Pickets on Campus

This morning, pickets sprouted up around the Student Union Building.

Unlike staff across most of campus, the SUB workers are represented by the United Steelworkers. Most of my morning was taken up by fielding questions from our CUPE members about what was happening because few people outside the SUB were even aware the Steelworkers local was in negotiations -- and that both negotiations and also mediation had broken down last month.

In addition to the food outlets now behind pickets, the strike shuts down Cinecenta, CFUV, various resource centres and the Student Food Bank. It also shuts down Zap copy centre where I had left a photo to be printed on canvas. Had I known about any pending action, I'd have made a greater effort to get to campus on my days off.

I dashed off an article for NowPublic this evening, "Striking Students Shut Down Student Services," but if you want to know even more, check out the USW Local 2952 blog.