I Walk the Line

So, today was the first day of the teachers' mini-strike.  This is my first experience as a unionized worker and thus on strike.  I got my first taste of the picket demonstration line today.  The LRB ruling said that we were not allowed to picket, so we were demonstrating instead.  What's the difference you ask?  A demonstration doesn't block access to the employers work site. 

Here are a few thoughts from my first day of picketing demonstrating:

1.  While demonstrating may seem like a great idea to the 80% of the membership that lives in the more temperate Lower Mainland, it sucks in the north.  There was a -24 degrees C windchill today and we had to walk the line for 2 hours.  It was 7 degrees with light rain in the south.

2.  Picketing/demonstrating is very boring.  I enjoy walking, but when you don't actually go anywhere, it really sucks the fun out of it.

3.  Most people support our action or are kind enough to politely ignore us as they drive by.

4.  Picket demonstration signs were not designed for high wind environments.  Our signs were made of thick paper and when the wind caught them they acted like a sail.  Sometimes the paper just tore off, and sometimes the sign took a kamikaze dive toward your head or someone unlucky enough to be near you.

5.  Some people are just plain nice.  We had coffee given to us by Patch Java, a local coffee shop.  The girl said they could see us from their windows and we looked cold.

6.  Staying warm takes a lot out of you.  I'm a bit wasted and Jen is down for a nap.  I can't imagine what it would be like if we had to freeze for 4 or 8 ours.

8.  $50 a day in strike pay is just not enough.  Especially when the union will want it back at the end of the month as "union dues".

Tomorrow we get to take our demonstration downtown for part of our shift, so maybe I'll have some more stories to tell.