For three days, last week, I was at the CUPE Political Action Conference. I traveled and stayed on my own; Shawn and Kiddo joined me on Friday. I spent yesterday mostly in “hang mode” on my return, but the concepts from the conference continued to spin in my head.
Rethink
Personally, I have a lot of issues with “partisan politics” — specifically with individuals and groups who spend a lot of energy pushing their ideology and their candidates on other people. I’ve always felt “icky” doing that — even when hubby ran in the municipal elections years back. I felt uncomfortable when I first took on managing the listserv for the union because I could see the unsubscribe notices that followed after every political post.
My issue with using union member lists to broadcast partisan politics comes down to the fact that union membership is not a choice — if you accept a particular job, you join the union — rather than opt-in lists like Greenpeace or even to some extent a church congregation.
If you’d told me even two years ago that I would attend a Political Action Conference which is basically building the front line of organizers and activists for upcoming campaigns, I’d have presumed you were sadly mistaken and had me confused for someone else.
Yet, there I sat, being urged to join the NDP, to work on local campaigns, to promote progressive candidates, and to GOTV (get out the vote). And gradually, my thinking started to shift.
Reflect
Shawn and I have had a lot of discussions lately that maybe we aren’t where we want to be because we are playing from a different rule book — and that our own rules are too strict. In a post about finding success, he blogged recently about the fact that a lot of people “cheat” — they take shortcuts, skirt the truth, change the rules and otherwise find a different way forward.
A little over a week ago, I found a photo of mine that had been used in a commercial article with attribution but without permission — it was not one I had licensed as Creative Commons so I was annoyed.
Usually, I would wring my hands and maybe send a letter trying to educate the author that “just because you can see it on the internet doesn’t mean it’s free.” When I put the question out to other freelancers, most said, “invoice them.” So I did. And much to my surprise, the company paid the bill — $120 for a “single use in a web article” for one photo. I’ve always thought that was kind of a “dick move” but no one else did, so I decided not to angst about it.
I guess the realization I’ve come to is that it is time to start playing from the book everyone else is using. When it comes to partisan politics that means understanding and accepting a few things:
- Unions are inherently political organizations and historically left wing or even blatantly socialist.
- Every political organization uses the platforms available. In some cases, this means using media outlets to reach outside the organization; in most cases it means using member lists for member-to-member communication.
- Conservative and other corporate-backed campaigns can and do buy their way into the voter’s awareness. They have access to more money to throw at advertising for both the candidates and key issues.
- It makes no sense to vote for candidates who are going to work against one’s economic interest (or social interest, for that matter).
- It is in the union’s interest to inform and educate our members as to which candidates will best work to support our economic and social interests.
I am determined to find a way this can work so that I don’t compromise my own values — so that I can educate without evangelizing and promote without being pushy.
Relax
In between the keynote, panel, and classwork, I had time to myself — a rarity for me as I usually travel with my family. On the afternoon I arrived, I just hung out in the hotel in silence. No music, no tv, no chatter, no meowling cats or barking neighbourhood dogs. I bought a tub of yogurt and box of cereal which was my breakfast in the mornings so I didn’t have to leave the room too early.
Day two: I found a fantastic place for lunch — amazing food. That night, I debated where to eat and ended up walking almost 3 km from the hotel to the other end of No.3 Road where I had dinner before taking the Skytrain back.
Day three: hubby and kiddo arrived in time for lunch — dim sum at a place our friends recommended — and then met me again after the conference was over. We had dinner, shopped, and headed back on the last ferry, watching the sunset as we pulled out and headed toward the Islands.
