On Wednesday, the picket captains got word from HQ that the two sides were headed back to the table. And after my previous day walking around quashing rumours, it was nice to share that joyful little fact.
        We all understood the importance of staying strong and holding the line at that point. I didn’t need to remind my colleagues and my team. But I did anyways. And a few people beat me to the punch, giving me the same encouragement.
        Given the news and the newfound hope, it also seemed appropriate that I was wearing my new sign on Wednesday. It says “Nobody will be sold out.” I had asked Robert Seale, AUFA’s truly talented and humorous sign guy, to fashion it for me. It wasn’t to remind our negotiating team of their principled commitment to the membership. I know these people, and I trust them to honour their commitment and to come out with the best and most principled deal they can get for us. Instead, I wanted to wear this new sign to show my own commitment. I wanted to wear this new sign to remind myself, my established colleagues, and, most importantly, our most vulnerable colleagues of the promises we’ve collectively made to each other.
        The signs we wear (and carry) really do, I think, testify to our collective promises. Some of them seem merely humorous in their trajectories: for instance, “Bad President. No Banana.” Yes, I get a good chuckle every time I see this one. But I also recognize how it works. Humour is a powerful weapon in the way it unites us as an interpretive community in opposition to the misguided (and unevolved) values of the BOG and its chief representative. We get the joke together. We understand that together we must change those values. Other signs are funny but make more blatantly serious statements. For instance, one of my team members carries a sign with a big hole in it for a belly distended by 8 months of pregnancy. Around that hole is the phrase “Mom, striking for daycare.” It’s funny to see, it’s probably much more practical for her to carry than a sign without a hole, but it reflects a real issue and an inspiring level of commitment to make Acadia family friendly. As a supportive aside, I’ll report that even though this faculty member was having contractions on the line, it took several of us more than a week to convince her not to walk her full 2.5 hour shift each day. And finally, there are the signs–somehow, so appropriate for academics–that contain graphs and charts reflecting the financial mess the admin has gotten us into. These signs reflect our collective refusal to pay for that mismanagement, but also our collective commitment to correct it.
        The signs we wear are too numerous to mention and analyze here. But as we approach the end of our second week in this struggle for the values of Acadia, I personally take great reassurance in many of them and the collective promises they represent.

[For a recent journalistic article referring to Acadia signs, see Peter Duffy’s “Picketing with Panache” in the Chronicle Herald. Robert Seale is getting the recognition he deserves.]

Acadia students rallied in support of their faculty again today. The following are videos of this student driven event.The first video shows the student march through Wolfville.

The second video is a medley of songs adapted by students in support of AUFA.

The final video is an address to students by Greg Allain, President president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

Thanks to the student organizers and all the participants. These rallies really do keep our spirits high. And yes, together, We are Acadia.