- Day 2

Day 2: Too True


Dear Faculty,
Day 2 started off beautifully. It was warmer, a pleasant wind blowing. All port-a-potties working, we finally secured some trailers, they’ll be on site tomorrow and Thursday, and new leaflets were ready for pickup in Hamilton. How nice it was to visit with colleagues caught up in the same noble causes of collegial governance and fairness for contract faculty. We are the exception to the rule; we should be proud.
There was a wonderful collective good humour emanating from all the groups I visited at our three campuses. Saw a video early today, of our flash-mob Kingknoll crew dancing down the street to an indigenous drum beat, and pictures of a high-school teacher union waving their flag in solidarity with our picket-line. When I arrived at Davis, there was President Preece carrying drinks and snacks for our picketers from her car. There have been many administrators who visited the picket lines with treats and good wishes. But the most heartfelt treats were baked in faculty homes to share with colleagues on the line. It was a day to be wished for.
But it will be unforgettable to those of us who were present at Davis this afternoon, and all of our Sheridan picketing family who heard about it shortly after. No one noticed the young man walking down the sidewalk south of the Mclaughlin entrance. Until a car veered off the road onto the sidewalk and struck him down to the ground, and smashed into a lamppost. Both the nameless young man and nameless driver were taken to the hospital. We strikers gaped and counted our blessings. Then we watched the police cordon off the whole block with their red and blue flashing cars and yellow tape, as if to make some order of the random tragedy. We teachers stared and counted our blessings.
How can one make sense of these fateful dark moments? This too is part of the role of the teacher. Not that we can understand it. Not that we can do anything about it. Just that we can absorb it and carry on. Make a stand for what’s right, as we’re doing now. And love our families and cherish our colleagues, some who walked down that same sidewalk minutes earlier.
Stand strong,
Jack

Jack Urowitz,
President, OPSEU Local 244
Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
(905) 845-9430 Extension 2832
Union Office 4065