Picketing: Day 1 for Dan

I just got home after my first shift picketing outside CBC Windsor.

I arrived at the lunch hour, and though spirits seemed lifted by the barbecue lunch, it was clear that many of my colleagues were dead tired. To collect strike pay, CMG members must picket 20 hours per week, and for some, this was their third day in a row spent outside in the hot Windsor sun. I chose to pile my 20 hours at the end of the week, so I picketed 4 hours today, and will picket for 8 hours each tomorrow and Friday.

Windsor is an interesting city for job action. It is Canada’s automotive capitol, and the CAW is omnipresent in daily life for many. It’s a union city, and the support I saw today certainly confirmed that. Along Riverside Drive, we got many honks and waves from drivers-by, which was nice. Also, some kind folks dropped by to chat, and brought with them water and fresh fruit.

The act of picketing itself is mind-numbing. You walk from one edge of of the property to another, then back again, then repeat. No matter who you talk to, the topic of discussion always seems to be the lockout.

Looking on the bright side of things, though, today I learned how to play petanque.