Building connections in the community

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HEU member in front of St Pauls Hospital

Brandon Houston grew up in a union household and credits his mother, an HEU care aide and activist, with providing a strong moral compass.

“Being a social justice union was kind of put into the vernacular pretty early on in our family – how we feel politically, and what’s right and wrong.”

So, when Brandon took a job as a receiver at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, he soon ended up becoming a shop steward in his Seven Shining Stars local.

As a steward, Brandon says, “there’s a lot of wrongs that need to be righted on a daily basis.”  

His passion for fighting injustice isn’t confined to his workplace. And working at St. Paul’s in the heart of downtown, he sees the effects of social inequality every day.

“One of the biggest problems we have in this city is a lack of housing. The working class are kind of getting pushed out of the city. And beyond Vancouver, the whole province is struggling to get by. If you’re a regular working class person and you have some mental health issues or addiction issues, then it’s been hard.”

Brandon’s community activism centres around supporting residents of “tent cities” to organize themselves and fight for change. He admits it can be a polarizing issue, but believes housing is a basic human right.

Working at St. Paul’s, Brandon and his co-workers see the impact of poverty every day, from the tent communities around the building, to patients with complex issues related to substance use and mental health.

“If someone’s homeless, obviously they’re more vulnerable to the elements. They get sick. They come to the hospital. It makes work harder for all our members. So, there is a very plain-sight correlation.

“They’re sick from the conditions of being homeless, and now they’re in the hospital. If we can set up systems in place to prevent that, we’ll see our workload and stress levels come down.”

Brandon is one of more than 4,000 hospital support workers returning in-house this year. When that happens, he’s considering applying for a job working directly with patients.

When asked about a common thread between his activism in the union and in the community, Brandon describes it as solidarity.

“I learned that word in the union. When I’m talking to community members or people that are organizing, I always try and preach that solidarity is the way to go. This is a very human thing. When we get together, we create a bit of an energy and people can hear us louder.

“When police are showing up and you’re sitting in solidarity with unhoused people and Indigenous Elders, the police can look pretty threatening. But you kind of look around and sit in solidarity with all those people. You gain strength from it.” 

From The HEU Guardian, Spring 2022 - by Elaine Littmann