Accounts of sex assaults in B.C. tree planter camps 'deeply disturbing' - CBC News

[newb]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... -1.5446211

[kingjames_2nd]

Probably this shit happens in planting camps all over because it happens in society all over but I got to say I never heard even a whisper of anything improper with regard to sexual misconduct in all my time. Like I said probably this shit was happening but they kept it reaaaal quiet. Probably as quiet as we kept the safety violations so that we could keep working. Like watching the Forman or camp supervisor roll a truck into a ditch. No biggy, it’s planting.

[jdtesluk]

I interpret your "no biggy" comment as an observation that these things have just being overlooked and taken for granted as part of the scene (not as you dismissing the situation). You are entirely correct that it happens all over society. However, planting is very different because you have an essentially captive workforce in an isolated location. Many of the workers, as you know, are young people just out of the next, who are suddenly isolated from parent and peer-support networks, and who are feeling (as rookies) significant pressure to succeed and endure the job. Add a bit of drugs and alcohol to the party night, and a lack of any real security outside a tent zipper, and you have a very very different scene than most workplaces. I have repeatedly argued that it's not the people - it's the circumstances. Planters are no different and not necessarily any better, and there are some serious creeper repeat-offenders in our midst.

As for keeping it quiet, that is somewhat due to a mix of wilfull blindness by some employers, true lack of awareness with others, and a lack of willingness to report by victims. It is one thing to report a problem in a conventional workplace with organized HR resources and all the support agencies you find in a city. It's entirely different in the woods, where little of that exists, where companies programs for reporting may be somewhat limited and insufficient, and where reporting may automatically entail the potential of a rumor-mill in the camp.

Indeed, many people and many crews have not witnessed any of this kind of crap. However, I can pretty much guarantee that this assault and harassment has happened in pretty much every decent-sized company out there. After talking to employers and workers at the majority of companies in the province, I can verify that I have not yet found one that has been untouched by this.

The positive thing is how responsive the vast majority of employers and workers have been so far. In so many other industries, there is a strong streak of denial and a tendency to stick heads in the sand and say "not my problem", or "not a problem here". However, I have been thus far surprised at how open employers are to dealing with this issue openly, holding workshops, revising their training, and confronting this issue at their conference. Even the Facebook dialogue among workers on this issue is profoundly different than what I have witnessed in other social media settings (having followed this issue academically at a number of different levels).

The industry clearly has its vulnerabilities. But it also seems to have some other positive characteristics that I think will allow us to make positive changes quickly, and without having to rip apart the things that everyone likes about the job.

[LiconC]

To jump on to Jordan's comment about "its not the people", I would have to agree (for the most part). A lot of the sexual assault training that I have encountered revolves around people-focused training such as consent, communication, and the disarming of our tendencies to behave in certain ways as programmed through gender-role socialization--things like power imbalances between the genders that might manifest as a man taking advantage of a woman, for instance. I think that, in order to create a more equal society, of course we need to work on those things. However, I think that the sexual training currently in place overlooks a much more low-hanging fruit: Alcohol.

I think there are very few people who are willing to engage in a sexual assault while sober. However, some people are willing/ simply will do it while intoxicated. So, in this hypothetical, what is the difference between a good situation and a very bad situation? Alcohol. Alcohol makes us myopic--it makes the things directly in front of us more important than the things conceptually far away, such as future consequences. It also undermines our ability to communicate effectively, which is one of the most essential pillars of respectful interaction (the goal of all the current training). And yet no one talks seriously about alcohol, and there are few, if any, substantial hedges on its use in camp. I personally have never heard of any other industry that allows "wet" camps--booze in planting camps is an anomaly and a privilege, and I think we know this, which makes us want to keep quiet about it; We all love the freedom to be able to enjoy a beer after work on a night-off, so why make noise about it and loose such a fine and rare perk to this brutal job? People also neglect/ are quiet wrt to this issue due to a financial incentive (this is especially the case for companies that hire lots of rookie planters)--'come out for the craziest experience of your life, make a ton of cash, make amazing friends, and have crazy bush parties that you will never forget'... this is pretty much the marketing fantasy sold by most larger companies, and it has alcohol use INTEGRATED into it... not strongly so, but implicitly for sure. Alcohol is a problem regarding sexual assault and also accidental sexual assault (resulting from miscommunication, such as the famous Stanford rape case with the varsity swimmer and the sorority girl). It puts people in a vulnerable place. This is bad. However, these concerns must compete with the financial incentive and the status-quo regarding planting culture. As such, management in most of these companies will most likely act reactively rather than proactively. The treeplanting way, for the most part, is: don't fix something unless it is noticeably/ problematically broken. As such, it seems like things arent going to change until something really bad happens. And all the necessary ingredients are currently in place for that to occur. And especially with this new article from CBC, the planting industry is RIPE for a brutal, brutal roasting by the media should something occur and become high-profile. Companies be warned.

[Scooter]

Maybe there is an opportunity for a company to promote one of their camps being a dry camp? How would such a situation be enforced, if the entire camp is advertised to be a no-alcohol-permitted worksite from the start, and if all workers and potential workers are warned in advance?

I'm not judging whether this would be a good or bad thing. I'm simply wondering what would happen if this sort of camp existed and planters/applicants were made aware of its existence. Would that camp have a hiring edge from a workforce that seeks a more professional environment?

I think it would be a detriment "overall" in the sense that if half the industry was dry and half was wet, the majority of applicants would gravitate toward the wet camps. But if we assume that there are about 75-80 bush camps in western Canada, and if only one or two advertised as being dry camps, I bet those couple camps would fill up pretty quickly with people who want to avoid camps that implicitly or explicitly endorse the presence and consumption of alcohol. I know that there are a number of people in my camp who simply don't partake. That number is small, but even if it's only 5-6 people out of 75 people in the camp, that's still 6-8% of the population.

[jdtesluk]

LiconC great comment. That really is a bit of an elephant in the room, and you are right to point it out. I will be taking this up with the safety committee.
Not only does alcohol impact the behavior of perpetrators, but is also can negatively impact the ability of victims to recall key information to support a potential investigation.

I see plenty of been in logging camps (some, but not all), in fruit-picking, and in recreation (i.e. rafting companies). The thing that really stands out is the celebrations and parties, where getting lit up is a "thing". Most companies have year-enders of some sort, but some have benders or a portion of the camp going Fubar on a regular basis. I have noticed some companies tightening up a bit around this, but you are right to point out the lax attitude that many have around this issue.

In motel, hotel, and lodge jobs there are limits on what a company can do from a pure authority standpoint. In camps, they definitely have more power and it really is a matter of how far they can go before they deter workers from coming out AND what types of reactive behavior we may see. Remember, a company cannot hold workers captive in camps, and the alternate to wet camps may be workers funneling into town in their own vehicles to get their party on, and that can invite it's own raft of disaster.

Companies likely see a double-bind here. They need to be more observant and monitor situations where harassment may occur, BUT they also don't want to be taking responsibility for being party police either in terms of legal responsibility nor driving away workers. There have been some helpful suggestions about what can be done in the meantime - having some people watching out on party nights...crew discussions before nights off to ensure boundaries are understood....stricter limits on camp conduct to deter heavy partying.

There is no clear and easy solution, but this NEEDS to be part of the conversation moving forward. I thank you and will be adding a slide to some of my future presentations to address this.

[Gingerplanter]

What about the abuse of power and manipulation? I have seen many males in position of power prey on young women in camp. Locker room shit like bragging about breaking of the trucks 'oh shit handle' while fucking an 18 year old rookie. Another was sleeping with and 18 year old rookie while having a 12 week old baby at home. Both will probably read this. All the booze aside the Trump mentality of 'grabbing them by the pussy' is real and prevelant.

[Scooter]

Probably one of the biggest tragedies (for our industry) of the COVID problem is that it diverted attention from this issue. The media attention in late January may have painted the industry in a negative light, but it was necessary and valuable because it forced the industry to come to terms with the problem and to start to move forward. A lot of good work was being done by some companies in February and early March, but that (and everything else) saw less attention after the pandemic began to threaten to derail the season.

Companies need to figure out how to focus on this and other non-pandemic issues again. We can't use the pandemic as an excuse to delay dealing with this until 2021. Changes have to happen now.

[JonCedarteeth]

I agree. I also worry about individuals being put in uncomfortable/dangerous situations in a heavily isolated camp. Having worked a few isolation camps both heli coastal and heli Alberta I know people get in weird head spaces. I could foresee isolation for a couple months (or more) leading to assaults not to be addressed. In particular I could see assaulter not being let go a supervisor needs their production (not a novel situation). If we are stuck out there everyone needs to feel safe. And management needs to fire people who make anyone feel unsafe. This is something I hope management is cognizant of.