Recommended reading:
Anita has put together a bibliography on pay equity, available on the Bargaining Resources page under “First Reads”. And have a look at the webpage for theCenter for Information Policy Research (University of Wisconsin)–they have a message of support at the top of their page. (There’s also a link to the page under “Solidarity and Support” on the Bargaining Resources page.)
If you play your cards right, you can dine with your brothers and sisters three timestomorrow (Tuesday). There will be a breakfast at Central from 7-8 by donation to the hardship fund, a potluck for the flying pickets at Collingwood at 9 (finger food only), and another potluck at Britannia around 9. Kitsilano is hosting their weekly lunchtime barbeque, and there will also be a potluck dinner at Central at 6:30.
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Stephanie reports from Kerrisdale:
This morning, “Belles on the Boulevard” launched their debut at Kerrisdale. Similar to Grandeur on Georgia, this way of engaging public attention is not new at Kerrisdale, but today is the first time we organized ourselves with a name, better signs, and more frequent, planned appearances. Being library workers, the Belles also felt compelled (perhaps pathologically so) to keep… statistics! We counted the total number of vehicles, and recorded how many of the drivers responded with supportive honking, waving, thumbs-upping, etc. Today’s statistics (from our 10:00 a.m.show): 34.2% of passing drivers declared their support! (As for negative, thumbs-down responses, those amounted to a mere 0.7%). Statistics for our 11:00 show were similarly positive, with 28.5% declaring their support (1.9% responding negatively).
There could be many ways to interpret these statistics. Based on the 10:00 a.m. traffic, The Belles prefer this spin: “Of those drivers who had a strong enough opinion, one way or another, to respond at all, drivers gave approximately thirty times more positive responses than negative ones.”
Please note that Belles on the Boulevard will be happy to adapt their name to a more gender-inclusive form whenever we are joined by male picketers. Suggested alternates include “Bastion” or “Bravado” on the Boulevard.
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See you out there tomorrow! –Janis