Picket Sign Making Starts in Edmonton

While the AUFA bargaining team continues to seek a negotiated agreement, 

AUFA’s job action committees continue to prepare against the possibility of a strike. A credible strike threat is important because it shows AU that failing to negotiate an agreement will entail financial and reputational costs.

The Materials Committee is now turning its attention to the manufacture of signs for use by members during flying (ie. in-person) picketing events. We are starting preparations in Edmonton because this location has the largest concentration of AUFA members. 

Arrangements for sign creation in Calgary and Athabasca is in development along different lines, in conjunction with the picketing committees at those locations.

Starting early next week, AUFA volunteers will begin delivering blank signs to members in the Edmonton region who want them. Members would then create their own signs using whatever materials they have available (AUFA will not be supplying markers or paint). 

You can make more than one sign. And you can dragoon family members into helping!

Once created, the Materials Committee would be thrilled to share pictures of your sign(s) on social media. If a strike takes place, members would then bring their sign(s) to the picket line, where we’d attach them to sticks.

Some things to think about when making your sign:

• You can use the blank sign in either the portrait (tall) or landscape (wide) orientation.

• Each sign should contain no more than 3 to 5 words.

• Each sign should contain a clear and tasteful message (e.g., “On Strike”) or demand (e.g.,“Fair Deal!”, “Equity!”, “No cuts!”).

• Letters should be at least 4” tall and reasonably thick to be legible at a distance. If you can’t read your sign from 30 feet away, neither can passersby.

• High-contrast text is important for visibility (e.g., using dark colours or outlining letters in black).

If you would like sign blanks delivered, please fill out the following form:

Eric Strikwerda

Materials Committee Chair

Strike Planning Update: A Funny Valentine

As you might recall, earlier this year the Job Action Committee (JAC) struck a special ad hoc subcommittee and tasked it with generating strike materials to support flying and digital pickets, including signs, online shareables, and leaflets for use in the event of a work stoppage. 

Since then, the Materials Committee (MC), made up of Eric Strikwerda (Chair), Corina Dransutavicius, Ian Grivois, Suzanne McCullagh, Mike Voaklander, Tamara Jackson, and Jonathan Leggo, organized a productive introductory meeting, and started the work of developing multiple themes, digital campaigns, and social media strategies. The MC has also benefitted from valuable input from AUFA members following a call-out for ideas two weeks ago. 

Our first major campaign capitalizes on the strong response to JAC’s Christmas e-card shareables generated in December of last year. 

In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, then, the MC will roll out over the next two weeks a series of Valentine’s Day e-cards meant to encourage AU to make AUFA a fair contract offer. The MC will share the e-cards on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When you encounter the cards on your own social media feeds, we hope you’ll share them widely! 

Your Turn 

We’re also hoping to draw on AUFA members’ creative powers by helping us come up with Valentine’s Day messages to fill the cards. The messages can be funny, punny, or anything in-between. Please email me directly (erics@athabascau.ca) with any ideas you come up with. 

Eric Strikwerda, Chair 

Materials Committee 

Strike Planning Update: Committees start to spin up

AUFA’s Executive has directed the Job Action Committee (JAC) to be ready to strike no later than March 15. Whether or not we’ll see a work stoppage remains uncertain and is largely contingent on bargaining reaching impasse, AUFA and the employer completing a legislated mediation process, and the outcome of a member strike vote. This blog provides an update on strike planning.

Provisional Strike Structure

At its December meeting, AUFA’s Executive has developed a provisional structure (below) detailing AUFA’s work stoppage task allocation, reporting lines, and broader strategy. This structure assumes AUFA members’ approval of the strike pay and picketing recommendations at Wednesday’s townhall. The structure is also likely to evolve as work-stoppage preparation continues.

To meet the March 15 strike-readiness deadline, AUFA’s Executive authorized JAC to begin populating the committees that report to it. The first committee JAC has formed is the Materials Committee.

Materials Committee

The Materials Committee is responsible for generating strike materials to support flying and digital picketing, such as signs, online shareables, and leaflets. The committee will also be responsible for maintaining AUFA’s blog during the work stoppage. The committee presently comprises Eric Strikwerda (chair), Corina Dransutavicius, Ian Grivois, Jonathan Leggo, Mike Voaklander, Suzanne McCullagh, and Tamara Jackson. It held its first meeting last week.

Unions often run multi-strand social media campaigns during work stoppages, with different messages for different audiences at different times. Some messages will be critical, targeting the employer directly, and designed to attach a reputational cost to the employer’s behaviour. AUFA-generated memes in support of the Concordia University of Edmonton strike are an example of that approach. Other times, unions will run more positive messages aimed at sustaining member morale, for instance, or that will target different audiences (e.g., students, the public).

The Materials Committee is seeking AUFA member input (see questions below) about possible issues, themes, slogans, and multimedia ideas that, together, will bolster AUFA’s social media presence in the event of a work stoppage. We are especially interested in hearing your thoughts on different targeted audiences, as well as the intended effect of each idea. You can fill out the form below as many times as you like. As always, all submissions are anonymous. You can also email ideas and images to Eric Strikwerda (erics@athabascau.ca).

Eric Strikwerda, Chair

AUFA Materials Committee

JAC Volunteers Needed

JAC is seeking AUFA members willing to perform between 1 and 3 hours of online research between now and February 15. The research entails conducting online searches for contact information of between 10 and 15 AU donors and entering your findings into an online form.

This research will give JAC the option of contacting AU donors during a work stoppage to exert reputational and financial pressure on AU to settle. We have over 300 past donors identified and need some assistance to work through them all. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Bob Barnetson (barnetso@athabascau.ca).

Bob Barnetson, Chair

Job Action Committee

Your Turn