Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) cleaning staff who weren’t rehired when VCH switched cleaning contractors say they were targeted for speaking up to management and making waves at work.
Former Sechelt Hospital cleaner Beau Roy said all 11 workers on the Lower Sunshine Coast who weren’t rehired were qualified and met the new employer’s requirements. But he believes “the companies were communicating with each other in regards to their employees,” which resulted in some being targeted.
“Anybody who spoke up to a manager and said, ‘Hey I don’t like what’s going on here,’ gone. They’re all gone. Anybody that had ever addressed being bullied at work, gone,” Roy said.
He noted he was involved with the Hospital Employees Union (HEU) and spoke up whenever he saw something that needed addressing at work, which is why he believes he was passed up for a position.
Compass Group Canada took over the cleaning contract through VCH in February by way of its member, Crothall Health Care. A that time Compass laid off all Aramark workers, brought in a new union and promised to rehire as many Aramark employees as possible.
About 82 per cent of employees were rehired by Compass throughout the coastal region, the company said. In July, Coast Reporter was told that those who weren’t rehired failed to provide documents such as immunization records and references.
This week Roy told Coast Reporter he had all that paperwork and more when he went into his interview with Compass back in March.
“I never missed a single day of work in 10 years. I had the highest audit scores for Vancouver Coastal Health,” Roy said, flashing work-related awards and glowing reference letters.
He thought he’d be a “shoe-in” for a cleaning job with Compass and was shocked to find out he didn’t make the cut.
“They’re using the excuse that members didn’t have vaccination records, they didn’t have references. Lies.”
About 22 former Aramark workers on the Lower Sunshine Coast and in Powell River are now discussing next steps, and area MLA Nicholas Simons has also become involved, raising the issue in the Legislature on Oct. 29.
“These workers who were laid off are now looking in the newspaper for new jobs, and they are seeing their old jobs being advertised. They can’t get those jobs. That seems patently unfair to me,” Simons told B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake on Oct. 29.
“Some of these workers were in their 50s. Some had never missed a day of work in over 10 years. They were willing and qualified to work under the new company’s collective agreement,” Simons said.
Lake did not speak to individual workers’ issues, pointing instead to the overall rehire rate and noting that it’s “not unusual for health authorities to look for the best value from their service providers, and in this case that’s what Vancouver Coastal Health has done.”
In an interview this week, Simons said he was disappointed with Lake’s reaction in the Legislature.
“I really was upset that the Minister didn’t seem to think it was a problem. I wondered, can he not see that it’s not just about saving 20 cents an hour or whatever it is? I can only see the government looking at this as a way to save money in a way that hurts employees.”
Roy said he and his co-workers who were not offered jobs with Compass are now suffering because of it.
“Several of my co-workers have lost their housing, being unable to afford their rent, and many of us have now emptied our savings,” Roy said, noting it’s difficult to find jobs on the Coast and that he and other co-workers are scarred from the experience.
HEU communications officer Neil Monckton said the union has filed a grievance against Aramark based on how former employees were treated during the switch to Compass, but he added the HEU has “no ability to do anything about what Compass does.”
“Even if we are successful in our grievance, this won’t change the fact that they weren’t hired,” Monckton noted.
“All we can do is win some justice for them for the hiring process, but ultimately that’s in Compass’s court and Vancouver Coastal Health’s, frankly. Vancouver Coastal Health is the employer in that they hired Compass and they have a lot of influence, so they shouldn’t be left out of the equation.”
When asked if VCH would look into workers’ issues relating to Compass, VCH media spokesperson Anna Marie D’Angelo said, “Vancouver Coastal Health does not direct any agency we work with in what specific employees they hire.”
On Wednesday, Compass told Coast Reporter in an emailed statement that the status of an individual’s employment is a private matter.
“As an employer, we reserve the right to recruit and train employees to meet our standards of excellence and performance,” the company said. “Unfortunately, some people did not meet the requirements or job fit. This isn’t a reflection on these people as individuals, but a reflection of the change in job expectations, new job requirements and new ways we will work together in the future.”
The company said all positions have currently been filled. However, it’s “always on the lookout for casual workers to ensure we do not have shortages.”
