Saturday, August 20, 2005
A gathering of angry strikers was charged by a wall of armed company thugs on horseback. One miner was wounded & trampled by horses. Gilbert Watson was shot in the stomach. William Davis was fatally shot through the heart.
Growing up in Cape Breton I was always aware of Davis Day (celebrated on June 11th by union employees and those who reside in towns with a strong connection to mining), but never quite certain about what exactly it represented. It seemed to be a remnant of a dying industry. It anchored us to our past and kept us paralyzed with nostalgia.
I was never taught a thing about Davis Day in school, I went to school in the city, Davis Day belonged to the poor towns that couldn't look to the future. The disdain wasn't explicit, but I learned it. I'm sure it contributed to my apathetic attitude towards unions and labour struggles. It's easy to romanticize the visions in songs like "Which Side Are You On" (Billy Bragg), It's hard to explain to a crying child/Why her Daddy can't go back/So the family suffer/But it hurts me more/To hear a scab say Sod you, Jack., and still not understand a word.
Clearly the Billy Bragg song and Davis Day are extreme examples of labour unrest and experiencing something similar is absolutely not necessary in order to understand what's at stake and what's important during a labour dispute (or in my case a lockout). I would have to be cracked in order to think that there is an obvious parallel, however the fact that during my entire education experience in Cape Breton I never once learned anything about the significance of Davis Day informs me quite a bit about my general apathy towards union participation. So though I am not going to get a bullet in the heart or have to tell my starving waif of a child that there's only bread and water, learning about that in school might have provided me with a more favourable attitude towards issues that I would face at some point in my lifetime.
Furthermore I may want to stop blaming a faulty education system that I have been out of for 8 years and suck it up and start changing my attitudes.
Tomorrow I put in 6 hours and finish off my twenty hours requirement. In all honesty, it has not been a bad week of picketing considering the circumstances, just confusing.
Further Reading on Davis Day :
http://www.honeyshaven.ca/davis_day.php
Growing up in Cape Breton I was always aware of Davis Day (celebrated on June 11th by union employees and those who reside in towns with a strong connection to mining), but never quite certain about what exactly it represented. It seemed to be a remnant of a dying industry. It anchored us to our past and kept us paralyzed with nostalgia.
I was never taught a thing about Davis Day in school, I went to school in the city, Davis Day belonged to the poor towns that couldn't look to the future. The disdain wasn't explicit, but I learned it. I'm sure it contributed to my apathetic attitude towards unions and labour struggles. It's easy to romanticize the visions in songs like "Which Side Are You On" (Billy Bragg), It's hard to explain to a crying child/Why her Daddy can't go back/So the family suffer/But it hurts me more/To hear a scab say Sod you, Jack., and still not understand a word.
Clearly the Billy Bragg song and Davis Day are extreme examples of labour unrest and experiencing something similar is absolutely not necessary in order to understand what's at stake and what's important during a labour dispute (or in my case a lockout). I would have to be cracked in order to think that there is an obvious parallel, however the fact that during my entire education experience in Cape Breton I never once learned anything about the significance of Davis Day informs me quite a bit about my general apathy towards union participation. So though I am not going to get a bullet in the heart or have to tell my starving waif of a child that there's only bread and water, learning about that in school might have provided me with a more favourable attitude towards issues that I would face at some point in my lifetime.
Furthermore I may want to stop blaming a faulty education system that I have been out of for 8 years and suck it up and start changing my attitudes.
Tomorrow I put in 6 hours and finish off my twenty hours requirement. In all honesty, it has not been a bad week of picketing considering the circumstances, just confusing.
Further Reading on Davis Day :
http://www.honeyshaven.ca/davis_day.php
From BlogTO :
Some thoughts and details (not always accurate) on the lockout and picketing by CBC employees in Toronto.
I myself will qualify for strike pay, it's not that far off from my regular pay so I should be alright especially this month. I should be getting my final paycheque from the library on the 27th and I hopefully will pick up some freelance work. I am not looking forward to three mornings of 6:30 am picket duty, but you have to do what you have to do.
"From the first factory to the last, she's kicking ass for the working class, all you scabs better get out fast"
Sloganeering all these years, now it's time to put my money where my mouth is and walk the line, not unlike John Ritter or whatever.
Some thoughts and details (not always accurate) on the lockout and picketing by CBC employees in Toronto.
I myself will qualify for strike pay, it's not that far off from my regular pay so I should be alright especially this month. I should be getting my final paycheque from the library on the 27th and I hopefully will pick up some freelance work. I am not looking forward to three mornings of 6:30 am picket duty, but you have to do what you have to do.
"From the first factory to the last, she's kicking ass for the working class, all you scabs better get out fast"
Sloganeering all these years, now it's time to put my money where my mouth is and walk the line, not unlike John Ritter or whatever.
Job Stoppers : Defined by What I Love, Not What Pays The Rent
Participate in Guild media service during lockout. Just because the Corporation won't let us go to work doesn't mean we can't do the work we love to do!
Participate in Guild media service during lockout. Just because the Corporation won't let us go to work doesn't mean we can't do the work we love to do!
When I was 19, my friend Maggie and I had a pillow fight in the middle of a mosh pit at a hardcore show. Maggie and I, in possession of a flair for the dramatic, took the pillow fight a little too far. We ended up slugging each other quite vigorously to the point that the band stopped after one of their songs to address the tension. We explained quickly that we were just fooling around and they hesitantly continued their set.
Maggie and I grew apart as friends seem to do. We never had a falling out and we never disliked one another, we just didn't see each other very much.
A few years pass and she and I find ourselves attending the same Union meeting just days before the CBC lockout. She works in radio and I in television. We chat later on the picket line when we both find ourselves locked out. Maggie asks me about our friend Morgan and his engagement. I tell her that Morgan got married a year ago October 31st. Worriedly she asks me if Morgan has given himself over to Christ...
"No Maggie don't worry, Morgan still loves Satan."
Maggie and I grew apart as friends seem to do. We never had a falling out and we never disliked one another, we just didn't see each other very much.
A few years pass and she and I find ourselves attending the same Union meeting just days before the CBC lockout. She works in radio and I in television. We chat later on the picket line when we both find ourselves locked out. Maggie asks me about our friend Morgan and his engagement. I tell her that Morgan got married a year ago October 31st. Worriedly she asks me if Morgan has given himself over to Christ...
"No Maggie don't worry, Morgan still loves Satan."
