There's Nothing to Watch @ 11:30

[Vidiot's photos]

To tell you the truth I haven't noticed the ongoing WGA strike much the last couple of weeks. New programming is usually a little scarce this time of year anyway with nothing but repeats until after the holidays.

But I often watch The Late Show with David Letterman @ 11:30, and if it's not a work night, follow it with The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Needless to say it's been repeat hell.

However I have found a bit of relief through The Late Show Writers On Strike site.

The site is both a blog on how the strike is progressing as well as some quite funny bits about the strike how it is effecting everyone.

A sample:

Friday, November 30, 2007:
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE NEGOTIATIONS
BY TOM RUPRECHT

As you may know, the writers and producers were back at the negotiating table this week. While the talks were shrouded in secrecy, a friend of mine on the inside agreed to give me a snippet of what went on.

WGA REPRESENTATIVE: All we're asking for is a small percentage of the billions our work has made for you.

STUDIO REPRESENTATIVE: Go fuck yourself.

MODERATOR: I think we're making some progress.

There are also a whole load of videos. This is my fav:



If you watch the show you'll know that Rupert Jee is usually pretty reserved and maybe even a bit shy, so this video seems (at least to the viewing public) quite out of character.

Have a look I think you'll be both educated and amused - a great combination.

Colbert Vs. Daily Show...

The writers for The Colbert Report and The Daily Show have not been sitting on their asses during the WGA strike.... Well, actually they have been sitting on their asses, but they've been entertaining and educating us at the same time.

Have a look at these two amusing and informing videos:

From the Daily Show writers:




And from the Colbert Report writers:




Both videos found on the United Hollywood site.

Btw - I wonder if Vancouver's own Judy Rogers has seen the pic @ the top of this page. Maybe she could become pals with Moonves and hope for some trickle down.

Speaking of Moonves, or more specifically his wife Julie Chen. It looks like CBS may bring back Big Brother a bit early to cover their butts during the strike. Isn't it handy when the show's host is married to the network president?

Anything New on TV?

Well there may not be anything new come the new year.

The Writers Guild of America went on strike last week.

About the guild:

"We are the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw), a labor union composed of the thousands of writers who write the television shows, movies, news programs, documentaries, animation, CD-ROMs, and content for new-media technologies that keep audiences constantly entertained and informed."
From "Who We Are"

So this strike will put on hold pretty well all the American shows that you are currently enjoying, including news programming.

I found this handy chart that lists many of the network shows and how many episodes they have in the can:

LA Times T.V. Grid

So this could potentially really suck depending on how long it drags on. But having been on strike myself recently (in case you were unaware), I wanted to know a bit more about what the writers are fighting for.

I think this video pretty well explains it all:



Unfortunately it looks like SAG members will not bet able to fully participate in the strike if they wish. Although they will be doing some picketing some members are restricted by this clause:

"If you are contracted to work on a television series or motion picture that continues to produce while the WGA is on strike, you are obligated by your personal service agreement and the “No Strike” clause in our collective bargaining agreements to go to work."
From the "picketing" link above.

I guess it's ultimately up to each individual if they want to cross any of these many picket lines.

The United Hollywood site is probably the best site I've found so far to read about how to help, what the issues are, and other related material. You can also sign This petition.

Strike - Day 86 -- IT'S OVER!

[rabidsquirrel's Photos]

86 days later (or 88 depending on when you start counting)

We shared stories, laughter, frustration, food, knitting, puppies, portable heaters, and, and, and....

We are finally going back to work!

On Friday CUPE 391 members voted 71.4% to except the new Memorandum Of Agreement Between The Vancouver Public Library Canadian Union Of Public Employees, Local 391

We voted yes:
Just the beginning…

And so did the board:
It’s Official. The Library Board Ratifies Agreement

A bit more info here on the Fairness for Civic Workers site:
Library strike ends: CUPE 391 makes important steps towards pay equity

I'm waiting for a definitive update, but it looks like we'll return to work Monday with the library opening to the public on Wednesday.

I don't even want to think about what it's going to look like inside the building.

And... No. More. Jeans!

But work. Lovely, sweet, life giving work. How I missed you.

Vancouver Sun:
Library workers to head back Monday

Georgia Straight:
Vancouver library workers approve tentative agreement

CBC:
Striking Vancouver library workers accept deal

Strike - Day 84

CUPE 391 and the employer have reached a tentative agreement.

We vote tomorrow Friday October 19. If we vote yes then the library board has to vote, and then BACK TO WORK!

We would probably return to work on Monday with the library opening to the public on Wednesday. This would give us a few days to get organized (HA!).

CUPE 391 post: Meeting And Vote Tomorrow

Canadian Press: Vancouver library workers reach deal with city to go back to work

CBC: Library staff, City of Vancouver reach tentative deal

I'm hoping to see all our patrons again next week. Although some may not believe it, we have missed you.

Strike - Day 75

[rabidsquirrel's photos]

Well the results are in from the three CUPE locals and I can't say I'm surprised.

CUPE 391 - NO
78.1% Vote to Reject Mediator’s Recommendations

CUPE 15 - YES
CUPE 15 members accept Foley's recommendations

CUPE 1004 - NO
Foley's recommendations don’t pass CUPE 1004 vote -- less than other civic deals

See also: Fairness for Civic Workers

Here is some of the media coverage:

Global BC 11:00 p.m. news (videos)





CBC

Civic workers divided in vote to end Vancouver strike

VIDEO: CUPE 391's Alex Youngberg, Ed Dickson say equality is at stake (Runs 9:03)

VIDEO: CUPE 15's Paul Faoro, Keith Graham say they'll wait and see (Runs 13:27)

VIDEO: Some inside workers say they'll respect picketing if CUPE 1004 votes no (Runs 1:32)

Vancouver Sun

City vote split

Georgia Straight

Vancouver outside workers and library workers reject mediator's offer; inside workers vote "yes"

Vancouver Province

Two CUPE locals reject mediated deal to end Vancouver civic strike

Globe and Mail

Strike vote split as polls roll in

National Post

Vancouver city unions divided by vote

The bargaining committee says that they have a plan to get us back to work soon. I sure hope the hell they do!

Strike - Day 74

[Library Of Congress American Memory Collection]

Just posting these articles today, I'm sure I'll have waaaayyyyy more tomorrow after the vote.

Vancouver Sun - Two CUPE locals urge members to reject deal

Vancouver Sun - A tale of two worlds for striking workers

News1130 - City waits for voting results, as two union locals recommend rejection of mediator proposal

CBC - Vancouver unions split on mediator's deal as members vote

I must admit I'm feeling a bit ambivalent

Strike - Day 71 (Updated again)

Almost entirely re-written to stay all current like!

Mediation update:

The settlement recommendations from mediator Brian Foley were released today and have now been posted on the CUPE 391 site:

~ Recommendations For Settlement Proposed By Mediator Brian Foley - (Full Document - pdf)

~ Recommendations For Settlement Proposed By Mediator Brian Foley - Part 3: VPL & CUPE 391 - (VPL & CUPE 391 Portion of Document - pdf)

~ Items Previously Agreed Between The Vancouver Public Library And CUPE 391 - (pdf)

~ Meeting and Ratification Vote: Schedule and Map - (pdf)

Entire CUPE 391 blog post: Mediatior’s Recommedation Documents Available Online

Media coverage:

~ Global BC


~ CTV - Mediator tables report to end Vancouver strike

~ CKNW - Reaction is subdued on the picket line at city hall

~ CBC - Striking city workers offered 17.5% and $1,000 signing bonus

~ CBC - VIDEO: CBC civic reporter Stephen Quinn reveals details of mediator's recommendations (Runs 1:53)

~ Vancouver Sun - City strikers to vote on proposed deal this weekend

Note that as usual the library workers are mostly ignored and the facts are rather skewed. If nothing else this strike has given me some real insight into the media.

Whatever...

Strike - Day 70

Brian Foley's recommendations to end the strike and finally get back to work will be passed on to CUPE 15, 1004 and 391 tomorrow. It looks like we (391) will vote this Sunday.

As I write this there isn't any official notice on the CUPE 391 Bargaining Blog, but keep an eye on it as it should be updated soonish. We will also be getting updates tomorrow during the daily crew talks.

For now here is the pdf bulletin from 15.

Also some press from:

CBC
Global BC
CKNW

Please keep in mind that you shouldn't necessarily believe the press coverage (duh!), but these stories seem to pretty well match what I heard today. Of course they all look like they cribbed their info from the CUPE 15 bulletin.

Strike - Day 69

I haven't been writing about the strike lately because there really isn't much to say.

The mediation goes on and we hope to hear something early next week. Hopefully something good enough to vote on.

The tone of the picketing has changed quite a bit in the last few weeks, especially the last week. It is now officially fall and the. weather. sucks!. Rain, cold, cold, rain, etc. etc.

Ok the weather almost always sucks this time of year, but I'm usually inside where I don't care.

When I got home today I pulled out my Rolser shopping cart to take with me tomorrow. I usually leave a load of picket stuff in a friends trunk, but she wont be picketing tomorrow. Between my backpack (usual purse stuff, knitting, palm, iPod, book, magazines, handywipes, spare tp), blanket (did I mention it's cold on the line), and chair; my back is taking a beating during the commute. So out comes the old-lady shopping buggy :-)

What I did want to mention today is a reminder of the all the cool strike videos being produced by union members. To see them all in one place go to the CUPE 391 bargaining blog and scroll down to the videos on the right hand side.

Here's a selection:

From D'Arcy:
(part of the bbob team)



See all of D'Arcy's videos here

From David:



See all David's videos here

James has a series of (non-embeddable) videos that are worth a look. They are very well done. Have a look at all seven videos in the Scenes... From a Picket Line series. The link goes to the first video and the other six are accessible from there.

Enjoy. And please keep rooting for us. (Thanks!)

Strike - Day 54

It can be really difficult to find any humour in this endless strike, so bless Harvey McKinnon @ the Georgia Straight. His on-the-mark article about Sam Sullivan certainly put a smile on my face and also answered many questions for me. Take it from me, this article isn't really any less factual than some of the other media coverage, or the city press releases.

Have a read:

Commentary: Sam Sullivan's strike strategy.

I don't have much else to report since we are under media blackout, but I can point you to some strike related literature if you're interested. Have a look @: Pay Equity: A Bibliography (doc file).

There are some older (but still important) documents on the CUPE 391 subpage: Bargaining Resources under the heading "first reads".

The weather today added another personal incentive to want to get back to the job. I spent the day @ Champlain Branch and although we didn't get much more than a drizzle, it was cold, cold, cold! I'm sure someone from the prairies would laugh at me feeling cold at 14ish degrees, and they would be correct. But I am superwimp and DO NOT like cold. Plus with the dampness and a good brisk breeze at times, it felt colder than it was. The thunder and lightning were cool though.

Tomorrow I'm wearing a down jacket, fluffy hat, sweats and hiking boots. Anybody want to guess what the weather will be like?

Keep sending us your good wishes everyone and lets hope I'll be back to work before my retirement date (March 1, 2030)

Strike - Day 50

Day 50 - Jesus wept!

My original post is below the tilde line - I was about to post it when I decided to check the various CUPE sites for any updates. I wasn't expecting anything because (I thought) there was a media blackout.

How wrong I was:

City of Vancouver and Vancouver Public Library break off talks

Well steal my pants and call me Aunt Matilda - words fail me.

Sigh!

From the CUPE 391 blog.

From the CBC, noting that this is the city's second longest strike.

For the sake of 'balance' here the library press release.

If you are not a member of CUPE 391, please keep in mind that information in the press release is blatantly wrong. We do NOT have a problem with the 5 year / 17.5 offer. Our big issue is - and always has been - pay equity. I urge anyone who doesn't understand our issues (and this would seem to include the city / library negotiators) to read the front page on the CUPE 391 site. It explains it better then I can.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original post ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A clip previously unseen by me. Global noon news interview with Spam Sullivan from two plus weeks ago. No new info here, (and with the media blackout no new news for awhile), but a couple of interesting points.

1. Mayor Sullivan is looking very, very uncomfortable.
2. He seems to think that politicians shouldn't be involved with contract negotiations. Really?
3. According to Randene Neill, job security and whistle blower protection are "little things"
4. I have never seen Ms. Neill so agitated before (or at all for that matter)

Strike - Day 43 (Updated)

From The Blackbird's great strike photo collection:



Great photo, but do you think you could make my ass a little bigger? BTW, I didn't have a clue that my picture was being taken. I came across the pic via RSS feed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Yeehaa, some (potentially) good news:

Negotiations to Resume Next Week

Judy Rogers and Chief Librarian accept CUPE invitation to return to bargaining table

Let's hope this actually leads to something!

Lots of goings on at Central today. It was black & white day with all encouraged to dress in those colours, a puppet show about farmer Sam and his farm animals that go on strike, Our Friday bbq and a reading by Poet Laureate George McWhirter.

We also created a human wall around the library with everyone doing the 'wave' with their picket signs and later spelling out the words "Let's Talk" on the north plaza.

I didn't bring my camera today. But as usual 2shoes took some super pics of all the happenings

And if you're interested there is a benefit concert tomorrow to help raise $$$ for our hardship fund.

Local bands and supporters have come together to hold a benefit concert for the group this Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at the Maritime Labour Auditorium at 8:00 p.m. (Read More)

Here's the poster: (click to embiggen)

Strike - Day 34

BBQ @ Britannia Branch

I know that many people seem to believe that life on the picket line is just one big party. But trust me, we would rather be working.

It's very stressful being on strike. We don't know when we will be going back and it's shows. We all try to keep positive and cheerful but it's not fun not knowing if or when you can pay the rent / mortgage among other bills that we all have. Never mind that it pains us that our many, many library users are unable to take advantage of all the wonderful, free services that we have to offer.

So yesterday after a five minute conversation we decided to have a bar-be-cue at Britannia Branch. Gail - bless her heart - brought her little Webber grill and several kinds of hot dogs. And everyone else brought finger food so we wouldn't have to deal with paper plates and create any more garbage than necessary.


As usual in the morning the Flying Bicycle Picketers started their bike trek around the city spreading the good word of CUPE. Its fun watching them prepare by decorating their bikes. It reminds me of sports-day in my elementary school. At Carnarvon Community School we all decorated our bikes and had a parade. I have no idea if that was common practice in other Vancouver schools in the 1970's.





Cooper is a regular pooch picketer at Britannia. This is the perky poodle in a rare quiet moment. He's a real doll!



Prepping our hot dogs. A big thank you to whomever brought sauerkraut. I love 'kraut on my hot dog.



'Please sir, I'm a starving dog whose masters never feed me' Ya, right! Brat & Russ joined us on the picket line today and with all the stuff on the ground Brat did very well for herself. Don't you love the picket signs that Russ made for her? That's the CUPE 391 emblem @ the top



After lunch the bargaining committee came out to cover some of the details of where we are going (or not as the case may be) with out negotiations.



A little rest and time to chew on a tennis ball



Russell joined us for a couple of reasons. 1. Hot dog love. 2. To bring us FOUR boxes of Krispy Kreme and immediately become half the strikers fantasy lover. 3. As a welcome representative of the Canadian Merchant Service Guild. I think it's great that we are getting so much support from other locals and unions from all over. Group Hug to all.



We CUPE members may be serious about what we want and need in a contract, but it's just about impossible to get our canine friends to take any of this boring strike stuff seriously. Alas Brat & Cooper have better things to do. Fuzzy hearted little traitors.

Strike - Day 30

Here it is folks, pathetic strike hat number two.


A.k.a - Brat in a hat

Strike - Day 28

Striking @ Britannia Branch.

We like to start out our day with a coffee, tea or cocoa from Tony's Deli It's a friendly place with really good bevys and a pretty good selection of sandwiches, salads & pasta. Everything seems to be made on-site in their cavernous kitchen. I recommend the Caprese: tomatoes, bocconcini, spinach, basil with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing.



This is the peaceful & pretty pocket park that leads from the Drive to the library / community centre / school complex. It seems to be very popular in the afternoons.



I really like the lamp standards in the complex.



Denise has cocoa and is very, very happy!



we are a very, very active bunch here @ Britannia. Knitting and bitching about strike press coverage are a couple of favourite activities.





Speaking of knitting. Here is hat number two, a bit over halfway done. Isn't it a thing of beauty! I'm using up a bunch of leftover bits 'o yarn to create this wonder.



Deanne is working on an outfit for her little boy's teddy bear.



And here is his outfit so far. Gotta love the hat!



The local has starting "Flying Bicycle Pickets" this week. People bring their bikes to Brit, decorate them and then drive around the city informing the public about the issues we are striking for.



Here is a short vid of them going on their way.

Strike - Day 23

We are still in talks, and that is good.

I finished my first Knitting in Solidarity! hat. I was told it wasn't too ugly. Well we'll see if anyone wants it.

Knitting in Solidarity is a group of knitters on the line that are making hats and blankies for people on the Downtown Eastside. Also strikers have the opportunity to buy a hat with a $20 donation to the strike fund. I've seen the hats and (with perhaps one singular exception) they are beautiful. If I get a change I'll take (or hunt down) a picture.

Here are some of the hard core knitters with their signage

Pic courtesy of James & Annie

Deanne lent me her son's little chair to use for a while. It's tiny, and therefor lighter to carry on the train.

I brought it home and opened it to show a friend and Brat instantly jumped into it and tried to claim it as her own.



This photo better illustrates exactly how tiny this chair is.



One more time with feeling!



The first person to compare the size of the chair to the size of my ass is in deep, deep, trouble!

Strike - Day 21

A quick update:

Offer from City:

City offers library workers 5-year deal

We will respond on Friday:

A short update

C'est la guerre

Strike - Day 20

Yay?

Breaking news- back to the table

City asks striking librarians back to bargaining table

However long this goes on, it's great to see all the support we have:

Hangin’ in there

Strike - Day 19

Feel way too shitty today to picket (wonderful summer head cold), so this tiny post features a couple of great pictures that Denise took last week @ Britannia Branch. Thanks for the use of them Denise!

For taking my picture I give you the look of death!


Wow, that really is some tail isn't it?


Resistance. Is. Futile!


Also here is a link to the CUPE BC Rally photos.

And finally a video of the bulk of the rally from the Working TV site. Thanks to Dana for the heads up on this video.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to soak my head in a cuppa tea.