Picket line
stories – day 6- 7
Boréal
(Source:
local 673 newsletter – trans. Paul Lau, staff)
Hearst
– Oh, no! The tiny little cell phone dropped deep into the gutter. Not
sure who will be getting up early and do the song and dance tomorrow.
Eh, Hearst, another day like yesterday! Not too cold, not too hot...a
lot of coffee, a lot of nice people pass by to encourage them (and who
give them more coffee!). The campus staff who feed them and show up at
the picket line to smoke, drink coffee and freeze with them.
A municipal
employee moved around the big machine to clean the sidewalk yesterday
and he returned this morning to make sure that the strikers do not have
slush or ice at their corner of the sidewalk. "Any small gesture will be
appreciated........Tomorrow is another day!"
Timmins
– The Timmins gang is fine, despite fatigue and back pain which everyone
starts to feel. The Timmins team is still up and running. Everyone is
present on the picket line at 7:30 a.m., ready for another day of strike
duty. We met a student from Northern College who marched with us. He
even carried one of our picket signs! The Timmins team has made the
decision to picket at New Liskeard on March 22. We want to extend the
invitation to the Nipissing team to join us.
Sudbury
– Gerry Lamy joined us on our picket line. We also want to thank several
members from the college. Among others, Nicole Simoneau who told us that
the co-op served them a good soup at noon yesterday and Bernard
Lafrenière also gave us quite a few donuts.
La Cité
(Source:
Local 470 newsletter – trans. Paul Lau)
Ottawa:
On this eighth day of the strike, we are fortunately not soaked in
pouring rain. However, the strikers have to bear with a strong wind
which blows sand to their faces and their eyes. Is this wind a sign that
events will finally turn in our favor or is it going to simply blow away
the rain? I am quite positive that things will turn out fine. The wind
blew all day and it even shook up our truck.
Just before
noon, at the Promenade de l’Aviation, the strikers got a visit rather
unexpected. They had the pleasure of seeing three deer holding up their
noses, trying to encourage them perhaps, or motivate them.
Northern
(Source:
Local 653)
Kirkland Lake:
It's 8:00 a.m. on picket duty
morning. The wind is howling, the snow is swirling, and the temperature
feels like minus 40. Ah, picket duty in northern
Ontario in March!!
Walking back and forth, to and fro on the strike line can be dangerous.
With wind chill factors and blowing snow, who ever created those
cardboard picket signs never sailed a sail boat on a blustery day.
When the wind catches the picket sign leisurely hanging on one's
shoulder, a precisely timed strong, freezing, gust of wind can send the
sign smashing against one's frozen face, and if one's freezing feet
aren't securely anchored and solidly planted to the frozen turf, the
wind will send one sliding onto the highway. In such a situation, the
cardboard picket sign is really a sail seeking wind direction!
Has
anyone at OPSEU (picket-sign engineers) ever thought about picketing
with flags? Much safer, easier to carry, and very cool and innovative.
After all, professors must be at the cutting edge of innovation.
Plus, flags flap in the wind and stand out proudly . . . think of our
Canadian flag blowing in the wind!!! It actually attracts attention,
exactly what we need and want. Of course, on those windless days,
picketers would be required to revert to the Picket Duty standard
symbol, the traditional cardboard sign.
A
manager wanders onto the picket line and asks: Can I get you anything,
coffee, doughnuts...? Local 653's reply: how about a strike settlement
soon!!! Thank you, very much.
Please send your
picket line stories to dcox@opseu.org
