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blogcutterSeptember 2021 marks a number of significant anniversaries and as we head into the Labour Day weekend, I'd like to highlight one in particular: the 30th anniversary of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) general strike.
At that time, I was working part-time at the Labour Canada Library, Place du Portage Phase II in Hull, while also studying part-time towards a Masters in Public Administration from Carleton. As a member of the LS (Library Science) group, I belonged to a PSAC union local, so I was out there on the picket lines and on Parliament Hill. Through sheer numbers, we brought traffic to a virtual standstill in downtown Ottawa and Hull.
I had been dreading those 6:30 AM line-walking shifts as well as the loss of income at a crucial stage of my family- and career-building life. I would end the day feeling physically and emotionally drained. But I was pleasantly surprised by the extent of public support. The Federal Public Service is the region's largest employer, after all. Moreover, a lot of folks were fed up with Mulroney cosying up to Reagan and failing to stand up for Canada's sovereignty and overall best interests in crafting the sweeping Free Trade Agreement.
That's not to say everyone was on our side, of course. The Ottawa Sun totally lacked any understanding of the logistics of labour-management relations, implying that those on the picket line, even the polite ones exercising their legal rights, were a bunch of criminal hoodlums. But here's a fairly middle-of-the-road account from one of Canada's best known news magazines:
https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1991/9/23/saying-no-to-zero
At the international level, however, the Employer managed to earn some pretty strong disapproval from the ILO for disregarding our freedom of association and collective bargaining rights:
http://white.lim.ilo.org/spanish/260ameri/oitreg/activid/proyectos/actrav/sindi/english/casos/can/can199207.html
As was inevitable, we were legislated back to work. We probably made a few token gains in terms of job security. We may even have earned a little grudging respect. But the long-standing pay equity dispute was not settled until eight years later. But enough of that for now.
The organization I am highlighting for this Labour Day weekend edition of Phirst Phriday Philanthropy is the Workers History Museum:
https://workershistorymuseum.ca/
There's a wealth of resources on the site although interestingly enough, I couldn't find anything marking this important anniversary in local, national and even international history. It looks as if the museum also has a physical site downtown on Bank Street and I intend to check that out soonish.
Finally a word about Phirst Phriday Philanthropy, which is the successor to my Philanthropic Phridays. I've been pondering for a while the best way of winding down the weekly series because while the pandemic is not over, I'm moderately optimistic that we're seeing the beginning of a better normal, delta variant notwithstanding.
So effective today, this will be a monthly series, appearing on the first Friday of every month. I'll carry on this way until at least March 2022, the two-year anniversary of the initial lockdown. Then we'll see.
Stay tuned for Phirst Phriday Philanthropy #2 on October 1.
At that time, I was working part-time at the Labour Canada Library, Place du Portage Phase II in Hull, while also studying part-time towards a Masters in Public Administration from Carleton. As a member of the LS (Library Science) group, I belonged to a PSAC union local, so I was out there on the picket lines and on Parliament Hill. Through sheer numbers, we brought traffic to a virtual standstill in downtown Ottawa and Hull.
I had been dreading those 6:30 AM line-walking shifts as well as the loss of income at a crucial stage of my family- and career-building life. I would end the day feeling physically and emotionally drained. But I was pleasantly surprised by the extent of public support. The Federal Public Service is the region's largest employer, after all. Moreover, a lot of folks were fed up with Mulroney cosying up to Reagan and failing to stand up for Canada's sovereignty and overall best interests in crafting the sweeping Free Trade Agreement.
That's not to say everyone was on our side, of course. The Ottawa Sun totally lacked any understanding of the logistics of labour-management relations, implying that those on the picket line, even the polite ones exercising their legal rights, were a bunch of criminal hoodlums. But here's a fairly middle-of-the-road account from one of Canada's best known news magazines:
https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1991/9/23/saying-no-to-zero
At the international level, however, the Employer managed to earn some pretty strong disapproval from the ILO for disregarding our freedom of association and collective bargaining rights:
http://white.lim.ilo.org/spanish/260ameri/oitreg/activid/proyectos/actrav/sindi/english/casos/can/can199207.html
As was inevitable, we were legislated back to work. We probably made a few token gains in terms of job security. We may even have earned a little grudging respect. But the long-standing pay equity dispute was not settled until eight years later. But enough of that for now.
The organization I am highlighting for this Labour Day weekend edition of Phirst Phriday Philanthropy is the Workers History Museum:
https://workershistorymuseum.ca/
There's a wealth of resources on the site although interestingly enough, I couldn't find anything marking this important anniversary in local, national and even international history. It looks as if the museum also has a physical site downtown on Bank Street and I intend to check that out soonish.
Finally a word about Phirst Phriday Philanthropy, which is the successor to my Philanthropic Phridays. I've been pondering for a while the best way of winding down the weekly series because while the pandemic is not over, I'm moderately optimistic that we're seeing the beginning of a better normal, delta variant notwithstanding.
So effective today, this will be a monthly series, appearing on the first Friday of every month. I'll carry on this way until at least March 2022, the two-year anniversary of the initial lockdown. Then we'll see.
Stay tuned for Phirst Phriday Philanthropy #2 on October 1.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-03 08:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-04 11:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-09-07 01:24 pm (UTC)I think I was there for a Pride Week kids' craft and story thing, because what better location for that? (And Ten Oaks was in the building at that point).