First they came...

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

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As the weeks of the Victoria Library Lockout continue, I realise that this is so. I used to say to Ed and Holman - leaders in our CUPE local, that "I am not a union girl." I am not an activist. However it turns out that I am a union girl, because the situation has made me so.

I've learned a lot about myself since the library board tossed me and my fellow workers on the street. I know I was the top candidate for some hot dot com in Vancouver. Why they didn't pick me in the end I'm not sure - but all I can say to the recruiter was that I was relieved - because I'm not sure I'd have had the guts to turn down the 17,000 dollars more a year they would have been paying me compared to my library job. However I would have been miserable if I had taken the money. I would not have liked their forced over time.

And even the job I'm supposed to be starting next Monday for 7,000 more than my current library salary does not excite me. I will likely be calling them in the morning and try to back out of the job gracefully as one can when there is no nice way to change your mind.

I've learned that I don't want to leave my library job. Not for more money. Not for some developer job here or there or even at some web 2.0 dot com. No I still love my library job and the work that I do. I still find the work exciting. I still love my co-workers and the people I serve. I still love books and reading and education and helping others. I think thats partly why my dad was a librarian and I have inherited some of his same social righteousness. Yes I can surely make more money elsewhere. I've even had offers. I'm just not ready to leave my work unfinished at the library.

Though the GVPL Board and the GVLRA close the doors and throw me out on the street - then I stand outside with my picket sign, shoulder to shoulder with my fellow library workers and we know in our hearts and minds that we are the "assets of the library." The library board has failed us - miserably. They've failed the citizens of the Capitol Region. They've failed to protect the assets of the library. They've failed to serve the citizens. Any smart company knows that their true assets are their workers and not buildings, books or even cash flow. Highly skilled, trained and devouted workers are worth more than their weight in gold. I'm sure they are also worth a few more dollars in salary.

It's not about needing money - although I do. My strike pay isn't enough to pay my rent. It's about 400 dollars short. It's also every penny short of my utility bills, food bills, gas for my car, medicine for me and my family. Not a penny for that after I pay 3/4 of my rent - because thats all the money we have. I am the bread winner but my family supports me in holding out and going back to the job I love. I hope the citizens will feel its worth their extra few tax dollars - less than 20 dollars a person a year more - to give each of us our needed raises.

Libraries don't live on love alone. Neither do library workers.

What frustrates me most is knowing that if I take another job for 7000 more a year, that the library will replace me with a male worker and most likely pay him 10,000 more a year if he had the same amount of experience and skills as myself.

This is what pay equity means to me. Why am I under paid? Because I am female. Because I love libraries.

So the library board has come for my union and now I stand with them.

I hope you will stand with us too. Librarians have stood beside the teachers and other unions in a show of solidarity for social rights.

Visit Overduepromise.ca to find out how you can help.

FYI: Local 410 is the only library union to have ever been locked out in Canada.

Have you written anything lately?

Well it turns out I haven't blogged lately, but I have been thinking about it for a bit because I was asked that question in a job interview. All I had to say for myself is that I didn't feel like putting myself out there.

Reminds me of a song I didn't write:

[DB:] "Have you written anything lately?"
[AS:] "Yeah, I guess."
[DB:] "Will you play it for me?"
[AS:] "You don't wanna hear it, it's not good."
[DB:] "No, I'm sure it is."
[AS:] "It's just that I wrote half of it when I was with
Linda and the other half
after we broke up so it's a little uneven, you know."
[DB:] "I don't mind, I'd like to hear it."
[AS:] "yeah alright."
[DB:] "Yeah...!"

(If you didn't recognize the quotes, they are from The Wedding Singer, one of my favourite movies).