BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Espanola Community Living executive director Mila Wong says she is deeply disturbed by reports that a striking support care worker carried a sign making fun of her race earlier this month.
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About 40 workers represented by CUPE Local 2462 and employed by the provincially-funded agency have been on strike since May 14. Their clients are currently being cared for by replacement workers.
?The sign said, ?It?s all Chinese to me,? and there were little Chinese signs on the bottom. I?m sure it?s made up, although I can?t read Chinese...It?s a disappointment that in 2005, you have people who are overtly racist,? says Wong, who is of Spanish and Chinese descent.
The other side of the same sign asked, ?What?s Wong with this picture??
Wong, who is also the executive director of Sudbury Developmental Services, was parachuted in to run the Espanola agency last year after financial problems arose with a previous administration.
She learned about the sign after getting a phone call from the security company guarding Espanola Community Living property during the strike.
Wong says she will be filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the union.
Race should have nothing to do with the dispute, she says.
CUPE does not tolerate racism in any form, and as soon as they heard about the sign, it was promptly removed from the picket line, says national
representative Michelle Loiselle.
?As soon as it came to our attention that there was one sign that was in existence...it was removed...The very premise of our being as a union is equality. From our national union perspective, we don?t tolerate or condone racism in any way, shape or form,? she says.
Loiselle says she thinks Wong is using allegations of racism to divert attention from the issues behind the strike.
?They?re trying to sensationalize this to try to draw attention away from the issues at hand. We?ve been steadily trying to get this employer back to the table. They?re not interested in it. We?re not that far apart on the issues,? she says.
The workers are looking for a four percent increase over two years, the same deal that was accepted by their Sudbury counterparts last month.
Loiselle says the sign was probably created because her members are frustrated with the agency?s administration.
?I have to be careful what I say because I don?t want to speak on behalf of someone else, but I think that the relationship in this workplace has been deteriorating steadily for the last 18 months. This strike is a result of the disfunction in the workplace.?
But Wong says that she would never use allegations of racism to minimize workers? issues.
?I don?t need diversionary tactics. I don?t use that style. I don?t use diversion from the main event. They still don?t get it that it?s wrong to do that.?
