Before becoming a teacher, I had worked both union and non-union jobs in construction.  My first construction job was 52 straight days of night-shift work that amounted to doing 85 hour weeks.  Despite the long hours and work, I enjoyed the experience. It was just one other person and myself doing maintenance on a gravel crusher so it’d be ready for crushing stone each day. My other non-union jobs were similar, I’d work harder and longer for lower wages versus what I’d get working in the local union.

In my unionized job, I made a much higher wage for the work that I did as a labourer.  I don’t remember exactly how much it was hourly, however, after taxes, it came out to $2200 /month based on a 40 hour work week. Personally,  I thought my wages and working conditions were excellent.  I also enjoyed the company of most of the people I worked with.

However, amongst the more senior labourers and tradespeople who made up the majority of the company’s unionized workforce, a sense of entitlement and discontent had been growing for years.  Attitudes were such that in 1999, they decided to go on strike because they believed their pay and benefits should be increased.

When the union voted to strike, I was paying dues, but I was considered a non-member. So, I lost my job.  However, a few days after the strike began, I was sworn in along with the other seasonal labourers in a move to increase the numbers on the picket line. It was a silver lining moment.  On the one hand, I lost $2200 per month in salary, but on the other, I’d get back $800 per month in strike pay. During the strike, I was also able to pick up extra shifts in the local restaurant where I worked part-time as a waiter to help make up more of the difference.

The strike ended after six weeks when management provided a $10 000 relocation allowance to retiring employees in addition to the original salary increase offer. The union voted on it and almost everyone went back to work the next day. Unfortunately, neither I nor any of the other seasonal workers would get rehired that year.

At the time, I was pissed. However, had this not happened, my life would probably be completely different today. If I had been re-hired that fall, I might not have gone back to university. I would have been making really good money and I’d have had months off per year as a seasonal worker with the potential to get hired full time as people retired and positions opened up.

Instead, I went to Ontario to work during the winter after the strike, and I was back in university the following year. I’d come back and work a few more summers until I got my degree. After graduating from university, what was supposed to be a couple of years abroad teaching English turned into a career that has taken me all over the world. Also, had the union not gone on strike, there may have been a cook at the site where my father worked with a water resource technician from Quebec who taught him this quick and tasty recipe for clam chowder, which he, in turn, taught me to make.

Clam Chowder From the Picket Lines
Ingredients 1 ten-ounce can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup 1 ten-ounce can of baby clams, drained 1 small onion, diced 1 medium potato, cubed 10 ounces milk, measured using the empty Campbell’s soup tin Mix the soup and milk in a medium saucepan, add the onions and potatoes. Cover and cook over low-medium heat on the stovetop for about 20-30 minutes until the potatoes and onion are tender. Stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming.  Serve right away and season with salt and pepper to taste.