Pre-Strike Posting #7

No news is good news, at least in this case. The union, as I said, has a strike mandate, albeit not a very strong one. Supposedly they are back at the bargaining table with management to hammer out a better deal than what was offered and rejected last week. As long as they are negotiating and no one files a no board report, then everything is okay. However, as soon as a no board report is filed, the clock starts ticking . . . and 17 days later we can go on strike. This means that we can't go on strike any sooner than June 17th right now. Regardless of the union's protestations of management delaying the entire process, I suspect that the union negotiating team is aiming to impact the summer camping season, i.e. July 1st and on. It seems that, because, so many of the positions have been declared essential, we can have very little other impact on the public.

Messing with people's holidays is definitely going to move the profile of any strike up a notch or two. But it can very easily backfire - no one likes to have their holidays messed with. I cannot see a couple with a family heading off to Killbear expecting a pleasant camping experience to be supportive of the union when it turns out they have to wait 5 hours just to get in the park. It only highlights the problem with striking for this union. Going on strike impacts the government but it impacts the public even more and the public are the ones we need.

As well, how many OPSEU employees are going to volunteer to block campground entrances? Seeing that most are far away from the places we work, that might be tricky. I hope and pray that someone is thinking here.