It's only a matter of time.

This was the coldest morning on the picket line so far, I think.
But it's only going to get worse and it's only a matter of time (a week? maybe two?) before the snow flies.

Enough of the lockout doom and gloom.

In other news...it's blueberry season.
I went for a ride on my ATV this evening...and we came across a HUGE patch of them. My camera battery died before I could get a picture...but here's a shot of the view from where we were picking.

See...life isn't so bad after all.

Lockout Inukshuk

Charlie P built an inukshuk today, to keep track of how many days we've been locked out.
Count 'em: 16 stones so far.
Maybe moving those stones moved something in the heavens...because today we heard for the first time that the two chief negotiators have met. Tomorrow they'll actually start talking.
I'm not holding my breath. Maybe they'll get some of other articles out of the way...but neither side has budged on the contracting out.

When I talk to people here about the lockout, I try to make sure they get an idea of what has caused the impasse. If I know they have internet access I give them the CBC and CMG websites.
A lot of people seem surprised it's not about wages. But when I explain that it's about contracting out...most people seem to understand why it's become a deal breaker.

Is there a word for solidarity in Inuktitut?

“Naglina..!”

That's what one lady in town sighs every time she sees me these days. It literally means “I love you” but I think in this case it's more like “You poor thing!!” It's accompanied by a big hug. This same lady has a sister who is also locked out in Iqaluit. And she's one of many people who've told me they MISS the regional news and our other Inuktitut programming.
The petitions are filling up with signatures. And people have been mailing off a lot of those postcards the guild gave us for the Prime Minister.
An elder stopped by to chat this morning. Charlie Panigoniak (or as people here like to call him, Charlie Funnygooniak) spent quite a bit of time talking to her.
Charlie's kept our spirits up on the line. Showing us the right technique for catching a Ptarmigan with a few small rocks. Playing “softball” with my hackey sac and a “Inuit baseball bat” (a 2" x 4", in case you're wondering. ) Apparently he answers the phone at home "CBC Lockout!”
Since last week one of my colleagues has been calling community radio stations so that people get an explanation, in Inuktitut of what “labour disruption” means.
And Friday we had a chance to get some people at the airport to take some postcards to other communities.
We've translated the petition form into Inuktitut...and I'm getting some stickers printed with the lockout symbol and “Bring back CBC North” in Inuktitut.

THREE trucks are WAAAAY better than none.

Word is our bureau manager, who has been reading the Inuktitut weather in Iqaluit since the lockout...is coming back from Iqaluit this week.

I hear they're renting her a vehicle too. That's three to none. (See entry for August 16)

Disposable workforce

Day 8. Who'da thought we'd be locked out for a week!
My dad (NOT really a fan of labour unions) and I were talking on the phone for the first time since the lockout.
We were talking about some of the propaganda from both sides.
The term “disposable workforce” came up. That's what CMG says the corporation is trying to create by contracting out more jobs. The corporation says that's an insult to contract workers.

Dad: "That's like saying that calling slavery immoral is insulting to the slaves.”

Picket line blues

One of my colleagues is looking for work....and I've heard others in the territorial capital are too. If they get jobs, will they come back after the lockout? That may not be an issue in the south...but it is up here.
I know strike pay is supposed to offset hardship, not replace our paycheques. But ask my colleagues with kids how far 200 bucks goes in this town, where 4L of milk costs nearly 15 bucks. At some point prior to our strike vote there was some talk of extra strike pay for those of us in the North. I guess never materialized.

There were some tears on the picket line today. On of my colleagues says she's had a lump in her throat since Sunday night.
We've also heard that they got Bowhead in Repulse Bay yesterday. People are pretty happy there, apparently. (Probably not the whale, so much.)
I hear it was a quick kill. Which is good.
I wish we could have been there.

Bowhead muqtaq, roast beef and everything in between

Of course, what really bites about this lockout is that we're missing the Bowhead Whale Hunt. It only happens every two to three years. We had plans to go, and bring listeners live interviews from the hunt and all the community goings on that would have been part of that event. We had special anoraks made (sewn by our manager) and they had patches on the arms that read “2005 Bowhead Whale Hunt” on the arms....along with a CBC patch. I think that says something about the CBC and the kind of people who work there that we would arrange for and pay for our own jackets so we could be identified in the community as the CBC....That we were willing and eager to be there for an important event in the life of this community. We're also not convering the visit the federal housing minister, in a territory where a shortage of housing is literally killing people.
Well done CBC. I guess the only good thing is, at least we don't have to tell people we aren't there because we're on strike. Gotta give Mr. R credit for that.

It was cold today, and DARN WINDY (as a certain locked-out technician would say!) I may have to pull out the beaver mittens sooner than I thought.
A hamlet councillor dropped by today with sandwiches. Roast beef with mayo and I think I tasted a bit of horseradish. There was something about those sandwiches that just made us feel so good. Best thing I've eaten in a long time.

Two trucks are better than none

Today I found out...they've rented not one...but two vehicles for these security people.

You'd have to know the situation here to realize why this makes the me a little crazy. And why this post will drag on a little.
For the last two winters we've been without a CBC vehicle. The truck broke down in February of my first winter here. The-powers-that-be (not our local and territorial managers, by the way) eventually decided it could be fixed, but for some reason that took until May. They chose to fix it, rather than buy a new one, despite warnings from the local mechanic and regional managers that it would die once winter set in. It did, in November...when it was too late to bring a new one up on the barge. (Did I mention we're a fly-in community?) So make that TWO winters of walking to interviews ...or settling for phone-tape, depending on windchill and deadlines.

I guess they expected us to use the taxi service. (If we ever get back inside, RANKIN and TAXI into the news archive and you'll know why I laugh maniacally when those two words are used in the same sentence.) Taxi service in this town is about as consistent as rain in the Sahara. ( My apologies to those good people who have tried to run taxi's in this town. It's not easy to keep vehicles in good running order in tenvironmentment, I know.)

So I guess it's no surprise that some people in town have taken to calling "Ike-the- Bike" the CBC Honda. And if you read the previous post, you know how reliable Ike is.

But apparently, when you work security during a lockout, you really need a vehicle each. So it can sit there in the parking lot all day. Or maybe it's for their own safety...so they get get through the dangerous rabble on the picket line.

Life on the OUTSIDE

August 15, 2005
On my way to WORK this morning IKE THE BIKE
(pictured here in happier times) started making some funny noises. Turns out the gear box is pooched. A new one costs about $1200.
On any other Monday this would have been enough to constitute a crappy day. Maybe even a crappy week.
But today was already predestined to be crappy, wasn't it? Day 1 of the lockout.
Rumour has it there are two security people in town...hired by CBC out of Vancouver or Winnipeg or something.
They're supposed to be keeping an eye on us.
Maybe they think we're going to graffiti obscenities on the door in Inuktitut?
Last night I dreamed our area manager came from out of town to change the locks on the CBC building here. Anyone who knows this person knows he looks like Santa. Many of us who work with him feel like he IS Santa sometimes! In my dream he did something he'd never do in real life. He walked past me...without even looking at me.
I woke up crying.

So now I guess I'm involuntarily following the advice of many of my friends: I've now got a life outside the CBC. I don't think they meant it quite this literally. And who'da thought it would involve carrying a picket sign.

As we wandered about, with our picket signs dangling from our necks (swatting mosquitoes too...) an elder came by and asked if we were pan-handling. All I could think was "Not yet." Fortunately my colleagues gave her a more enlightening answer.