Atira employee makes serious allegations about B.C. housing provider | 24CA News
An worker on go away from Atira Women’s Resource Society has come ahead with severe allegations concerning the housing supplier.
Ksenija Collinge, a peer supervisor, mentioned in an interview with Global News that Atira doesn’t present a secure office and has taken benefit of employees.
“I want to feel safe when I go to work, first of all. Right?” mentioned Collinge.
Collinge began working for Atira about seven years in the past, finally overseeing volunteers and assist employees. The 49-year-old claims she was experiencing ongoing office harassment over a interval of a number of months.
“I was managing an individual who was quite aggressive, had numerous complaints from the peers and other staff members,” alleges Collinge, who mentioned the worker would normally carry a knife to work and show aggressive behaviour on the workplace.
Global News has confirmed Collinge filed each an HR grievance and a employee’s compensation board report concerning the state of affairs however has not verified these particular allegations.
“You just white knuckle it, until finally, you just can’t do it. It’s just not worth your mental health, it was straining my relationship,” mentioned Collinge. “I’m actually scared to be walking around. They did nothing to support me, absolutely nothing.”
Now on a go away of absence from Atira following inner dispute decision efforts, Collinge has been on employment insurance coverage for a number of months – and mentioned she feels compelled out.
“They can’t accommodate me not working with this person if I was to go back now,” she added.
Collinge mentioned her expertise highlights the dearth of accountability on the subject of office well being and security on the housing supplier and believes employees retention is a key subject. She additionally mentioned volunteers are exploited, by taking over the duties of paid assist employees with out correct coaching, particularly in potential disaster conditions on the Downtown Eastside.
Meanwhile, the BC General Employees Union mentioned it has been approached by Atira staff wanting to unionize, after a bombshell report concerning the housing supplier was lately made public.
“Workers want to see more transparency and accountability,” mentioned Kari Michaels, govt vice-president with the BCGEU. “We have heard about issues around bullying and harassment, and this is part of the reason why workers at Atira want to organize and form a union so that they can feel supported.”
Atira didn’t conform to an interview for this story. However, in an electronic mail addressing among the allegations, their media relations crew wrote partially, “Atira takes any staff complaints seriously. Our organization and its subsidiaries have almost 1,300 employees, including part-time employees. Typically, we have only a handful of complaints each year.”
Collinge mentioned she doesn’t know what her future holds as she tries to seek out new employment, and hopes the group will rebuild and hearken to its staff about making a secure surroundings for everybody.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
