Death of longtime cleaner at SFU sparks calls to improve working conditions for janitorial staff

British ColumbiaDozens gathered at the Simon Fraser University (SFU) campus in Burnaby, B.C., Thursday to remember a 61-year-old custodian who died on shift, and to demand better working conditions for other contracted custodial workers.Kulbir Kaila, 61, died of a heart attack while working as a cleaner at SFU’s Burnaby campus in JulyCBC News · Posted: Oct 16, 2025 11:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoColleagues and friends of a custodian who died while working at Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus are calling on the university to improve working conditions for janitorial staff. (CBC )Dozens gathered at the Simon Fraser University (SFU) campus in Burnaby, B.C., Thursday to remember a 61-year-old custodian who died on shift, and to demand better working conditions for other contracted custodial workers.Kulbir Kaila suffered a heart attack during her shift at SFU’s Burnaby campus on July 28. Her family alleges the stress and workload she faced contributed to her death.“The workload was very immense and she had many areas to cover, and it involved a lot of moving from different buildings,” said Palbinder Johal, Kaila’s sister-in-law, noting that the campus’s size made the job especially demanding.Johal said Kaila, who had worked at SFU for nearly 20 years, was responsible for cleaning multiple buildings on campus, often moving between sites during the same shift.Kulbir Kaila, 61, spent nearly two decades as a custodial worker at Simon Fraser University. She died of a heart attack while on shift at SFU’s Burnaby campus on July 28, 2025. (CBC)Kaila’s niece, Gurpreet Samra, said she also noticed the strain her aunt was under.“She was a little stressed about the job as sometimes she will mention to me that she’s having a hard time here,” Samra said.Both Johal and Samra were among those who attended Thursday’s vigil, which was organized by Contract Worker Justice @SFU — a coalition of staff, students and faculty campaigning for an end to contracting out cleaning and food services at all three of the university’s campuses — and CUPE Local 3338, the union representing more than 1,200 clerical, technical, library and campus services employees at the university.Calls to stop using third-party contractorsShaneza Bacchus, president of CUPE Local 3338, said Kaila’s death highlights “the toll of heavy workloads and precarity” that contracted custodial workers face across SFU’s Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver campuses.She said workloads have grown since a series of layoffs last year.Last May, the university said it eliminated more than 80 positions across its campuses, citing budgetary challenges. The cuts affected instructors, administrative staff and custodial workers. “Many of these workers are marginalized, immigrant women and people of colour doing physically demanding jobs, many of them over 50,” Bacchus said. SFU’s cleaning work is contracted out to Best Service Pros, a Coquitlam-based company that specializes in janitorial and maintenance services.“We are calling on SFU to bring these workers in-house for dignity, equity, and safety in the workplace,” Bacchus said. “Our community is stronger when all workers are protected.”Concerns about working conditions for contracted employees on campus were at the centre of a 2022 report by Contract Worker Justice @SFU. It claimed that contracted cleaning and food-service workers at the university were being subjected to “unfair pay, unsafe practices, and undignified treatment.”The report called on the university to take responsibility for conditions faced by outsourced employees and to phase out contract work across all three campuses.WATCH | SFU’s projected deficit for 2025-2026:Simon Fraser University projects $20M deficit in 2025-26Simon Fraser University could be in the red next year. The school’s provost and chief budget officer Dilson Rassier spoke to the CBC’s Gloria Macarenko about how a reduction in international student admissions is impacting their bottom line.In a statement, the university said it is “deeply saddened by this tragic passing of a BEST worker.”“Maintaining safe and healthy learning and working environments is of paramount importance to the university,” the statement read. The university also said any questions about conditions for Best Service Pros cleaning workers should be directed to that organization. Best Service Pros did not respond to a CBC News request for comment.Messages written on cards during the vigil at SFU’s Burnaby campus honouring Kaila. (CBC)SFU says the incident is being investigated by WorkSafeBC and the B.C. Coroners Service, which will report on any findings.Kaila’s family say they hope her death prompts real change.“I think the company needs to re-evaluate and re-examine the workload,” Johal said.With files from Michelle Ghoussoub and Shaurya Kshatri