Marking 20 years
of bold journalism,
reader supported.
News
2010 Olympics
Health
Labour + Industry

Don't Dare Use Students as Scabs during Olympics: CUPE

Paramedics union considering boycott if student volunteers handle Games emergencies.

Tom Sandborn 21 Jan 2010TheTyee.ca

Tyee contributing editor Tom Sandborn focuses on labour and health policy issues.

image atom
Bitter fight: CUPE picketers were ordered back to work.

Olympic organizers fretting about the weather cooperating can add another worry to their list: the possibility of picket lines and organized labour boycotts.

Contemporary Security Canada -- the firm responsible for x-raying and screening members of the public as they enter the gates of the 2010 Olympics -- is reportedly bringing to the Games 300 student volunteers from an Ottawa college that trains paramedics, The Tyee has learned.

The union that represents B.C.'s 3,500 ambulance paramedics, legislated back to work this November after a bitter seven-month labour dispute, says that the students are possibly being brought in as "scabs" to do work that should be done by their members.

The union, CUPE local 873, has already begun discussions with its parent, CUPE B.C. and with the B.C. Federation of Labour, about possible militant responses.

Greg Dickson of the province's 2010 Games Secretariat, declined to comment yesterday, indicating that VANOC would be the appropriate body to reply to the union's concerns. VANOC spokesman Greg Alexis also declined to comment, suggesting The Tyee address its questions to Contemporary Security.

Paramedic contingencies shrouded in secrecy

The Tyee is not the only entity having trouble getting information from VANOC, which is not legally bound by Freedom of Information legislation.

When the provincial government legislated ambulance paramedics back to work in November, it was widely reported that one motivation for the back to work order was concern expressed by VANOC about labour disruptions during the Games.

"If we are unable to obtain that guarantee (through either settlement of the strike or legislated 'detente' for the Games), then VANOC will be required to initiate alternative contingency plans to avoid cancellation of the Games," said a VANOC memo obtained and made available to the press by CUPE 873. However, VANOC has reportedly so far refused to reveal its contingency plans.

"We learned about this situation on Jan. 19," BJ Chute, who speaks for local 873, told The Tyee. "We obtained a copy of a letter from the college in Ottawa to 'all paramedic preceptors and their partners.' The letter suggests that the students will act as 'first responders' in the event of an emergency. It says the volunteer work is a 'once in a lifetime' experience for the students, and that 'they would not be able to buy this kind of clinical experience.'"

The Tyee has been provided with a copy of the letter by CUPE 873. Calls with requests for comment to the college, La Cite Collegiale, and to Robert Brunet, who apparently signed the letter, were not returned. The letter refers to 300 students going as volunteers to the Games and to 16 second-year paramedic students going to Whistler with Mr. Brunet for 21 days.

Chute said that in light of these revelations his local is compelled to consider declaring a boycott of the 2010 Olympics and VANOC.

"I have asked CUPE B.C. to seek a declaration from the B.C. Federation of Labour as a means of demonstrating that paramedics are not alone in this fight,” Chute told The Tyee.

Jim Sinclair, president of the B,C. Fed, did not return Tyee calls before this story was filed.

'All our options are open': CUPE's O'Neill

A media spokesperson for Contemporary Security said that union concerns about the student volunteers were based on a misunderstanding. The Ottawa students would have no first responder responsibilities at all, she told The Tyee late in the day on Jan. 20.

All Contemporary Security employees, she said, including the Ottawa students, will be providing "pedestrian security screening services" as specified in her company's contract with Public Works Canada and the RCMP.

"All CSC staff have been hired to provide security screening services only. These are paid positions that include screeners, x-ray operators, communications operators, supervisors, and venue managers. Their responsibilities do not include emergency first response," said a company statement provided to The Tyee by email.

According to its company website, Contemporary will be hiring 5,000 security staff for the Games.

Barry O'Neill, president of CUPE B.C., says that VANOC secretiveness about its contingency plans adds to union worries that students from Ottawa may be used as scabs. He said a CUPE Freedom of Information application has been made to the province in hopes it will reveal VANOC's contingency plans, since they cannot be obtained directly from VANOC.

O'Neill insists that there is no danger of unionized paramedics refusing to do their work at the Games.

"My members have never said they wouldn't work at the Olympics," O’Neill told The Tyee in a recent phone interview. "There is absolutely no defiance here. We are ready to do our jobs."

Asked whether this simmering dispute could lead to union picket lines outside the Olympic gates, O'Neill downplayed that scenario as "only a minor possibility." He said discussions were ongoing on Jan. 20 between his office, the B.C. Federation of Labour and the head of the Ontario Federation of Labour to try to resolve the issue before it escalated. However, O'Neill did not rule out either a hot edict or picket lines if efforts to solve this problem failed.

"All our options are open," he said.  [Tyee]

  • Share:

Facts matter. Get The Tyee's in-depth journalism delivered to your inbox for free

Tyee Commenting Guidelines

Comments that violate guidelines risk being deleted, and violations may result in a temporary or permanent user ban. Maintain the spirit of good conversation to stay in the discussion.
*Please note The Tyee is not a forum for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, denying its existence or minimizing its risk to public health.

Do:

  • Be thoughtful about how your words may affect the communities you are addressing. Language matters
  • Challenge arguments, not commenters
  • Flag trolls and guideline violations
  • Treat all with respect and curiosity, learn from differences of opinion
  • Verify facts, debunk rumours, point out logical fallacies
  • Add context and background
  • Note typos and reporting blind spots
  • Stay on topic

Do not:

  • Use sexist, classist, racist, homophobic or transphobic language
  • Ridicule, misgender, bully, threaten, name call, troll or wish harm on others
  • Personally attack authors or contributors
  • Spread misinformation or perpetuate conspiracies
  • Libel, defame or publish falsehoods
  • Attempt to guess other commenters’ real-life identities
  • Post links without providing context

LATEST STORIES

The Barometer

Do You Think Trudeau Will Survive the Next Election?

Take this week's poll