test blog 8

The City of Mississauga has a community recognition program , through which community groups can have their banner fly at City Hall for a day. When the program was announced, I said to a few of my union sisters, "I know a flag I'd like to see there...". I was only joking -- but they took me seriously! This morning, to the astonishment of many, the beautiful pink CUPE 1989 banner is flying beside Mississauga City Hall! This week marks one year since the members of CUPE Local 1989, Mississauga Library Workers, walked off their jobs and onto the picket lines. It was the first strike in our local's history and the first strike against the City of Mississauga. I am a member and now the president of Local 1989. In the past year, I've been invited to speak on panels, in conferences and conventions, in rallies, meetings, and gatherings of labour activists. Our local was honoured at the CUPE Ontario convention , and featured in a conference called "Building Strong Loc...

Image: "We Hit Them Like A Wave" -- Diane Davies After CUPE 1989 ratified our new contract , I said I would write about the intangible gains we made through our strike, the kind that aren't written in the collective agreement. I've heard labour activists say that strikes are a "transformative experience" -- a life-changing event -- and now I know why. Standing up for ourselves, asserting our own rights, is a crucial part of every person's development. But learning how to stand up collectively is a different level of power. For many of our members, the strike was their first time seeing themselves as part of something larger than themselves -- seeing our union not just as 400 library workers who happen to work for the same employer, but as part of CUPE, and part of the labour movement itself. Striking together brought so much unity and solidarity among our members, so much goodwill and love and caring. Of course there were some complaints and some finger...

Our ratification vote meeting was an experience we will never forget. The line to sign in snaked all around the building; it took more than an hour for everyone to sign in. I believe it was the largest turnout we’ve ever had, for anything. At the top of the meeting, the bargaining team stood in the front of the auditorium. Before we could say anything, our members burst out into applause, standing and clapping and cheering — for a long time. I was overwhelmed: the member who took this photo caught my tears. We applauded our members back, and we all stood clapping and cheering and shouting. I have no words to describe how I proud I was — of all of us. While we walked our members through a presentation about the new contract, there was spontaneous cheering and applause throughout. And then the vote: 99% voted to ratify. 99%! Our goals We went into bargaining with four principal goals: - no concessions, - living wage for our Pages, - some improvement for part-time workers, and - the large...

We've stopped picketing and demonstrating, and are waiting for our ratification meeting and vote tomorrow night, Monday, July 25. As local president, my life has been consumed by bargaining and the strike for so long, it feels a bit surreal. Is it really over? That may take a while to sink in! I'm sure others feel this way, too. Thank yous to the bargaining team from our members continue to pour in, along with congratulations from other union sisters and brothers. Donations continue to arrive from other locals, retired members, and even customers. Those are very welcome, as we begin to pay our bills and rebuild our funds. The details of our new contract can't be made public until we ratify. But I can say this: we regard it as a very significant win. For our leadership teams, this is gratifying beyond measure. We have spent the last two years rebuilding our union from the ground up, and this was the outcome. The roots of our strike: rebuilding our union Labour-Management The...

The Strike Is Over - We Have A Deal! The Bargaining Team is very pleased to announce that we have reached a settlement ! This is a "tentative settlement," pending ratification by our members, then the Library Board, and Council. The Bargaining Team is very happy. We are proud of the contract we are bringing home, and we know it never could have been achieved without a strike. Our members had the courage to use labour's most powerful tool and I believe they will feel it was worth it, both for the gains we've made on this contract, and for our future. The ratification vote is scheduled for Monday, July 25.

I am very pleased to announce that we had an encouraging afternoon at the table -- enough that we are meeting again tomorrow. So finally, something hopeful to report. Maureen O'Reilly, President of 4948, TPL Workers Union, and Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, were instrumental in breaking the impasse and getting us back to the table. I am so grateful for their help! And even more so for how much I've learned from them. Change of Plans Tomorrow and Friday, we are only picketing at Central, and only from 8-12. It's supposed to be scorching, and none of us should be out for extended periods. Members who need the afternoon or evening shift can make their way to our new union hall, where everyone can call councilors, Library Board members, and/or 311. You might want to come up with a script together, to make sure you're all on the same page. A contingent of socialists from TO were supposed to come to the line tomorrow. (They have all visited our line and donated things ...

Picketing Today I received great reports from our members who said Good Morning at the executive garage. Picketing at Central in general is going very well. Don't forget to make leafletting and speaking to the public your top priority. In addition, we hit two locations today: Meadowvale and Courtneypark. Meadowvale "Fun Times at Meadowvale today! "The managers were playing Pokemon Go, as they tried to chase us around and find us. We could not stop laughing. "We had so much fun as we split up and they couldn't keep track of us. They had to chase us around the mall sidewalks, the transit terminal and even the new branch. I wonder how they liked being out today. They even asked us where the other people went when they couldn't see us all ... but we wouldn't tell them. "All in all we had a productive few hours, talking to many members of the public who showed support for us. "Negative news: we did learn that we cannot distribute flyers at the transi...

Libraries Rock! What can you say when 50 schoolkids march to your picket line holding signs they made to support us, chanting "Kids Say: " LIBRARIES ROCK! "??? What a day! The Dufferin-Bloor Hub camp does one social justice lesson each summer, and this summer, that lesson was US! The kids learned about labour rights, a little about the labour movement, what a strike is, and so on. They made signs -- and were each given a free book -- and came out to Mississauga to support the striking library workers. Also on hand were the executive of CUPE Locals 4948 (TPL Workers Union!), 416, 79, and 5180. They all brought us donations of money and water, along with their support on the line. Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario, and Yolanda McClean, CUPE National Diversity VP, arranged the whole day. When their storyteller fell through at the last minute, I told her, "Don't worry. We got this." And we sure did. After a rousing rally, our programmers swung into action. W...

We spent more time in the community this week, speaking to Mississauga residents about our cause, and giving the gift of free storytimes. Here are some reports. Malton "I had a customer tell me yesterday that he calls 3-1-1 everyday to find out when the library will be open. He asked what else he could do and I told him to continue to call everyday and also contact the emails and phone numbers on the flyer I gave him. "Many people I spoke to are outraged by the strike and the way the City is treating us. I also talked to a mom and her daughter dropping other small children off at the pool and she was so surprised at how we are being treated and said that I really "shed a light on the true side of the city as an employer". She's always suggested to her daughter to try and get a job with the City, but is now second-guessing this choice. She said she's going to write to everyone and asked for a few extra flyers to spread the word for us. "I think being at ...

While Ribfest took over Celebration Square, CUPE 1989 members had another satisfying day in our communities. The managers that the City has assigned to "monitor" us (their word) and the special outside security detail came along for the ride. Because, you know, library workers are a big threat to public safety. In our members' words and pictures, here is a bit of our day. Erin Meadows "I was at Erin Meadows Thursday afternoon. A customer came to return a book. He said he just came back from his vacation and he wasn't aware of the strike. When I explained our situation and gave him a flyer, he was really mad and told us he would send emails to the Mayor and Sue McFadden. He said: 'It's ridiculous, I can't believe City is treating part-time staff like this.' He also told us he will be supporting us throughout our fight. He is a customer at Erin Meadows and Meadowvale." Frank McKechnie "The Thursday picket at McKechnie went well. One custom...

On Thursday, striking Mississauga library workers visited various branches in the system to talk with members of the community. Here are some reports and pictures. Clarkson "Our group was quite small, but had a big impact. We saw many patrons that attend our programs regularly. Many were picking up children from camp and were happy and surprised to see us. All were very supportive. One lady took the letter and walked away, then came back to tell us how much she supported us and how wrong it was that our Library Director got a 7.3% raise along with what City Manager Janice Baker makes ($280,000/year). "We even had two patrons that are both former employees show up to support us, and bring us a snack. One even went to Staples to photocopy more handouts for us!! This was amazing and we were so grateful since we had almost ran out of flyers by then. We are looking forward to seeing more patrons tomorrow!" Mississauga Valley "People in general were happy to see us. Most ...

Five of our members reported on the early-morning disruption of traffic coming into the parking garages! Report #1 : As we were picketing the entrance to the Civic Center parking garage this morning, word came down that Library Director Rose Vespa was spotted in the line of cars — we created a back-up as far as Rathburn! — so anticipation was running high: flags were waving, whistles were blowing, and chants were chanted ("Rose Vespa, be a leader! Be a leader, now!"). As she approached the City Centre garage entrance, Rose gave us a timid wave and proceeded to the entrance to the library garage — where another group of members awaited. Rather than enter the library garage, Rose continued to Burnhamthorpe and went around the block, apparently parking in the Living Arts Centre. Realizing that there was no underground connection between the Living Arts Centre and the Civic Centre, a bunch of us hustled to the north side of the Civic Centre to await her arrival. Sure enough, afte...

Yesterday, we did this ! The cacerolazo was awesome! We had so much fun banging and honking and marching. We were loud and proud -- and you know our Employer was listening! Thanks to everyone who helped make this special afternoon/evening happen. Look for videos on Facebook and Twitter . Once again, we had great support from CUPE Ontario and the Peel District CUPE Council, along with several people from my own activist network. Back to the table Tomorrow the 1989 bargaining team is meeting to regroup and talk about the road ahead. The following day, Thursday, we are meeting with the Employer. I will update you on any developments as soon as I can. Numbers! Based on all the cheques that our strike payroll team wrote, almost three hundred members picketed last week. That is the highest turnout we've ever had -- for anything -- that I'm aware of. And that was before many members returned from their vacations! Well done!! CUPE Summer of the Strike Currently 1989 is one of four CUP...