Legacies of Solidarity

Marion Pollack (Women Against the Budget, postal worker) [00:00:00] You know, I felt like I could make some sort of connections for the labour movement and the women’s movement. And when the Kelowna Accord came down, that was impossible. And it was impossible for so many years, you know, for me as an individual to navigate that. Which you know, I’d always sort of seen myself as someone who had a foot in two worlds. And it was, you know, I’ve still got a foot in two worlds, but the two worlds, I mean, never intersected. And what it meant was, for a lot of the stuff we were doing in the labour movement, we were unable to get community support for a very, very long time because they were so, you know, the community was rightfully so sceptical and so angry with the labour movement. So for me as an individual, I mean, besides being really depressed by the Kelowna Accord, it made sort of, you know, my ability to do any work much more difficult. And it made any relationship between the community groups and the labour movement really hard for years and years and years. And I think that is, you know, I think that was one of the really sad legacies of Solidarity is that just, you know, we had all this hope, and the hope, you know, got dissipated. And people did not blame Bennett for the loss of the hope. Or at least the people I was hanging out with, you know, who were involved in Solidarity. They blamed the trade union movement.

Stuart Alcock (Representative for Gay Men, Solidarity Coalition) [00:01:31] I happen to believe that one of the significant gains out of the entire Solidarity movement was that the presence of out gays and lesbians legitimized the work that some people were doing in the labour movement. And that, you know, the labour movement moved light years very quickly, because all of a sudden there were people out there legitimizing their gay and lesbian members, or their queer members. I mean, that’s, that I think is one of the real legacies of Solidarity.

Larry Kuehn (President, BC Teachers’ Federation) [00:02:22] You know, the lessons I took from it was that, that when I looked at, at what happened in February of ’82 and the rejection of the right to strike, and then a year later, being prepared to actually go out and strike. That as much as, you know, that the, the direction leadership wants to go, that, that what really motivates people is what happens to them. You know. And it’s, you know, it’s actually the reaction to what government was doing that was so negative to, to teachers and to education, that changed teachers’, you know, perspectives and attitudes and willingness to take part in the kinds of struggles that we’ve engaged in over this last 35 years.

Rod Mickleburgh (Labour Reporter) [00:03:22] It’s hard to do because of the way it ended. But people should look back though and be proud of themselves, and remember the good times, and remember the August 10th rally at Empire Stadium and the August 6 – October 16th protest. I mean, they stood up for basic rights, you know, and you can’t take that away from them. And although it’s hard, but if they could get into that frame of mind to really look at what was positive about this unprecedented social movement in British Columbia in the summer and fall of 1983, they should hold their heads high. You know, because it was really something unprecedented in so many ways. I mean, you know, when you’re covering it on a day to day basis, you sometimes forget just how momentous it was. Well what’s the, what’s the government going to do? What’s this? What’s going to happen next? And you don’t take the broad look. But if you take that broad look, it is, it was really, really something, and I feel privileged to had a ringside seat for it and to watch it.

Ken Novakowski (Bargaining Staff, BC Teachers’ Federation)[00:04:28] Solidarity, I mean, when I look back upon it and my own experience in it and what happened to me as a result is, it’s sort of like a once in a lifetime, I think, experience. I mean,, I would love to experience that again but I doubt that I will. And it was overwhelming. It was just… And it was life changing. It changed a lot of people, not just organizations like the BCTF, but a lot of the people in it. And a lot of the people who were involved. It forced them and caused them to examine what was happening and and also to think about what was possible. What we could do if we worked together and tried to build a better British Columbia. So I think that’s, that’s basically it.