one of you for your contributions to helping us flatten the curve.

Because of your work, our cities and towns are safe and clean as we physically distance. Thanks to your efforts, public transit is available as more and more British Columbians return to using it. You ensured children in B.C. schools were supported, and that our emergency and community health and social services continue to save lives.

Many of you, especially in our K–12 school system, stepped up to the challenge of being redeployed to provide support to students and their families in new ways. Whether collecting and distributing food to families in their communities, delivering learning packages to students or helping so that voluntary in-class instruction could be offered in June, your contributions kept students, teachers and their families safe and healthy.

I know you have been working under very stressful circumstances, unlike any before. You are doing your part and we will continue to do ours. We are committed to doing everything we can to help B.C. workers get through this.

We are all in this together.

On behalf of all British Columbians, thank you.

HONOURABLE JOHN HORGAN PREMIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

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