A massive mural is the latest step that a New Westminster-based union is taking to address reconciliation.
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1518 is celebrating the official unveiling of its new wall mural, Salmon Arrows, on Friday, May 31 at 1 p.m. at 350 Columbia St. Rhonda Larrabee, chief of the Qayqayt First Nation, will offer a traditional welcome and territorial acknowledgement, followed by a brief artist statement by Harris.
Community members are welcome to attend the ceremony, which will also be attended by local dignitaries. Light refreshments will be served and a commemorative Salmon Arrows postcard will be offered to all who attend.
Spanning five storeys, Salmon Arrows is a site-specific mural created by Ronnie Dean Harris, a Stō:lo/St’át'imc/Nlaka'pamus multimedia artist based in Langley.
Salmon Arrows is a contemporary Salish design that depicts sockeye salmon swimming up the river, with arrows representing the ancient instinct of salmon species to migrate to the ocean and back to the water systems where they were hatched. The office is located on a Columbia Street site overlooking the Fraser River.
According to a press release, UFCW 1518 commissioned Harris to design and install the mural as part of the union’s commitment to reconciliation. It also serves as an acknowledgement that its office is located on the unceded territory of the Qayqyat First Nation.
"As leaders and activists in the labour movement, it’s imperative that we engage in meaningful reconciliation whenever we can, whether it’s participating in cultural training, acknowledging unceded territory or publicly supporting our First Nations, as we did with our solidarity statement for the We’suwet’en,” said UFCW 1518 president Kim Novak in a press release.
UFCW 1518 has taken a number of actions toward reconciliation including: renaming all boardrooms in its New West office after First Nations in regions where its members live and work; providing the Blanket Exercise (which aims to crete truth, understanding and reconciliation abount Indigenous an non-Indigenous people) for members, leadership and staff; placing a territorial acknowledgement on its website (ufcw1518.com); posting a workplace reconciliation info-sheet on all union bulletin boards in UFCW 1518 certified workplaces; and regularly promoting Indigenous History Month and other events acknowledging First Nations history and culture.
"These are small steps, but they move us closer to reconciliation by ensuring that we honour our First Nations and learn how to be allies at work and in our communities," Novak said.
UFCW 1518 represents 22,000 members working in the community health, retail, industrial and professional sectors across British Columbia.
