The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

the HERALD Wednesday September 18 1991 Arts Ideas Page SB Solidarity demands that people work together ByJOHNSOMMER Whenever there is a public sec tor strike in this country the beautiful word and concept solidarity gets an awful beating What does solidarity mean for instance if it is demanded by a young postal worker from an old single woman who is barely making it on her pension cheque from one month to another What the word solidarity means is that you put your own interest aside for the time being to help somebody who is in a worse position than you are Looked at it that way we have to admit that the old woman is hard ly in a position to help anybody She is lucky if she manages to the next cheque right What a strike is all about Is not solidarity but power As humans we are engaged in power games all the time and often these games become bloody wars Unions did not come about because workers had it so good The early effects of the Industrial Revolution were comparable to enslavement When the old trades were replaced with in dustrial mass production thousands of starving craftsmen and women flooded to the cities where the lucky ones found employmentin factories very dif ferent from our factories today and at wages so low that we today cannot even imagine how these miserable workslaves stayed alive and of course many of them didnt You only have to read the novels of Charles Dickens to get an idea what it was like The single worker was totally helpless against the financial power of the factory owner By banding together and by strik ing they hoped to better their lot These early strikes were illegal strikes and they were brought to an end by replacing the strikers with other starving wretches or by killing most of them the army in those days was always on the side of the factory owner or by bringing them around by starv ing their families This was not a pretty picture in particular not in countries that prided themselves on being Christian But already in those days people in power could be found who were willing to share their enormous wealth with the people who had made that wealth possible in the first place And besides the workers in the century had nothing to lose Their lives were so little worth living that they again and again put them on the line until they won the right of strike and to do so without having to endanger their lives That was a great and proud fight and winning it established democracy and made our present high living standard possible The poverty in Eastern Europe by comparison is due to the fact that there one absolute power the power of the Tsar was replaced by another absolute power the power of the party with the result that the people Ideas and flW The Arts ijs by John Summer who create the wealth were never able to become partners in negotiating their wages He who has absolute power has a monopoly on power therefore monopolies have absolute power or at least more power than anybody or anything should have Our whole system rests on a con stantly adjusted balance and sharing of power The adjusting has to be done by us not by a heavenly force or by the govern ment WE are the arbiters of our actions Which brings me back to where I started Of course government employees have to be partners in their wage settlements they can not just be dictated to But in order to became equal to the workers in private industries who are at the mercy of the market and might lose their jobs at any time postal workers and government employees of all kinds have to be willing to shoulder some risks There should not be a monopoly attached to any of these socalled essential services If they are essential they have to be available at ALL times If they are not really essential if we can do without them during a strike then let us abolish them and use the money for more important things Jobs cannot be for life If we want them to be for life we will have to make them so for everybody in which case we are talking about a different system altogether Two Halton Hills artists have moved their creations into the Gallery of the Halton Hills Cultural Centre in Georgetown where they will be on show for the remainder of the month Brambley exhibits very nice and luminous floral water- colors Her landscapes are less good in particular a few oil pain tings that look to me unnecessari ly drab at least in comparison with her Beverley exhibits several series of delightful that are veritable fireworks of invention She also includes some collages bits of paper and other materials encas ed in plastic boxes that are joyous and experimental Its the kind of exhibition that will tempt me to go back for more than one visit Folk art painting offered in the Hills Folk art painting is based on thousands of years of traditional techniques used to decorate useful objects and gifts Basic patterns are transferred onto wood tin or other material and painted with acrylics Anyone with a desire to learn decorative painting can master the techni ques The Credit Valley Artisans are offering a six week course in Tole and Folk Art Painting on Tues day evenings starting September Acton resident will be the instructor Brenda learned the painting technique of folk art four years ago and has taught for three years from her home studio Folk Art She is a member of the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters This beginners course is designed for those who have little or no painting or drawing skills Students will be introduced to the basic brush strokes and techni ques One item will be completed in each class including a marbelized box and duck ser viette holder A generalized in structional handbook and full written stepbystep instructions for all class pieces will be provid ed The course will be held at Cedarvale Cottage in Park Georgetown For further information con tact ES Nielsen Course Co ordinator at between 6 and 8 Deadline for registration in this course is Wednesday September Prices effective thru Saturday September We reserve the right to limit quantities to normal family requirement Coupon item limited to two AND WIN YOU COULD WIN ONE OF NINE PRIZES FOLLOWING EVERY SLUE JAYS RUN ON ALL CTV A TON TELECASTS SEE AT STORE Look Spend Less During Our ND LESS SALE SKINLESS AND BONELESS Cloverleaf Sockeye Salmon WITH COUPON BELOW save Iucukmho this so fin REGULAR OH DIET CM Jtf p WO ml j PepsiCola par coupon 2 coupon par SapL IB M01 prtca without coupon ffBK REGULAR OR DIET PepsiCola or 7UP CASE OF 355 TINS J 750 BOTTLE Unit cost per 100 Unit cost 2 pet 100 WITH COUPON BELOW 1000 MINIMUM PLUS PER BOTTLE DEPOSIT COMBINATION 2 RIB ENDS LOIN ENDS CENTRE CUT CHOPS Pork Loin Chops PRODUCT OF ONTARIO Fresh Mushrooms 8 PACKAGE SAVE I FROZEN WHITE OR ALMOND Pronto Paper Towels PACKAGE OF 2 ROLLS WITH COUPON BELOW WHITE OR ALMOND BUY 2 SAVE 99 I Pronto Paper Towels I I coupon a par I I Sapt Men without coupon SC 674 j COUPON 50 CLOVERLEAF SKINLESS AND BONELESS OR I MM g g TIN I Sockeye Salmon Ii99 UMIT 1 tin par coupon UMIT 2 coupon par Sap without coupon I TURBO POWER lithe juo I Windshield j Washer Fluid LIMIT 1 lug par coupon UMIT par valKTSapt M It SAVE 50 99 iSavarin jTV Dinners 99 save 80 SC future coupon I UMIT 1 packaga par coupon LIMIT 2 par I Oflar valid Sapt Sapt SOI SC Foaturaprlca without coupo MB SC I I I UMIT box par coupon par I INI wtttwut coupon VC 7 I Kelloggs AA Bran Flakes e9w