If you’ve ever spent time watching House Sparrows (Passer domesticus), you might have noticed just how, well, squabbly they can be. Just today, I was out walking the dog, and a group of three came screaming (in flight and in sound) out from a pruned cedar shrub, flew across the sidewalk and screamed back into […]
and Griff is his name. This is Border Terrier number two for us.
January 24th statement by Premier McGuinty: The strike is also at the point where the academic year is in jeopardy for York students. In challenging economic times, when we need all our people at their best, we simply cannot afford to delay the education of 45,000 of our best and brightest young people. [Link] Toronto […]
The NFB (National Film Board of Canada) has begun making their vast library of films available on-line. And I couldn’t be happier. Some of my best memories as a kid involve the moments in class when the film projector was wheeled-in, the film was removed from its cannister, mounted threaded through the projector (it was […]
Quickly trickling down my network of contacts is the news that members of CUPE 3903, of which I am a member, have rejected the offer that was put to a forced ratification vote. ((The official results: 63% overall, 61.7% from Unit 1 (TAs), 59.3% from Unit 2 (Course Directors) & 70% from Unit 3 (Graduate […]
Snowflakes, originally uploaded by Gavatron. I enjoy macro photography because it often allows me to see things that I often don’t see regularly — so, to use a cliché, it can take me places I’ve never been before. Normally, I use this power to photograph insects, but they’re lacking this time of year. I have […]
Ugh: The mediator between the two sides at York University broke off talks Saturday night, as the strike by teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants continues in its fourth week. (G&M Article) and: Attempts to end a strike at York University ended yesterday when a mediator suspended talks between the school and its striking […]
Mixed message, originally uploaded by Gavatron. Reality lies somewhere in between the two poles expressed on the port-a-potties…
Yesterday I started a new blog called Voices from the Picket Line in part because I was disappointed by the way that regular (whatever that means) CUPE 3903 member’s voices are missing from much of the coverage about the current job action. I started out yesterday writing about what its like to be a graduate […]
I’m not a part of the bargaining team, union executive or even a union steward. I’m simply a union member, a course director / teaching assistant who is walking the picket line. Had you asked me four weeks ago if this was something I was going to do, I would have said no. A strike […]