strike19
Day 19 – Someone is wrong, it’s not really a good time to visit Toronto. I want to that try Fuze drink now…

They say if you don’t like something, then try to change it. I’m not crazy enough to think I could influence any parties on either side of the strike, but I can do something about the way I strike. I don’t like marching at City Hall, it’s useless, I certainly didn’t like Seaton House either. But I did like what our group was doing at Old City Hall, not only did we not block any entrances, but we were able to talk with the public, give them the information we had available and have a sense of purpose. We had the only person in charge I have liked during my many different strike locations too, which made it a lot more bearable to go and march. I’ll call that group my Strike Family.

So this morning I decided to try and do something about it. It all started while I was in line to sign in. The art show at City Hall was in full swing already and artists were setting up everywhere. There was a tent right next to where we were with lots of pieces on the ground as they were starting to put up walls to exhibit their pieces. One angry man behind me started voicing his “concerns” loudly about how much space they were using with their material on the ground while trying to get ready:

Angry Man: “Try to keep your crap in the area they gave you. It’s dangerous lying around like that.”
Artist: “It will all be removed very soon, don’t worry”
Angry Man: “If one of us hurt themselves by tripping over it, you’ll hear about it”

It was my time to sign in, so I did and when I finished, I walked the 2 steps to the artist’s tent:

Me: “Don’t let any of them bully you around, I know you’ve paid to be here.”
Artist: “Thanks man!”

And I walked away, hoping I showed this bystander of the strike that not everyone encourages conflicts… I was really pissed off at that angry man for acting like this, and once again, I was surrounded by negative people.

I found some members of my Strike Family and after chatting a bit with them, one guy asked about strike pay as he had still not receive anything yet. I offered to go with him to Local 79′s head office to try and fix this. I’m a curious guy, I also really wanted to see what went on there during the strike. I found an “ant farm” of activity… People everywhere, some making picket signs, some answering phones, some helping with forms, etc. We found a person that assisted us with the missing payment and while they were discussing this, I started talking to another person, asking if anything new had happened in the last 24 hours and such. It was clear that we are at an impasse still, and that both sides are not moving. But, as the strike continues, more members who thought they’d weather it hoping for only 2 weeks of strike, are starting to come and join the picketers rank, we now have 1/3 of the membership on the picket line, which is huge considering the lower numbers in the first week… We went from 3500 to 6000 members registered for picket duty in one week. If anything it is sending a stronger message.

While I was there, we also talked about different options and I told him how much I liked my strike captain at Old City Hall and how I’d like to get that same group to go together at another location, that we felt lost amidst all the different groups of City Hall. He said I couldn’t have asked at a better time, there were plenty of new locations they wanted to start having presence at. And just like that I had negotiated a new location for us starting next Monday… I talked to my ex strike captain, she was all for it, we spent the next hour walking around finding our old group and spreading the word, and voila, smiles all around. Of course, I’d rather we all went back to work instead, but if this has to go on, I’d rather choose who I march with and where. And that’s how I changed something I didn’t like.

By the way, if you can, go see the art show at City Hall this weekend, it’s fantastic. I walked around it a bit today and need to go see it all.

But for now, since I’ve put a lot of my regular serial posts on hold with this extremely long strike, here is something FROM Toronto that is not garbage at all. Possibly my favourite Canadian band, and another reason why I’m glad I grew up in the 80′s:

C’mon everyone, let’s all sing together, it’s the weekend:
And I’ll rest
Rest in your Nova Heart
At ease with the thought
That this Nova won’t burn out

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