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Hi all,
I've been speaking with a few of you in regards to the kind of message we need to be getting out — I've said again and again that mainstream media has focused way too much on our wage demands and consequently, we look "greedy". These are the kind of absolutes that get cast and our position gets homogenized—there are way more shades of grey, but I digress.
It's my position that we need to personalize the message—to tell the world how a particular issue is effecting / affecting us as individuals. This way, we also become more than just "the union"; we're real, living breathing people. Case in point, here is a posting from an undergrad that simply states that we're beginning to loose them: http://experienceyork.apps01.yorku.ca/wordpress/2008/11/12/at-the-battleground/ Here's where the author echoes my point:
I want to hear a TA speak about his or her inability to make ends meet, a contract faculty professor who has no job securityfrom year to year, a union member laid off without any severance pay. Most importantly, I want the union to acknowledge the inconvenience it’s caused students. I want the undergraduate voice to be supported by CUPE 3903, before I lend them my support by appearing in a rally.
I've decided to start a blog to address this concern: http://picketlinevoices.wordpress.com/ And I need your help in submitting a first-person profile about how the strike issues are important to you.
