Also, I’m very much pro union. My dad was a rep for 30+ yrs, turned president at one point of Telecommunications Workers Union (now United Steelworkers). I grew up on the picket line. This type of behavior and tactics against a small Indigenous woman run bookstore makes the labour movement look bad

I never went through with the lawsuit, but it did stop the harassment for a while…until they threw 3 cans of paint on the front of my store…

I tried 6x to have facilitated dialogue w/ an Indigenous matriarch, to ease tensions & not only was I ignored, but they refused. It was only after I threatened to sue for defamation (I was hospitalized & held under mental health act due to harassment), they then agreed to talks if I dropped the suit

Appreciate Issac’s attempt to write a non-biased piece w/many moving parts, people & escalated tensions. I know we’re a sm. shop & there are bigger union stories to tackle, so grateful for the coverage. I do think someone needs to write on the complications & impacts of unionizing sm. businesses tho

Thanks, appreciate it

An analysis of unionizing small businesses is missing. It also erases that I’m an Indigenous owner, whose management was Indigenous informed, upholding the collective. Violence against me as an Indigenous woman was done in the name of the labour movement. This isn’t what the labour movement is

There is no collective agreement b/c I had no staff for 6 mos. I was forced to work 165 days in a row (while not paying myself) to make sure the bookstore survived. I was hospitalized due to stress. I’m working on an Indigenous informed agreement that hasn’t been done before. These things take time.

Except: I paid a living wage, gave 5 wks leave when hired, $2000 holiday bonuses & when people were either hospitalized or had their friends go missing, I continued to pay them even though they had no sick time. I, and Indigenous woman, did all this while not paying myself. Says all you need to know

An analysis of unionizing small businesses is missing. It also erases that I’m an Indigenous owner, whose management was Indigenous informed, upholding the collective. Violence against me as an Indigenous woman was done in the name of the labour movement. This isn’t what the labour movement is

A lot missing from this story, like the fact there is an active police investigation into harassment & vandalism charges against staff… All law(incl. labour) “reflects Western theories & practices that dominate world economies”(capitalism), which doesn’t honor my Cree ways of knowing or leading

An analysis of unionizing small businesses is missing. It also erases that I’m an Indigenous owner, whose management was Indigenous informed, upholding the collective. Violence against me as an Indigenous woman was done in the name of the labour movement. This isn’t what the labour movement is

There is no collective agreement b/c I had no staff for 6 mos. I was forced to work 165 days in a row (while not paying myself) to make sure the bookstore survived. I was hospitalized due to stress. I’m working on an Indigenous informed agreement that hasn’t been done before. These things take time.

A lot missing from this story, like the fact there is an active police investigation into harassment & vandalism charges against staff… All law(incl. labour) “reflects Western theories & practices that dominate world economies”(capitalism), which doesn’t honor my Cree ways of knowing or leading

Except: I paid a living wage, gave 5 wks leave when hired, $2000 holiday bonuses & when people were either hospitalized or had their friends go missing, I continued to pay them even though they had no sick time. I, and Indigenous woman, did all this while not paying myself. Says all you need to know

💯 and I won’t be selling any of their books in my store again. People are so worried about themselves, purity politics, and trying to avoid “controversy” to keep their image clean, and instead, are directly engaging in acts that render me invisible. All without ANY facts. #fakeallys

anything online and it can jeopardize a persons livelihood, without providing ANY evidence. But who cares, right? It’s just an indigenous woman rendered invisible, like every other damn day. And you know who is mostly cancelling? white, settler women… Tells you all you need to know