Regardless if it is a convention that has evolved over many decades and is a compromise between what actions used to lead to it is still an act of stupidity and I believe it is something that should be considered illegal (which I believe it is already).

As for the police managing the situation and it’s complexity, I would argue that if the police were actually doing their jobs correctly the strikers would not be allowed to obstruct a roadway in the first place. Perhaps if the police force in this case (as is the case in most locations) actually followed the rules rather than acting on their own discretion (which they will never admit they did) this situation and others alike would have never come to this.

Kevin: When the pedestrians blocking a driver from reaching the roadway are engaged in a legal strike action, that’s a special case. It’s a convention that has evolved over many decades and is a compromise between what management/union actions often otherwise used to lead to. That being the case, the striker pedestrians have a justified expectation that their obstructive behaviour is safe. Mind you, there are reasonable limits to how long such obstruction should last, under various circumstances. Most often in my experience, the police understand the complexity of the situation and manage it fairly well (that wasn’t always the case though). Drivers never have the right to strike pedestrians with a moving vehicle, no matter how provoked they may be. They are always responsible for being in full control of that vehicle and slowing it or bringing it to a complete stop to avoid such collision if it’s at all possible. If drivers believe that they are being obstructed by behaviour that is illegal, they always have the option to call police or hope that they will happen by.

Yes it is important HOWEVER you must conduct the strike in a safe fashion. Regardless if the driver of the vehicle did something wrong you have to admit that pedestrians blocking a roadway intentionally is not the smartest nor safest thing to do.

I am all for striking and pedestrian rights but I am also for common sense and thinking before you act.

I think it can be said that the driver of the vehicle did not have common sense and did not think prior to his actions but neither did the pedestrians.

With that being said, I think it’s really interesting that people seem to assume that I must be a CUPE member to have taken this video (not saying that you drew that conclusion, Greg). You don’t have to be a CUPE member to see all sides of this battle. There ARE students who actually support the union and agree that the pressure needs to be put on York U as an institution. I won’t get into arguments.

The point is, REGARDLESS of whether or not you agree or disagree with the strike, can we all really justify the behavior of this guy driving? Yes, you can say “hey, get off the road!! you shouldn’t be there!!”, but honestly, isn’t that a little immature? Can we not all agree that the right to strike is important? If not, then maybe you should try living in a country where you don’t have that freedom and let me know how that works out for ya.

Having just spotted the hyperlink in John’s article when I went back to re-read it and watch the video again, I clued into the fact that the “charges” in his headline is a reference to the headline of the article where the video originated (the video sub-committee of the CUPE 3903 Communications Committee). That headline was “Undergrad takes video of car charging lines.”

Emily: Are you the same Emily who posted that article and the video? If you are, then perhaps you can send me a confirmation from the ‘cupestrikevideo’ addy that’s listed on the original article’s site? Also, I’d appreciate you telling us if you personally shot the video, and whether or not you have any particular connection with CUPE? And rest assured that I’m not trying to set you up if the answer to the last question is yes. I’m a former exec. member of the NDP and I’ve walked a number of picket lines in my time.

John: I agree with you that the vehicle wasn’t going fast enough to satisfy my personal definition of “charging” but I don’t agree with your inference that the picketers weren’t displaying common sense. But I’m going to ask that we wait for Emily to respond before we get into that discussion.