LOCAL 611 NEWS

Chili Blanket Rally

Local 611 Chair Karen Taylor helps out at the Chili Blanket Rally in December 2003.

In 2003, Local 611 Executive members were actively involved in various community activities and building a network of support for our members' issues. They were also continuing to ask the question "how does this government value children, the marginalized, seniors or brothers & sisters who make a fair wage in the midst of so many cuts to our social safety net, programs and services in the North?"

Karen at Rally

Karen Taylor, Local 611 Chair, addresses the crowd at the Chili Blanket Rally.

Our activism has included:

• supporting our own and other union fightback campaigns at rallies,

   

• participating in the forums and workshops sponsored by the Active Voice Coalition,

   

• taking our issues to the MLA or city council, and

   

• and sitting on various committees, for example, Labour Council's International Women's Day, and AVC's Northern Women Forum, ITAC, the Stories Group, Workload study group, and all of the Young Workers community groups like Casey and Reconnect.

Karen and Sussanne

(l to r) Local 611 Chair Karen Taylor and Local 611 1st Vice-Chair Sussanne Skidmore participate in a demonstration at MLA, and Minister of State for Mining, Pat Bell's office.

Our goal is to continue the battle, and our hope for 2004 is that you will find an hour or two to join us on a campaign to educate the public and let them know that public service is an essential service for everyone in our community.

Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or concerns.

In solidarity

Karen Taylor
Chair, Local 611

Sussanne and student

(l to r) University of Northern BC student Angela and Sussanne Skidmore, Local 611 1st Vice-Chair, distribute information on the Campbell Liberal government's devastating cuts to services and programs. The information display was at the Rural Communities Summit in Clearwater during the summer of 2003.