By Vanessa Ellen Nash-Gale

Absentee parenting, time alone, missed Saturday morning cartoons, and too many babysitters. These are the ‘not so fond’ memories of my childhood with my feminist/union activist mom. As a young girl, I always felt that the union meant more to my mother than I did to her. What I didn’t know is that my mom’s union activism, her interest in human rights and equality was not just a lot of hard work for her. It was also work she believed in and consciously took on in hope that she would make a difference in the world, in society and in the workplace. A difference that would ultimately benefit me as I grew up and began experiencing life. While I was feeling somewhat neglected because I often felt I came in second place to my mother’s commitment to the union, I was still being provided with a good standard of living, guidance and diligent support from my mother. My mother is a single working parent; a union activist and very interested in my life. She works a triple shift! She could lighten her load by not being involved in her union, but she does not see that as a choice. She believes in the power of the labor movement and the empowerment of workers through the labor movement. My mother is my inspiration.

It was only when I was working in a unionized workplace that I truly began to define what the labor movement truly meant to me. For a starting wage, in a unionized workplace, I was earning $10 an hour, plus a yearly clothing allowance of $75 yearly, plus guaranteed minimal hours, plus benefits if I needed them. To a 16-year-old, $10 an hour means big money especially when the minimum wage in the province of Alberta is $5. And big money talks big time! Union-smunion: I want money and lots of it! But money isn’t enough when you feel you are not being treated fair. The highest wages in the world cannot make you feel good about yourself when you are being treated badly. And that was my sad awakening to the world of work.

My personal experience with discrimination and harassment was demoralizing. It was emotionally crippling and it impaired my self-esteem. I was being treated ‘different’ for reasons I still do not understand to this day. I felt terribly alone. I felt I couldn’t talk about this to my friends or family but when my co-workers started making comments to me about how I was being treated, I could no longer deny that what I was being subjected to was real and it was very wrong. It wasn’t me. Other people noticed what I was experiencing and I had to do something about it.

I gathered up all my courage and approached my Shop Steward and told her what was happening to me in my workplace. It took a lot for me to do this. I was afraid of possible retaliation. I was afraid that people would say that I was causing trouble in my workplace. I guess I was just plain afraid. I soon found out that I was not alone because I had the support of the Union and I had people that believed me and supported me in my need to be treated with respect and dignity in my workplace. Today, I enjoy friendships and positive experiences in my workplace and I feel privileged to be contributing to this positive environment.

After I had made the complaint, I felt proud of myself for having the courage to stand up for what I believed in. But most of all, I felt strengthened by the solidarity and support of my co-workers and my union, Local 855. This whole experience has taught me that when a person decides to stand up and speak out on an issue that is controversial, like workplace harassment, you may find yourself standing alone as well as surrounded by people who support you and comfort you in your fight. But no matter what, you should never give up fighting for what you believe in. You should never stop trying to make a difference. Through this experience, I learned that speaking out for oneself means that you also speak for each and every worker.

Labour disputes, work stoppages – the good old union strike! The opinion of some people is that the union is only good for one thing: dragging workers to a picket line in a plea for too much money, exorbitant benefit packages which will ultimately mean the financial ruin of business. In the last measure to settle a collective agreement, a strike may be held. While 98% of collective agreements are settled without strikes, we only seem to only hear about the 2% of collective bargaining that results in a strike situation. My first experience on the picket line was when I was 5 years old. At that time, my mom was a public sector worker in rural Newfoundland and she was on strike for higher wages and better benefits. I remember feeling quite upset about this whole strike business because I had to sit in a pickup truck for hours every day while mom walked the picket line with ‘her sisters and brothers’ in the cold, snow, rain, hail, sleet…it was awful! But more stressful for me than this was my fear of not getting my ears pierced, as I had been promised I could do so. I was so terribly worried that mom’s strike pay would not be able to cover this expense! The strike lasted three weeks; the workers were successful in their job action by increasing their benefits and by getting contracting-out language in their collective agreement. There were losses too. The loss of pay while being on strike, the loss of morale because there were scabs in the workplace during the strike and the loss of trust in their employer that would never be regained. And I did get my ears pierced! My second experience on a picket line was thirteen years later as a grade twelve high school student/junior lifeguard out on strike. I am a firm believer that the weather forecast for striking workers changes to include only cold temperatures, snow, rain, hail, and sleet…. again, the weather was awful! But the morale was strong and the support from the community and other unions was awesome! Friendships were developed during the strike that would not have developed in the ‘normal’ workplace atmosphere. We had food, coffee and donuts dropped off at picket lines on a regular basis; and, tooting horns of passersby in support of our strike as we walked proudly displaying our picket signs of catchy phrases describing our plight. We were victorious in our strike and returned to our workplace feeling empowered as workers and supported by our union. Once again, I learned that the labor movement means security and support for workers. There were some shortfalls to this strike: loss of pay while on strike put some families in dire financial straits, and the stress of protecting our jobs while on strike was very frustrating. But we achieved more than we lost because we persevered and refused to give up our right to a better quality of life that can be achieved through better working conditions.

The labor movement is like a family. And being an only child, I never knew I had so many sisters and brothers! Like a family, the men and women in the union must share responsibilities and burdens; we must help and support each other; we must work at making the union work, accepting it for its good and bad qualities; and, we must accept each other regardless of our differences. Like any relationship, there are positives and negatives. Our strength in solidarity is constantly tested by the changing workplace. Talk of downsizing, restructuring, right-sizing, quality of life, total quality management, team concept, workplace flexibility means fewer jobs for fewer workers. This constant threat on job security often puts union brother and sister against union brother and sister in fear of suffering personal devastation. Unfortunately, unions often find themselves divided because of the constant attack on workers but more often than this, we maintain the "injury to one is injury to all" philosophy. In a world of corporations and wealthy employers, where a business’ profit is often put before the rights of workers, the labor movement is there to support the basic human rights of all workers. Where the employer denies the rights of workers, the labor movement provides the worker with the grievance procedure. Where the employer denies the worker the right to work safely, the labor movement provides the worker with the right to refuse unsafe work conditions.

The labor movement no longer means or represents deprivation to me. What was difficult for me to understand as a child is now a philosophy for me as a worker and union member. What the labor movement means to me is support, understanding and acceptance as a person first and as a worker second. I am grateful to all trade unionists whose hard work and victories at the bargaining table has made in-roads for my generation of workers and these successes are what stand between me and a minimum wage job with no benefits. The victories of the women’s movement, health and safety for workers, coalitions to secure social programs, have been created and supported by unions.

Being exposed to the labour movement has been a positive experience for me. The fact that unions exist raises the question with me: "Without the labour movement, where would workers be today in regards to wages, benefits and the overall quality of life?" The likelihood would be minimum wage jobs with no benefits that would force a person into working multiple jobs with no hope for a secure future. As a young Canadian today, I support the labour movement and I would like to see the labour movement grow because I now realize that unions create a balance in power and a quality of life for workers and society.