Leadership at Connective Support Society, generally known as Connective, recognizes some of its Whitehorse Emergency Shelter workers are victims of assault, threats and vandalism.
The acknowledgement comes after the Yukon Employees' Union (YEU) levelled allegations about what the shelter workers face in its recent newsletter.
“Staff have repeatedly been assaulted at their workplace, received threats of violence, and had their private property vandalized,” reads the YEU’s May newsletter.
“Workers deserve to feel safe at their workplace.”
A shelter worker, whose name the News is withholding because they fear they will lose their job for speaking out, stated by phone that Connective isn't doing enough to protect employees on the job.
Connective runs the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter alongside the Council of Yukon First Nations. The shelter has been the centre of public concern and scrutiny, community safety reports and a recent coroner's inquest.
The union, which represents shelter staff, is calling for Connective to establish a local health and safety committee at the shelter, instead of the central one that exists.
Chris Kinch, Connective's northern region vice-president, expressed disappointment in YEU for sharing such information in its newsletter to members while the organization tries to work with the union to get proper structures in place.
“We were disappointed that YEU didn’t notify us directly of the information in their newsletter given that we are currently involved in collective bargaining with them and have been working collaboratively with them for well over a year around creating the appropriate health and safety structures,” reads an email from Kinch.
Kinch specifically responded to a claim in the newsletter that the unionized workers at Local Y048 have been without a collective agreement since unionizing over a year ago.
He noted that Connective initiated the unionization process and invited the union to connect with staff at 405 Alexander St. before taking over operations of the shelter from the Yukon government in October 2022.
“We formally went through the process in 2022 and ratified with the union in January 2023. Since then, we have made several attempts to schedule collective bargaining, but YEU has been busy and unable to meet with us until a few weeks ago for our initial collective bargaining meeting,” Kinch wrote.
Union president Justin Lemphers spoke to the News about the allegations levelled in the newsletter by phone.
Lemphers said workers came forward to the union about alleged assaults and some grievance files have been opened.
He noted grievance files are allegations and different files are at various stages of evaluation. He said some instances have been recognized by the employer as cases of assault.
“There are other instances that have not been recognized by the employer as assaults in the workplace,” he said.
Employees also brought issues with threats of violence to the union’s attention, per Lemphers.
Plus, Lemphers has witnessed it himself. He said he has been present for threats made against staff when he was visiting the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter for meetings or to check in with staff.
"The workers at Connective face a number of challenges to their personal safety. It's not just threats of physical violence. We have to also remember that language is violence," he said, citing prohibited grounds under human rights.
"If they're being attacked with racial slurs or misogynistic language, those attacks, even though they are words, can still hurt and leave marks and they can be permanently traumatizing."
Kinch acknowledged Connective is aware of instances of assault, threats and private property being vandalized. He said Connective has responded appropriately and provided appropriate support to staff.
“We agree wholeheartedly that workers deserve to feel safe at their workplace and we provide numerous supports to our staff from critical incident debriefing to counselling support,” reads Kinch’s email.
“We continue to work together as a staff team and with our service users to maintain a safe environment while recognizing the challenges inherent in providing supports to some of the most vulnerable community members who often face complex barriers that may include mental health, substance use and housing insecurity.”
As noted above, the union said it has requested that Connective start up a local health and safety committee at the shelter.
“That's where we really need the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board, as a regulatory and enforcement body, to do its work and ensure that the health and safety committee and structure actually meets the Yukon standards,” Lemphers said.
“It's required by law right now.”
Lemphers said Connective inherited the model that was in place when it took over from the Yukon government and applied British Columbia’s legislation.
“We are really looking for them to use the Yukon legislation — to have regulators follow up with Connective and ensure that their health and safety model meets the standard,” he said.
“There is a health and safety committee, but it's a B.C.-based health and safety committee, and it doesn't follow the legislation. It doesn't report to a Yukon-based committee, and that's what the requirement is because the impact is Yukon specific.”
Kinch noted Connective recognizes the "complexities and risks inherent in working with service users facing complex barriers.”
Kinch’s email accepts that the central committee is no longer sufficient, and that Connective initiated an organization-wide review of its health and safety structure over a year ago.
“Since January 2023 when staff ratified the union agreement, we have been working collaboratively with YEU and the Yukon Workers Safety and Compensation Board (WSCB) to create a separate local committee for 405 Alexander and another committee for our other four programs in the Yukon (as well as nine other committees across our B.C. regions),” Kinch wrote.
“These committees are now in place and will be meeting monthly to start, with the first meeting for 405 Alexander scheduled for early June.”
Lemphers said he learned from one of the workers that WSCB has opened an investigation into the shelter’s health and safety management system, or HSMS.
“We applaud the YEU member who has already involved WSCB in investigating Connective’s HSMS. We look forward to receiving those results,” reads the YEU newsletter.
But Heather Avery, WSCB communications manager, said by email that the board isn’t investigating because:
“The recommendations from the coroner’s inquest require Connective to update the identified policies, procedures and safety measures. These recommendations are in line with WSCB legislation, so there is no need for WSCB to intervene at this time. Safety officers will monitor the situation and follow up if necessary.”
Earlier in 2024, a jury made eight recommendations for Connective and the Yukon government following a coroner’s inquest into four deaths at the shelter.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
