Several employees at the UBC Aquatic Centre have come forward with complaints of low pay, understaffing and managerial inaction on employee concerns.
Lifeguards and supervisors have seen little movement on their demands, despite being represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 116. In a statement to The Ubyssey, UBC Aquatic Centre said it values feedback from lifeguards, is doing its best to deal with understaffing and is negotiating with the union about pay.
AJ has worked at the Aquatic Centre since September 2016, starting first as a lifeguard and then moving to a supervisor role in 2019. He asked to remain partially anonymous because he is worried about calling out the university in a public fashion and potentially affecting his future academic prospects.
He pointed out the stark gap between the standard wage for the lifeguard industry and what he has been paid for the past five years. The average hourly salary for a lifeguard at the City of Vancouver is around $27 per hour, but according to AJ and a salary chart obtained by The Ubyssey, guards in high-ranking positions at UBC barely make $20 an hour.
“I’ve worked 3,000 hours at the Aquatic Centre. If I worked the same amount at the city, I would’ve made $21,000 more,” he said.
AJ said that wage negotiations have been ongoing since March 2019, and since then, their salaries have only risen to keep up with the pace of inflation.
Alyona, who has worked at the centre since 2020, said she believes she is not being compensated fairly for her work. Alyona has also requested anonymity due to worries about future employment opportunities.
AJ and Alyona stressed that the job comes with substantial costs — by some estimates, the full price to earn and maintain lifeguard certifications can be up to $2,000 dollars.
Aside from the various certifications one has to pay to complete before even applying for the job, annual recertifications are necessary to maintain these credentials and keep their positions.
Alyona said that in her most recent contract, management agreed to provide recertification courses for free at the Aquatic Centre for staff who’ve worked over 400 hours. She said that this promise has not been honoured. The contract obtained by The Ubyssey states as such, but with an extra clause: "provided space is available."
Both Alyona, AJ and a third staff member confirmed that staff are only able to attend the course for free if six people from the public sign up, but so far, this hasn’t happened and staff have had to pay out of pocket for recertification.
In a statement, Stephane Delisle, senior manager, programs & operations at the UBC Aquatic Centre said the centre “encourages open communication and dialogue with our student-staff.” He did not comment on the recertification complaints from employees.
Delisle said that the university has been in negotiations with CUPE Local 116 since 2020 to determine a classification structure for positions in the Aquatic Centre, as set out in their collective agreement.
CUPE Local 116 did not reply to multiple requests for comment from The Ubyssey.
“That work is ongoing and was slowed by the impacts of the pandemic. As the parties near conclusion, we hope that the results will ease some of the concerns employees have about the fairness of the current classification system and how it compensates them for the work performed,” Delisle said.
Understaffing leads to overworking
Staff said that their workload is strenuous.
Alyona said that there are consistent problems with having enough lifeguards on-site to keep up with all the programming scheduled. Staff often have had to skip their breaks because there isn’t enough coverage, she said.
“You’re expected to deliver the same product with fewer people in a shorter time frame,” AJ said. “We’ll go above and beyond, far exceeding what we are paid, in order to get the job done because if it’s not, someone we care about suffers.”
These problems are emerging in the midst of a lifeguard shortage. Some public pools have been forced to operate at reduced capacity or even close their doors due to lifeguard shortages.
Delisle admitted that the Aquatic Centre has been affected by the lifeguard and instructor shortage, but that safety remains a top priority. He wrote that management works with the Athletics and Recreation Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, UBC Safety and Risk Services, Local Safety Team and the Local Working Committee “to safeguard the health and safety of all UBC Aquatic Centre program participants, employees, users and guests.”
Delisle said the centre “regularly review[s] and adjust[s] programming to ensure that safety standards are either met or exceeded.
“When specific safety measures cannot be met, programming/sessions are adjusted or cancelled accordingly,” he wrote.
Disconnect between staff and admin
Management hasn’t taken the concerns seriously, according to all three staff members. They said they’ve all made repeated efforts to ask management to address several issues but have yet to receive satisfactory responses.
According to Alyona, management was dismissive when concerns were raised about their new uniforms, which were made of semi-transparent material. Several female employees said that they were uncomfortable wearing these uniforms as early as September, according to Alyona, AJ and a third staff member, but alternative uniforms weren't promised until late November. They have still not been provided.
AJ added that even these changes were not made accessible to all staff, only those who came forward with complaints received new uniforms. He also said that asking for help with scheduling and staffing over the years has largely “fallen on deaf ears.”
The Aquatic Centre did not respond to specific allegations in its statement.
Mack Lott, a staff member who was fired, said he played a key role in working closely with both management and staff as a head guard. Lott said he was fired for butting heads with management and “raising things in a way that seemed confrontational.”
Lott, who worked at the Centre in 2018, and then again for a short stint in 2021, often sat in on meetings with the administration. He said that he saw a general disconnect between administrative staff, many of whom lack a professional background in aquatics, and lifeguards, who are mostly young students who are too afraid to speak up against their superiors.
Lott said that he believes the administration team is sincere in “their devotion to the public” and providing as much programming to them as possible.
“They are slightly overzealous in their pursuit of that goal, because it often gets accomplished at the cost of the staff,” Lott said.
However, Delisle said staff concerns and feedback are taken seriously. “To that end, we actively solicit feedback from student-staff and there are various formal and informal avenues to share concerns with leadership.”
“We value their feedback and continue to pursue a rewarding on-campus work environment,” Delisle said.
AJ said that consultation and concrete action would go a long way in terms of addressing the facility’s problems.
“It’s like they’re walking around with horse blinders on, at some point someone’s gonna get hurt because of what’s going on,” AJ said.
“Is anything gonna change? Is anyone gonna help us? Or is it gonna take something bad happening for someone to wake up and realize this isn’t actually working?”
Update March 8 at 3:25 p.m.: This article has been updated to correct that the staff have still not received alternate uniforms.