Martha Edwards

Picket sign saying defend public services

In case you needed this reminder today …

Ready for the March on the Legislature ✊🏻

#defendpublicservices #bcgeu #bcpoli

cc @bcgeu.bsky.social

I’ve not heard of the Lucas plan, v cool, thanks for sharing! I wonder how we could use current momentum to spark conversation and ideas.

Also want to say how much I appreciate how you share stuff like this & connect it to current challenges. I feel like I learn so much when I connect with you ❤️

Totally…. For me the union has largely been absent from my work life til now, yet there are expectations that I should just know what to do and instantly get on board. It’s been a learning curve!

(But, walking is one of my anxiety coping mechanisms so the endless walking on the picket line are helping with this 😉)

Mostly it’s:

Waiting…for the union and employer to make a deal (meaning immediate return to work.)

Hoping, that the people you so much of your time & energy to will come through for you.

And the uncertainty & anxiety of not knowing when or if this will happen.

-we also cannot cross the “picket line” or go into any “struck” locations for any reason. So, even though we are outside our work building most of the day, we can’t use the toilets (this has been … challenging…)

+ we’re not supposed to be in contact with our non-union managers who are there

-striking isn’t mandatory, but if you do any kind of work for the org (“scabbing”) or even log into your work email, they could revoke your union membership and you could lose your unionized job.

(So, tough to connect with colleagues unless you have their personal contact details)

-the strike started with a few units in early Sept, my workplace joined late Sept.
-we don’t get paid from work during a strike but if we picket we can get a small amount of strike pay. So, many colleagues haven’t been properly paid for 5 weeks now 😭

Also realized I should probably provide some “strike” context (all from my perspective)

-in Canadian gov, most positions below director level have mandatory union membership (uk gov doesn’t do this?)
-in Aug, 91% of members in my current union voted to strike for a cost of living increase

Overall it's been eye-opening & I'm glad for this union & movement, where we are fighting not just for wages or benefits, but for fairness, dignity and recognition of the value of public services and public servants

Aaand, I would like to go back to work, so here's hoping a deal can be made soon 🤞

-it's been strange and uncomfortable to suddenly shift from a mindset of 'I like my job and workplace' to 'my employer is my foe.' And my closest colleagues aren't here so I don't have much opportunity to unpack that

-Bringing a puppy to a strike is very chaotic (but a good way to meet ppl!)

-The union seems to assume we have a lot of knowledge about what pickets lines, scabbing etc mean. There's a lot that feels unclear to me

-Social media groups on FB/reddit have been a blessing & a curse. I get lots of updates through it but also there are a lot of negative and adversarial vibes.

-It's been interesting & I've met some nice folks. But as the only person on my small team in this union I've felt a bit isolated- ppl seem to huddle in the groups they work with

-Communication during things like this is so important. It's been decent but lots of opportunity for improvement...

- Walking a picket line for 4 hours is harder than I thought. But, I got used to it quickly.

- Strike shifts are only 4 hours, but I have to commute 1hr each way so it still feels like a full day but without the pay 🫠 Very thankful BC Gov hasn't implemented a return to office mandate (...yet? 🥴)

woman and dog posing with a sign that says "on strike"

I've been itching to write about #SDinGov and update my #weeknotes but..... I'm on strike and I'm not sure if it counts as 'scabbing' to write about work on my personal blog 😬

So, here are some 'strikenotes' from 2 weeks on the picket lines

Well this is disappointing. I would quite like to go back to work 🥲

This time last week I was filling my heart and brain with ideas and knowledge and connections at @sdingov.bsky.social

This week, instead of returning to work, I joined our union @bcgeu.bsky.social ‘s picket line to fight for fairer wages for our public servants.

What a September 😅🥳

“AI isn’t taking your job, the people making the decisions are”

“Responsibility must be shared, not outsourced”

“Being able to ignore the doom and gloom is a privileged position”

“Be hopeful AND cynical”

Necessary truth bombs from @elmosmoe.bsky.social at @sdingov.bsky.social #sdingov

Thank you, I needed this 🤣

Unreal moment this morning.

Almost feels like there should be some sort of holiday for “the starter word you’ve used for literal years was finally the Wordle word”

Or at least something more than a quiet “woo” alone in a hotel room 😆

Sorry hear you won't make it Sharon :(
If anyone at #sdingov wants to meet up before or during, I'm happy to coordinate

I'm happy to read that you will be at SD in Gov ... see you soon 💜

Interesting… i think we have even less data to inform our service list, so we’ll see how far we get 😅

Curious if you’ve had pushback or people trying to shut your list down? Or the opposite, people trying to get it properly supported?

BC Gov has this one, but I went through it and found it was not helpful - missing some of our biggest services, while including ones that are irrelevant or no longer operational...

It's also not sorted in a useful way, and the service names are misleading/ confusing
www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/...

We are looking into this as well - it's wild to me that this is so hard to find. And so interesting that some teams have shut theirs down as this should be very standard and obvious info

Just coming here to say that this is amazing and I can't believe I've never see this before. thank you!!

Myself and a small group are looking to do something very similar (possibly identical) for our government org, any advice?

I would be up for it :)

Love this, thanks!

a microphone with the number 3 on it ALT: a microphone with the number 3 on it

Imagine you were scheduled for a 15 minute chat with the absolute top person in your public service org (besides the elected leader.) What would you use that time to say or ask?

For me, it's prob something around how human-centred designers and/or grass-roots community organizers can have impact

A 'fun' / challenging game to play in government is "try to find this person on the org chart"

Are they in this vaguely-named division or that one? (NEITHER)

Ooo this branch has all the right keywords...maybe there? (NOPE)

Which of these 35 'strategy' teams are they be part of? (NONE OF THEM)