By Emily Stonehouse

As I type this, there are two known major strikes happening in the community. The college support staff have been picketing for over two weeks, and last week, Canada Post announced once again that they are taking a hiatus until conditions are improved and workplace security is guaranteed.

And while it may seem that strikes only impact a select few that hover in the bubbles around the picketers, in reality – especially in a small town – strikes play a part in the existence of many day-to-day activities.

For the college strike, that impacts Fleming CREW and local academic upgrading; an absolutely crucial service for the many individuals between jobs as the seasons shift. These closures have a trickle-down effect that washes over the community as a whole. For the postal strike, few organizations are quite as impacted as local newspapers: our readers, our subscribers, our regulars are noticing empty mailboxes this week. No one is happy with that. We will lose more than just money over this strike.

And while I have heard some mumble and grumble about ‘getting back to work,’ shouldn’t we all have the right to strike? To stand up for fair wages, safe working conditions, and job security?

Now I recognize that there is a clear-cut line between those pro-union and anti-union. You are entitled to whatever side of that coin you land on.

But when I explained the strike to my kids, leaving out the many, many acronyms and political differentiations, they grasped the concept remarkably fast.

“Why wouldn’t they ask for what they need?” they asked. “Why wouldn’t they communicate that?”

It’s a great question. And they have every right to do just that.

Because while strikes often get murky when it comes to who is speaking, who is talking, who is listening, who is acting, at the core of the cause, is basic human dignity. We spend the vast majority of our adult lives tied to a career. A position that is the reason our alarm clocks go off in the mornings, the reason the occasional holiday concert is missed, the reason our bills are paid and our mortgages tick forward.

But what if we don’t like that career? What if we are giving to it, more than it is giving to us? What if we don’t feel that we’re being treated safely, fairly, securely?

Then we walk away.

But sometimes, in the case of the colleges in particular, they don’t want to walk away. They realize that their absence has an impact on budding students, on eager workers, and committed creators. If they’re not there for them, who will be?

So suddenly, they’re stuck. Do they stick to a career that doesn’t value them, or do they walk away?

Each and every person who commits to a career deserves basic human dignity, and it’s up to them to voice that to those who may not see them (or their working conditions) on a regular basis.

And while we have the right to strike, here is to hoping that through mediation and prioritizing people over productivity, security over sales, and dignity over dollars, the parties can find a middle ground that appeases all involved.

Otherwise, they will walk away.