Breadth of punishments 'astounding,' labour expert says Labour scholars were taken aback by AHS penalizing hundreds of workers allegedly involved in the protest. "When I first saw the number, it was — my jaw hit the desk. That's astounding," said Jason Foster, an associate professor of human resources and labour relations at Athabasca University. In past wildcat strikes, employers have focused their penalties on a few suspected ringleaders, or on the union representing the workers, he said. He said AHS doling out hundreds of letters of reprimand is unprecedented. "It's not about these 800 workers," he said. "I think it's a message being sent to all the other public-sector unions. That, 'We're not going to tolerate this.' "