Damn it Barry, take it outside.

With facilitated talks already breaking down between the government and the BCTF, CUPE BC members in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley are set to walk off the job tomorrow. This page is a proud CUPE BC member, but unfortunately, finds a lot to question about this particular show of support for teachers. Showing support for teachers is not the question here, but rather, the strategy (or lack thereof) in showing that support.

Monday's rally in Victoria came straight to the government's front yard in Victoria and shut down that city's downtown core. Tuesday's rally in Prince George hit the streets and knocked on Education Minister Shirley Bond's door. Tomorrow's rally in Vancouver is at...the Pacific Coliseum. Is it just me, or has the Direct Action theme of the past week unravelled here?

The PNE is a CUPE worksite, and those new seats installed for the World Junior Hockey Championships sure are comfortable, but it is by no means a visible or high-traffic location from which to address the government or the public. Staging a rally outside of downtown only gives the major media outlets (who are all based downtown) a greater excuse to ignore or downplay the event. Any activist who can rub two picket signs together knows there is only one place in Greater Vancouver for a rally to be seen and heard, and this is it.

For all of my union's messaging about being a community-oriented union, this day of protest appears to be more oriented towards comfort and convenience of CUPE members than it is about engaging the community. The PNE rally even has a 10:00 AM start time to accommodate the principals to for a second rally in Surrey at 2:00 PM. Why not double the show of force at a single rally that can't be ignored?

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King once said "The true nature of a people is not found in times of comfort and convenience, but in times of controversy and challenge." Why not stir up some controversy? Why not challenge the community to support teachers instead of rallying away from the community? My hope is that CUPE BC (and the BC Fed) are leaving something bigger (like a General Strike) in the holster just in case, but given the growing impatience from some parents and the bloodlust shown by the Lieberals for crippling penalties at the Supreme Court, just how much time is left to bring out those big guns?