Protest Update

Yesterday's protest could have been worse. It was a disruption, but not really that big. From 7:45AM to about 10:00AM, there was a picket line along the main entrances to the campus, so traffic (cars, bikes, and feet) just redirected to other entrances. Probably the steady rain (not mist) all day contributed to them leaving early. Plus, they had to be downtown for the rally at 11 something.

The buses did not run at all yesterday, but only because the bus drivers did not want to cross the picket line that the telephone company set up around the bus depot. (The telephone company has been on a legal strike at least as long as I've been in Victoria -- 1.5 months.) So, the lack of buses (and probably the rain) made for below average attendance in the classes, but most of my classes were normal because most people bike or walk anyway. However, there was a noticeably smaller number of people on campus between classes.

I don't think that many other unions really took the time off that it sounded like they would. The government threatened to discipline any government employees that took off work. I am not a lawyer, but I'd think that they could do so because the protest was in support of an illegal strike, so the legality of the protest seems iffy.

I'm not sure that the protest or rally did anything to help the teachers' circumstances, despite getting 20,000 people to attend. The government seemed to act like most people do when challenged: it probably now will be less likely to give in and more likely to defend its position.