Employees of embattled B.C. housing provider Atira unionize, joining BCGEU

After weeks of organizing, employees of an embattled B.C. housing provider, the Atira Women’s Resource Society, have officially unionized.

More than 500 workers at over 35 Atira worksites joined the BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) on Monday, citing the need to address safety concerns, staffing shortages and other living and working conditions at Atira’s housing facilities.

“As frontline workers we know how to make Atira better for workers and for residents,” Atira women’s support worker Kadidja Youssouf said in a BCGEU news release.

“By unionizing, we now have the collective power to speak out, and for our ideas to be heard.”

2:33 Atira employee makes serious allegations about housing provider

The move comes less than two weeks after two people — an employee on leave and a former employee — raised serious workplace safety concerns at Atira.

Ksenija Collinge, a peer manager on leave, told Global News she endured months of harassment at the office, with one employee routinely bringing a knife to the office. Global News verified that she filed both a human resources complaint and a worker’s compensation board report about the situation, but has not verified her specific allegations.

The former staffer of Atira Property Management, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said she was bullied too, and referenced a worker bringing a knife to the office as well. She made a WorkSafe BC claim in relation to her allegations and received a disability award.

Atira did not respond to a request for comment on either story, reported on May 20 and 28, respectively.

2:05 Atira CEO Janice Abbot resigns, week after damning BC Housing audit

Atira’s CEO, Janice Abbott, has not answered a Global News request for comment since a damning financial audit of BC Housing revealed a conflict of interest related to her marriage to former BC Housing CEO Shane Ramsay.

The pair both held their jobs at the same time, and Atira is BC Housing’s largest provider. The audit found that no individual materially benefitted from the conflict of interest, but raised serious questions about the oversight and financial practices of both organizations.

It found, for example, that Atira bypassed the Crown corporation’s standard approval channels and approached senior BC Housing members directly for funding and other requests multiple times.

While Ramsay was CEO, it also found Atira was awarded contracts without a competitive process, received a substantial increase in funding, and received at least $3 million in COVID-19 funds without appropriate internal approval from the Crown corporation.

BC Housing kept records poorly and delayed financial reviews of Atira, the audit revealed. Ramsay had also modified meeting minutes to alter concerns raised about an Atira property purchase and regularly deleted text messages, despite habitually conducting BC Housing business through texts.

Abbott resigned on May 15, Atira has returned $1.9 million in funds to the provincial government and the provider has announced that a third-party will review its policies and practices, including how it deals with conflict of interest and makes real estate decisions.

1:07 B.C. premier ‘hopeful’ after Atira CEO resigns in BC Housing audit aftermath

Global News has reached out to Atira for comment on this story.

“Historically, Atira Women’s Resources has attempted unionization efforts before and often been met anti-union campaigns from management. This time workers built relationships across over 35 sites and were successful in getting a strong majority of workers to sign cards,” BCGEU executive vice-president Kari Michaels said in a Sunday interview.

“Given the changes in leadership at Atira, now more than ever these workers need to amplify their collective voices and have a say in their working conditions.”

More than 4,000 other supportive housing workers in the province are already unionized.

In a statement released when Atira announced its task force and third-party review, the organization’s board said its focus now is on “working collaboratively with the B.C. government and BC Housing, and restoring the public’s confidence in Atira’s integrity, vision, mission, purpose and values.”

In an unrelated news release on Monday, Atira said it would announce its new leadership and other changes to “rebuild its reputation” at a Tuesday press conference.