Heart in Hand
© Maria Dunn, 2015
Arranged M. Dunn, S. Johnson, S. McDade
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The 1986 Gainers Strike in northeast Edmonton’s meatpacking district lasted a bitter six months and reverberated across the country with a nation-wide boycott of Gainers products. Company owner, Peter Pocklington (who happened to also own the Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers at the time) had pleaded with his workers to accept rollbacks in 1984 to help turn around the failing Gainers operation. In good faith, the workers accepted those rollbacks and improved production at the plant such that, two years later, they knew the company was making a profit and they expected Pocklington to negotiate fairly with them in terms of wages and benefits. He responded by terminating their collective agreement and advertising for replacement workers. The strike was divisive and ugly, particularly in its early days, with buses of strikebreakers attempting to cross the picket line.
In 1986, Renée Peevey was a young worker at Gainers, active in this struggle for better wages and working conditions. In 2015, she eloquently described her experience on the front lines of this “Battle of 66th Street” to Edmonton historian Catherine C. Cole. Her interview and this song appear in the Video Ballad entitled Packingtown.
**
It’s a bright June morning, beautiful day
And though it turned so ugly, I’ll remember it that way
Til those buses start in, like they’ll never stop
Coming for to carry some poor fool to my job
Then like a seamless dance where the partners glide
Or the graceful flow of stream and tide
We all moved, so instinctively
From the deepest well of our dignity
Heart in throat, heart in hand
Sitting arm in arm, you can see, here I am
I look so young, but I am strong, not scared
With my sisters, my brothers, I’m there
Do you think so little of me, do you think of me at all
As we slow your bus to a crawl?
As your boss tries to bring us to our knees
As the window smashes, do you think of me?
How I work hard, I’m good at my job
We saved this company, and all for what?
To be sneered at, sold out, undermined
Do you think of me when you cross the line?
One by one, they try to take us all away
But like pebbles on a beach, we shift and remain
You can grind your heel down into the sand
But your mark disappears when the next wave lands
Oh, heart in hand, our bodies on the line
We who never took a handout in our lives
Now the goodwill and the money pours in
It makes me weep, such a simple thing
Maria Dunn vocal, acoustic guitar, accordion
Debbie Houle harmony vocal
Shannon Johnson violin
Jeremiah McDade whistle
Solon McDade upright bass