This province of mine.....

So i did it. I didn't mean to do it but I did. I crossed picket lines. :-( I've always lived in provinical capital cities, and that tends to be where the action is. In Alberta, not much happens. There was the rally for tuition, but that's about all. But BC.....is a political mess. Teachers in this province have not had a contract for the last 5 years, and apparently strikes were common when other students were growing up. The government passed a legislation telling teachers that they weren't allowed to strike, even before they did. So of course, last week the teachers went on strike. As a result, a judge denied them strike pay. Today, all unions on Vancouver Island are participating in a walk-out. That should include me, as a CUPE member of a local for UVic teaching assistants. Buses aren't running, post offices, recreation centres, universities, etc. As my office is downtown, I thought it would be okay to go. But......somehow I failed to remember that we are a government office. Now our office is home to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroluem Resources, as well as a few others...but not Education. That doesn't seem to matter, as Foresty and Health buildings are also being picketed. Do I support the protest? I don't know. I support the teachers attempt to lower classroom sizes. But a 15% raise over 3 years? Nobody gets that. Besides, there's either money for hiring more teachers or paying teachers more - not both. As for this general walk-out today - I've never heard of it happening before. All I know is that is island has more unions than I ever thought possible. Everyone supports everyone in the strike against the legislation. It's not even about the teachers today - just the right to negotiate. With the political spins on everything, I'm not sure what I think. But I'm currently sitting in a government office with about half the people at work today, feeling pretty guilty for showing up. Can't a person just get some work done?