EDMONTON – DynaLIFE lab employees have overwhelmingly rejected their employer’s “final” offer…
On June 18, 2009, DynaLife Dx tabled its “final” offer to its employees. It includes the following:
A wage reopener clause in the 3rd year
Best employee concept for lay offs
Schedule provided 4 weeks in advance
No retention incentive program
$500/year for health and education
No pension plan
All in all, it was a bull shit offer, and I’m glad that 86% of my co-workers rejected it. The weeks to come will definitely be interesting. Next Mon, DynaLife and the HSAA return to the bargaining table for one final attempt at a collective agreement. Depending on how that goes, the next step will be a strike vote.
My friend, Alisha, made me a mixtape recently. At 19 years old, she has excellent taste in music, I must say. Here it is:
Assembly Now – Out on the 24s
Band of Horses – Ode to LRC
Lykke Li – Breaking it up (Punks jump up remix)
MGMT – Electric feel (Justice remix)
Editors – Fingers in the factories
Keane – Somewhere only we know
The Runners – Get in line
Snow Patrol – You’re all I have
Bell X1 – Bad skin day
Rock kills kid – Hideaway
The Kills – Sour cherry
The Maccabees – All in your rows
Anberlin – Adelaide
Paramore – Decoy
Bloc Party – Mercury
Late of the Pier – Bathroom gurgle
Death cab for Cutie – The sound of settling
Postal Service – Such great heights
Strokes – You only live once
Vampire weekend – A-punk
White Rose movement – Testcard girl
…But voters of color also have to step up and take some responsibility. It’s the responsibility of white people not to be racist. It’s the responsibility of men not to be sexist. And it is a responsibility of all of us not to be homophobic.
I never really liked Histology in school and, now, after a day in the department, I have one more reason to not like it.
I observed gross dissection most of the day, when the most interesting case came through…a leg! It was a fresh “specimen” and not fixed, so the blood was bright red and the skin still flush. I assume it came from a diabetic patient because the heel of the foot had a wound that was all necrotic and gangrenous. And most lower limb amputations are from Diabetics. The pathologist didn’t really discuss much about it, maybe because he was busy with the saw. Every time he cut into that leg with the saw, it felt as if he were doing it to my leg. It was almost too much to stomach.
I’m scheduled to assist in an autopsy. Now, I’m rethinking whether I want to do it or not…
A few days ago I was told that I’d have to move to Red Deer in June instead of August, contrary to the information I was given before. Ever since I was accepted into this program, I tried not to think about the big move, because it depresses me, but now it’s shoved in my face again. And I can’t avoid it anymore. It’s creeping up on me ever so slowly. I have to make plans now. June is less than six months away and I’m wholly unprepared. There are so many questions I’m afraid to ask but must. It’s unavoidable.
Les Georges Leningrad played the Velvet Underground in my fair city last weekend. I wish more bands like this would visit Edmonton: edgy, eccentric, and danceable. The drummer, dressed in Flintstones-ish leopard print underwear, bumped into me on the way to the stage with an “Excuse moi”. The whole band had this Flintstones/circus freak-show feel going on for them. It definitely worked as a stage/art show. Overall, a very enjoyable concert (video to come!). Outside, I chatted with various peoples, yet it was the teenagers the made me uneasy. soo unpredictable.
It was only a few weeks ago that I got mugged outside of the Velvet Underground/Starlite room. Ok, let me backtrack…it was a Fri night, G and I went to this hipster dance party downtown at the Velvet Underground. The crowd was scant and mediocre at best (no one wanted to dance!). This one guy, though, for one reason or another, polished off his breakdancing moves on the dance floor, and in the process, ended up cracking open his head. There was, literally, blood on the dance floor, a big puddle (which no one cleaned up that I saw). This was the bad omen I should’ve payed attention to. After all that excitement, G and I called it a night and left for the harsh outside. Not too long after passing by, what seemed like a few ‘harmless’ kids, we were being mugged by them. Ok, it was mainly me because G was not only his cell phone, but he was drunk and distracted, unaware of what was going on. The kid flashed what looked like a real gun (G begs to differ), so I did what any sane, sober person would do: I gave him my money. Well, it wasn’t a whole lot, just a $5 bill and a handful of change, to what amounted to around $8 total (I had $60 on me). I thought that was the end of it, but it wasn’t. They followed us to my car and tried to intimidate us even more. Now, G probably did this because he was drunk, but he told them off and was egging them on for a fight, which ended up not happening. I think because of this they backed off and finally left.
I’ve lived in Edmonton all my life, yet this was the first time I’ve ever been mugged in this city. It was also on this night that there were a total of 4 stabbings in Edmonton, one of them not even a block away from where I was mugged. I realize G or I may have been stabbed that night, had we pushed these kids. Point is, there’s way too much violence in this city. Like really, what the fuck is wrong with people today?
