Hot Tubbin' For Justice

This year marks the 35th Anniversary of the Solidarity Coalition and Operation Solidarity in BC. In August, my friends Sarah and Dionne and I went on a walking tour with David York and Rod Mickleburgh (created by the BC Labour Heritage Centre) to walk the path the 50,000 workers and allies walked in 1983, to learn their story. Throughout the tour we were treated to historical reenactments along the way - including the firing of civil servants in Prince George and the fight back when all those people took to the streets. I was 2 years old in 1983 so I don't remember this event at all but I do remember growing up and hearing about how shady the So Creds were. As I learn more and more about the event, I am in awe how strategic the organizers were in getting the unions and community group united in the fight back against the government and the plan to shut down the province.  What is this all about? Here's the short version. In 1983, the Socred Government introduced 26 oppres...

My friend Julie and I attended the v. 26 of the Pecha Kucha Vancouver series titled: Women Transforming Cities .  The Vogue Theatre was ram jammed with people - yep I said people. While the audience was mostly made up of women I was pleasantly surprised at the number of men attending this session. Our seats were fairly high up but we got a clear view of the stage. A band called Onelife was playing and they were great!  The line up of presenters was really eclectic and I was excited to see the evening unfold. I have never been to a pecha kucha before - the format is 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each so each presentation is just over 6 minutes long. The evening started with a bang with Ellen Woodsworth. A former city councillor and founder of COPE she asked us all - what is your dream for an idea city for women and girls? She was followed by Chantelle Buffie and Sonam Swurup - two young and passionate firecrackers who were described as having "private sector brains" a...

This afternoon, I left my apartment with the intention of going for a walk in Kitsilano to do a little bit of Christmas shopping. As I approached the bus stop I noticed the Vancouver Police Department had blocked off the intersection at Broadway and Fir. It wasn't very clear what was going on so I walked down to get a closer look to check out the situation. The closer I got I realized that it was a protest march - and then I saw the familiar shade of fuschia poking out of the crowd - the CUPE flag! There was a float at the front along with the vibrant sounds of a dixieland band and the marchers carried signs, black coffins and banners in support of the Rainer Hotel . It was a strong image that was tasteful and and a great example of the power of respectful civil disobedience. Well organized and well planned - mad props to CUPE 1004 for organizing. Marching along Broadway - what a procession! I ran into one of the exec members of CUPE 1004 and asked wha...

Toronto is Vancouver’s older brother. You know, just a little more sophisticated, a little more eclectic, a little more urban, a little more experienced…just not as good looking. I love Vancouver but the vibe of Toronto is electric. I’ve visited as a tourist and this time I feel like I got the insider’s scoop – where I finally saw the real Toronto (once we got there). We left Halifax at 6am, caught the flight to Toronto (a bit of a hiccup with the airline delayed us in Ottawa for about a half hour or so). Once we got there we hit the ground running. Something cool – we had our own chartered TTC bus – awesome, union bus drivers taking us around the city! Holla! We stop at Toronto City Hall (a protest was just starting as we walked in – some of us left wing rowdies wanted to join in). We went straight into the City Council chambers and met with the Chief City Planner and had a quick presentation about what Toronto’s civic priority is…transportation. I got to sit right in front of Mik...

Every January the Canadian Labour Congress holds its Pacific Winter School in Harrison Hot Springs. It's an opportunity for all affiliated unions and labour councils to send delegates to take courses like Collective Bargaining, Arbitration, Provincial Labour Law, Health and Safety, Leadership, Steward Training, Facing Management, Union Counselling to name a few (or a lot, haha). Most courses are very practical and have lots of role plays - everything from mock bargaining sessions to mock hearings at the Labour Relations Board. It's a lot of work in class and then a lot of group work in the evenings.  Last week I took Collective Bargaining Level 1  - the introduction to the Collective Bargaining process. The unions represented in our class were CUPE, BCGEU, UFCW, USW, BCFMWU, IAFIAW and the BCTF. Our instructors were seasoned negotiators and staff reps from the BCGEU and the IBEW. We spent the week talking about the process of collective bargaining and our instructors sha...