returning from union biz

it’s a quiet friday night here in the creek – just got back this evening from two days in courtenay doing union meetings and a little drinking last night with some of the union brothers. up until last night there were only two women on our union exec – me and a person i can’t stand – so often i have ended up with a bunch of guys having drinks at the end of the night… weird dynamic that i’m hoping will change now we’ve just elected another woman to the board.

suffice to say, i pretty much achieved my objectives at yesterday’s meetings which mostly entailed staying calm and focused in the face of the total ineptitude that characterizes some of our union exec (not all – of course – but there is an undercurrent of inability coupled with a total lack of self-awareness that i find painful to witness). so yes, stayed calm, was elected as a delegate for our national convention in winnipeg this summer, got another woman onto our executive, and partially convinced some of our members of the need to do a campaign to save our jobs (apparently a couple of people thought i was quite compelling in my oratory on the subject…. i thought maybe i just appeared like a radical crackpot – i suspect that it fell somewhere in between those two extremes).

i am often not sure about my own reasons for being involved in my union – besides the fact it is our only political voice in the workplace… i find the level of group dysfunction astounding at times – but i am loathe to abandon ship and leave the running of our local to people who i do not believe represent my interests (or the interests of most of my co-workers)… i got involved two years ago for this reason, and until something changes i don’t really feel like i can take off just yet.

i have a ton of work to complete this weekend and also the intention to post another piece in the granville street fiction series. i’m just too tired to get it done tonight…..