Word is spreading about the unfair treatment of caretakers by the University of Calgary.
The Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA) at the University of Alberta has written a letter of support to AUPE Local 052, which represents support workers, including about 200 caretakers, at the University of Calgary.
The letter from NASA president Jillian Pratt says: “I was shocked – but sadly, given similar experiences here at the U of A, not surprised – to hear that university leadership has changed the schedules for these essential workers to avoid paying them much-deserved shift premiums. It is shameful that your institution, like ours, has made the decision to significantly impact the lives of some of the most vulnerable and low-paid workers on campus in their attempt to deal with the provincial government's reckless cuts to post-secondary education.
“Like you, we fail to see how policies that will specifically impact a workforce predominantly made up of racialized, immigrant, and newcomer women cannot be viewed as an equity, diversity, and inclusion issue.”
The University of Alberta outsourced the work of cleaning staff in July 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to layoffs for low-income workers, many of whom were women and new Canadians.
Members of AUPE Local 052 continue to push the University of Calgary to reconsider the changes to caretaker shifts, which have resulted in significant hardship for these workers, many of whom are women, immigrants and newcomers to Canada, like the staff from the University of Alberta.
AUPE has asked the U of C if Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles were applied to the decision to change shifts but the university leaders have refused to answer that question.
The shift changes meant the loss of shift premiums of $2.50 per hour for about half the caretakers. For a full-time caretaker, that means the loss of about $400 per month, or about $5,000 per year from an already low annual wage of about $32,000. Without the shift premium, caretakers earn less than a living wage.
The decision to change shifts, which was made without consultation, also means some caretakers have had to give up their U of C job or other jobs because of a conflict in schedules. They also made it much harder to get to and from work using public transit.
For more about the effect of the shift changes on caretakers, read this article in AUPE’s Direct Impact magazine.
To read about Local 052’s efforts to have EDI principles applied to this decision, read this Member Update.
To take action to support caretakers, please click here.
The full letter from NASA is here attached below.