Diary of a Picket Captain #2

Day 4:

We are starting to get into a routine. My husband, R___, drives his truck to the parking lot and he transports me and all my stuff over to the site. J___ or N___ are there early to help me take the generator out of the trailer. We get the fire going and the generator running. By that time, people are arriving. They sign in, get their signs and start to picket. I plug in the hot water and make the coffee. J___ helps out inside the trailer with people signing in, etc.

Some of the guys tear apart the pallets which have appeared during the night. They help get the fire started and keep it going. So we just keep picketing. Some stop to get warm inside the trailer or over the burn barrel. We give out flyers if they are available and we keep walking and talking and eating donuts and drinking coffee, waving to people who honk their horns. In the last hour, N___ counts down the time. 11:00 a.m. comes and we can go home, have a shower, eat and rest to get ready for tomorrow morning.

It is very interesting to watch people. We are all in the same situation but everyone reacts differently. Some people walk fast, mostly by themselves. Others keep in packs and slowly walk and talk. Some just naturally pitch in to help and take over tasks they know need to be done. Most people are not comfortable stopping cars and giving out flyers. But there are a few who like to talk to the drivers and they seek out the cars they can stop. But they are all contributing to our cause in some way.

I remember Burrt Bonnell, long since retired, who said that after each of our strikes, the Ontario government in power at the time lost their majority. Does McGuinty realize how many college graduates there are out there?

Hightlights: We got the Schindeler Elevator truck to turn around - yeah! Brinks, Purolator, and another (forgot the name) left immediately. Power can go to your head!

Basics is not unionized so they enter the college every morning. B___ had taken coffee and donuts every morning to the high school teachers who were on the picket lines in '97, so I phoned the OSSTF rep. and left a message asking for their support.

Highlights: An OSSTF rep. showed up at about 3:30 with coupons for Tim Hortons. He stayed and talked to us. Next week is their March break but I hope they will be back. I also left an email message on the OSSTF web site.

B___ stopped the college president to give him a flyer and told him that we did not appreciate his last communique (which was very negative to faculty) and if he thought it was bad now, he should wait until we got back in. The president never said a word, just kept his head down. J___ and others talked to the VPA in her red firebird. She said she did not know that anybody had been hurt on the picket lines. She also thought she communicated a lot with faculty. She was told differently. She tried to be friendly and talk ... but is that two-faced? Somebody on the line said that "it is scary to know that the management are in there doing stuff and we are not there to fix up their mistakes".