Note: Due to extremely frustrating technical difficulties, this blog is overdue. Just read it as if tomorrow is today, and today is yesterday.
Hello all!
The bargaining committee has been making the rounds of all the branches over the past few days to give the troops a little sense of where we find ourselves at this time and to get a sense of how everyone is doing out there on the lines. We know how hard this has been and how much harder it may become, but we are so gladdened by the good spirits and sense of determination we get from you all and want to say again how much we appreciate your strength. The strength of the bargaining committee is echoed by your strength and personally, I’ve discovered that I can now lift a car with one finger. Or something like that.
We continue to anticipate a call from our employer so we can meet and get a response from them to the last offer we put on the table. The last time we met was Friday and we don’t want to have to wait much longer. We all deserve to have this process expedited, not delayed any further.
Today the crowds at Central were treated to poetry readings from the World Poetry Group. They meet once a month at the library and decided they wouldn’t let the strike interrupt this tradition but come down anyway to show their support for our cause and to demonstrate their solidarity with us. Thanks to them from the bottom of our hearts.
We also had a visit from an Australian sister who spent many years on the picket lines and active in her unions back home. Thank you Anne for your encouraging words to our members on the lines and if we made your day then you surely made ours.
Tomorrow we can look forward to a Barbecue at Central. Kerrisdale get their juices flowing with a barbecue on Wednesday. More are in the works, we will keep you posted.
Any long distance runners and avid cyclist please take note, we are adding a new dimension to the job of “runner”. We are now looking for folks who would be willing to use their bodies to courier materials to and from locations; mostly between Central, the office and strike headquarters. If you are interested in this new eco-friendly position, please speak with your picket captains or contact the registration desk at Central.
A call is also being put out for members wishing to picket at Champlain. There are already some folks interested and they are anxious to see it become a reality. Please leave your name at the registration desk at Central in person or phone in to Central through your picket captain.
The knitters for solidarity have collected over 80 fabulous handmade hats for donation to the Downtown Eastside. Anyone wishing to aid this incredible grassroots group can do so with donations of wool, yarn and needles. These can be brought down to Central or to Kerrisdale.
If folks haven’t already noticed Cupe 391 has a new look to our webpage. Many thanks to Chris Jang, Eric Stainsby and company for all their wonderful work on our electronic communications. The goal for each individual member this evening is to forward the link to our webpage to at least five friends. It is hoped that each of our great videos will have had one thousand views by tomorrow. It can be done! They are already so close.
Always remember how important it is to stay positive out there on the lines. There is a lot of information out there in the media that can get us down. Often this is the objective. Remember always that what we do we do because it is right. Every step that is taken out on the pavement, every click of the knitting needle is a move towards reaching our goals. As Mahatma Gandhi once said:
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”