Dear present and former members of the Fort Henry Guard.
The following is a petition we wish to send to the Corporate SLPC and the Provincial Labor Board requesting a wage increase for the employees of the Fort Henry Museum, part of the St Lawrence Park Commission.

This is that letter: 

Fort Henry has been elected a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been open as a living museum and historic site since August 1938. It has been since a renowned attraction for visitors from around the world eager to discover the performance of the acclaimed Fort Henry Guard created by Ronald L. Way. Committed to sharing Canadian history with all, it is with students by his side that Ronald Way made the Guard come alive. 
To this day, the tradition remains. Canadian and international students commit their entire summer to Fort Henry's history, interpreting the drill squad, artillery detachments, Drums, and women of the garrison who were present in 1867. These interpretative roles require students to reenact and embody the garrison through the demonstration of a precise drill, music performances, knowledge about historical weapons, including guns and rifles, as well as the deliverance of guided tours and other programming in both English and French, describing the different lifestyles at Fort Henry during the Victorian era.

Being Guard also means training in uniform during hot and humid days, standing sentry under the sun, always providing the best tours to groups of up to 35 people, looking after the guests' safety and well-being during parades, artillery demonstrations, and throughout their visit at the Fort during the warmer days of the year. Only through the students' hard dedication can the best customer service be provided to our guests under such conditions.

A dedication that is being compromised by the low wages attributed as compensation for our commitment towards the Guard and the daily duties that come with being part of it.

Since it was reopened back in 2022, the fact of the matter is that the Guard (referring to Fort Henry's numerous interpretative departments) has severe difficulties in retention, barely being able to keep experienced staff for more than a year, especially considering that last year in 2023, the number of returnees was seven which makes it an 80% attrition rate. This attrition can be due to several factors, considering the nature of the job requires one to work in a high-stress environment that is extremely physically demanding, so it is understandable for interpreters to only be able to do a few summers' worths of work before moving on to a different career. 

However, one stark contrast compared to the interpreters of pre-COVID Fort Henry is that we are being placed at the same standard as those before Covid 19, performing all of our duties to the same extent, all while being paid a few cents over minimum wage. Not only is it demoralizing, especially when stories are passed around of how those before were able to pay off their entire tuition with one summer's worth of work, but it also makes it difficult for us in uniform to justify coming back to work another summer at the Fort as interpreter/ performance work, especially if you consider that the role is targeted towards young students who do not have a significant financial backing to support them through their studies. 

Not only is it difficult to retain workers for more than a single summer, but due to the nature of the Fort's operating season, it is incredibly time-consuming to train new employees to the same level. Upon joining the Fort Henry Guard, individuals are taught hundreds of hours of historic military drills, firearm safety, explosives safety, period-accurate tour guide information, and customer service skills, most of which are in the span of two weeks before it is open. This amount of training means that each individual in uniform is specialized in their own way, thus making them extremely valuable in the Fort's day-to-day operations and worth more than making $ 17.40/per hour as it is tough for individuals to receive the same level of training while within the season. Additionally, as the summer goes on and they become more in tune with how the fort functions, and by learning the more minor details about their training, they become even more valuable next year as once they come back, they require little to no training compared to new employees which allows the Fort to have earlier opportunities for more extensive demonstrations and sunset ceremonies. This added value makes each employee more of an investment than other work environments, and vice versa, which means that when the individual only stays one summer or less, it is a considerable loss of value to the Fort. And when you add that thought to the fact that the Fort Henry Guard has an attrition rate of 80% as of last year, that is a tremendous loss of time and potential revenue for the Fort and the wider SLPC. 

Finally, it is time to discuss the benefits of increasing wages and how it will positively impact the Fort and the broader area of Kingston. All the employees who have backed this petition identify pay as a colossal benefactor in returning after their first year, which means that, as mentioned above, if the pay is increased, more people return. Still, we believe that the return rate for a wage increase of even 5%-7% would decrease our attrition rate for next year by at least 20%, meaning that the Guard would feel more value for the effort they put in, and considering the common saying is that the lower echelons of the Guard get paid minimum wage plus danger pay, it's evident that this would increase the quality of workplace overall as well. 
 
Secondly, should this occur, Fort's profitability would increase drastically if we examined the entertainment value. The most significant issue regarding regular programming at the Fort is that there are not enough employees to do many of the more substantial programming events regularly, and those programs that do go out are often cut down to make them more manageable to an already overburdened staff. By simply having more employees participate in these events, they are able to be their original size and thus allow the Fort Henry Guard to attempt new feats to entice the public. This notion is especially true in the sunset ceremonies as if we have higher retention and more staff to handle them, we can use more equipment at once, and the show lineups can be larger. This makes it more attractive to the crowd, and then more people want to show up to shows like a sunset ceremony, leading to more sunset ceremonies, which means drastically more ticket sales. 

In light of Fort Henry's national significance and its Guard, we ask for a re-evaluation of the wages of the interpretative employees and support staff so that Fort Henry can be garrisoned for many summers to come. This job has in many ways impacted mine and most other current and former Guard members' lives and as shown by the broad support of this petition, we ask you to consider our story and attempt to boost wages to those who work in the fort's walls next year. This will allow them to feel more valued for their work and let this community grow for many decades to come.