Martha Edwards

marthaedwards.caWeeknotes: S1 EP1 (July/Aug 2026)What happened * I started July by taking a bit of time off - No big plans, just some time with family. Then the children did a few weeks of summer camp while I worked. Then I ended August with two (...

I wrote a summer edition of weeknotes, hoping this becomes a habit again as it felt a bit therapeutic to write this all out. The short version: - Mapping - Meetings - Reflecting - Travelling www.marthaedwards.ca/weeknotes-s1...

marthaedwards.ca2025: A YearnoteI meant to write this before I left for the holidays in December but it feels like I'm only just catching my breath after some big work deadlines and personal things, along with school break and the m...

16 Jan

Happy New Year to all of you 🎉 I finally got around to writing my yearnote for 2025, for those who enjoy such reflections: www.marthaedwards.ca/2025-yearnote/

3 Dec 2025

Digital transformation leadership panels: “service design and user research are critical for our success” The response when I, a service designer and user researcher, try to register for an event to talk to leaders about digital transformation 🫠

Strikenotes episode 4, the series finale (thank goodness) Our union and government reached a tentative agreement on Sunday so we've returned to work 🥳 This is my first day back and I'm feeling a little lost. I haven't worked since Sept 12 and I got re-orged to another ministry while I was away

For example: if you have a cold, your only choice is to show up (and risk spreading illness), or forfeit strike pay. There’s a whole virtual picketing program people *could* join to contain germs while contributing and earning strike pay, but it's heavily restricted to certain people

Anyway, point is .... I see lots of opportunities to improve and modernize the strike experience, and the union experience overall....but nobody asked me 🫠 So I guess I will just continue walking in circles for an unknown amount of time.

As a reflection activity, I created a chart of my mood over the weeks 🤓 Side note: We forfeit employer mental health benefits on strike, and afaik there’s nothing offered by the union in its place. Even some sort of loosely organized peer support network could be helpful....

Naturally as someone in UX, I find myself thinking about the picket experience (PX?) - what’s working and how it could be improved. It’s an incredible feat to organize 20,000+ workers in a few weeks It's also noticeable that the conditions we fight for aren’t available to us as picketers

Other positive things: The union has been sending mediation updates every morning. They're always very vague but I'm reassured that they come at all. The picket site had a “love bomber” walking around yelling positive phrases over a megaphone. Super cheesy but it helped to hear something good.

Less positive: I’ve noticed an increase in mental and physical signs of anxiety and depression. Loss of appetite, check. Feeling hopeless, check. Loss of interest, check. (A sad irony that I’ve more time in the day to spend with my children but less interest or energy for their activities.)

I wrote these last week (20-24 October) before the deal... I kept them as-is so they sound present tense but they are not Week five, $4000 in lost income now. Perhaps I should consider this my "donation" to publicly-funded services as it’s likely I won’t be able to earn that back

It was my birthday this week. I spent the day in the pouring rain. I got a parking ticket for being 10 minutes late to the car. But - it was a pro-d day at my kids school so the little one joined me on the picket line. We had a really nice day together, despite the weather. A good memory

23 Oct 2025

It’s been years but I’ve finally done it - I’ve listened to every episode in my giant podcast queue thanks to the @bcgeu.bsky.social strike. Any recommendations for new pods? I like the ones that tell a good story (not usually a fan of conversation-style ones, unless they’re really good)

Strikenotes episode 3: 4th week on the picket lines with my union @bcgeu.bsky.social We had a four day picket week due to Canadian thanksgiving on Monday. Grateful to the union for giving us strike pay on the holiday 🙏🏼 Chilly temps this week but we didn’t have much (or any?) rain ☀️

A highlight of the week was taking a small “picket tour” of some of the other lines in downtown Victoria to see what others had going on (like yoga classes! And bike tune ups!) and I stopped to talk with some of my former teammates at other sites. Also enjoyed lots of baked goods at my site today

And some positive (I hope?) news: our strike is now going into mediation, so we may get a resolution soon. Keeping all the fingers crossed 🤞🏻

…. Or maybe I am just grumpy / lonely / some combo of the two. But I always think: if I feel that way, others probably do too, and I hate the idea of lots of lonely people being on their own in a group setting that should be more social. So I wonder what would help?

Then again, maybe that’s just my experience; This has also led me to reflect that I’m someone who has lots of connections but no close “circle” at work. Plus I am quite awkward 🤣 Side note: I’m very grateful for those who have gone out of their way to say hello to me, those moments have made my day

Maybe it’s due to not feeling 100% physically but I started to feel really low and defeated this week. Adding up how much income I’ve lost (over $3k at this point) didn’t help. Reflected on how disempowering it all feels- like we’re a bunch of low value pawns in a politics or numbers game.

Felt a bit frustrated at how cliquey picket sites can be. Small groups huddled together, people sticking to those they know As a team of 1, I can easily go a whole shift without a single conversation So, it feel like we’re wasting an incredible opportunity to build new connections & communities…

This week I was battling a cold, perhaps due to the shift in weather and being outside most of the day. But, unlike at work I get no strike pay for illness so I powered through with some decongestants

Still not back at work so here’s strikenotes episode 2. 3rd week on strike, 6th for many colleagues. We all kicked off the week with a huge rally at the BC Legislature. It was both chaotic and energizing. But it seemed to do nothing to move things forward which was disappointing & demoralizing

Apparently this is the longest public sector strike in BC’s history, so I’m trying to remember that this hardship will hopefully pay off for years. And that those before me had to go through something similar to earn the benefits I now take for granted But…I would quite like to get back to work

Anyway, our union is applying more pressure and shutting down more services. So here’s hoping for a better update next week! Ps if you are in BC please write to your MLA about this! #bcpoli #bcgeu #bcgov

A plus of this week is that I know more people at this site, so I’ve had lots of convos and catchups. Their picket captains do huddles and themes for each day which helps keep energy up. But most people at this site are on week six and the vibes are low. Plus it’s very cold and rainy today.

On social media, I’ve seen comments saying people won’t be able to make rent this week. Others saying the government is trying to starve us out. I’ve tried to see both sides but it’s getting more difficult to believe that the employer cares about resolving this. Still no negotiation scheduled

I got my first strike paycheque and my first reduced paycheque from work. My anxiety ramped up from that. I make less than half what I normally earn from strike pay, not enough to cover my expenses, but at least I get something (Alberta teachers do not 😞) thankful for my emergency fund savings rn

This week I had childcare challenges so I switched to a slightly more convenient picket site because I cannot get to and from my site and picket for 4 hours in the course of a school day due to the long commute. Not sure if the union officially supports switching but I haven’t had any issues

6 Oct 2025

In case you needed this reminder today … Ready for the March on the Legislature ✊🏻 #defendpublicservices #bcgeu #bcpoli cc @bcgeu.bsky.social

Also realized I should probably provide some “strike” context (all from my perspective) -in Canadian gov, most positions below director level have mandatory union membership (uk gov doesn’t do this?) -in Aug, 91% of members in my current union voted to strike for a cost of living increase

Martha Edwards@maredwards.bsky.social

I've been itching to write about #SDinGov and update my #weeknotes but..... I'm on strike and I'm not sure if it counts as 'scabbing' to write about work on my personal blog 😬 So, here are some 'strikenotes' from 2 weeks on the picket lines

Mostly it’s: Waiting…for the union and employer to make a deal (meaning immediate return to work.) Hoping, that the people you so much of your time & energy to will come through for you. And the uncertainty & anxiety of not knowing when or if this will happen.

(But, walking is one of my anxiety coping mechanisms so the endless walking on the picket line are helping with this 😉)

Martha Edwards@maredwards.bsky.social

-striking isn’t mandatory, but if you do any kind of work for the org (“scabbing”) or even log into your work email, they could revoke your union membership and you could lose your unionized job. (So, tough to connect with colleagues unless you have their personal contact details)

-we also cannot cross the “picket line” or go into any “struck” locations for any reason. So, even though we are outside our work building most of the day, we can’t use the toilets (this has been … challenging…) + we’re not supposed to be in contact with our non-union managers who are there

Martha Edwards@maredwards.bsky.social

-the strike started with a few units in early Sept, my workplace joined late Sept. -we don’t get paid from work during a strike but if we picket we can get a small amount of strike pay. So, many colleagues haven’t been properly paid for 5 weeks now 😭

-it's been strange and uncomfortable to suddenly shift from a mindset of 'I like my job and workplace' to 'my employer is my foe.' And my closest colleagues aren't here so I don't have much opportunity to unpack that -Bringing a puppy to a strike is very chaotic (but a good way to meet ppl!)

Overall it's been eye-opening & I'm glad for this union & movement, where we are fighting not just for wages or benefits, but for fairness, dignity and recognition of the value of public services and public servants Aaand, I would like to go back to work, so here's hoping a deal can be made soon 🤞

-It's been interesting & I've met some nice folks. But as the only person on my small team in this union I've felt a bit isolated- ppl seem to huddle in the groups they work with -Communication during things like this is so important. It's been decent but lots of opportunity for improvement...

-The union seems to assume we have a lot of knowledge about what pickets lines, scabbing etc mean. There's a lot that feels unclear to me -Social media groups on FB/reddit have been a blessing & a curse. I get lots of updates through it but also there are a lot of negative and adversarial vibes.

- Walking a picket line for 4 hours is harder than I thought. But, I got used to it quickly. - Strike shifts are only 4 hours, but I have to commute 1hr each way so it still feels like a full day but without the pay 🫠 Very thankful BC Gov hasn't implemented a return to office mandate (...yet? 🥴)

29 Sept 2025

Well this is disappointing. I would quite like to go back to work 🥲

BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)@bcgeu.bsky.social

Waiting for the employer.

26 Sept 2025

This time last week I was filling my heart and brain with ideas and knowledge and connections at @sdingov.bsky.social This week, instead of returning to work, I joined our union @bcgeu.bsky.social ‘s picket line to fight for fairer wages for our public servants. What a September 😅🥳

19 Sept 2025

“AI isn’t taking your job, the people making the decisions are” “Responsibility must be shared, not outsourced” “Being able to ignore the doom and gloom is a privileged position” “Be hopeful AND cynical” Necessary truth bombs from @elmosmoe.bsky.social at @sdingov.bsky.social #sdingov

19 Sept 2025

Unreal moment this morning. Almost feels like there should be some sort of holiday for “the starter word you’ve used for literal years was finally the Wordle word” Or at least something more than a quiet “woo” alone in a hotel room 😆

20 Aug 2025

Imagine you were scheduled for a 15 minute chat with the absolute top person in your public service org (besides the elected leader.) What would you use that time to say or ask? For me, it's prob something around how human-centred designers and/or grass-roots community organizers can have impact

7 Aug 2025

A 'fun' / challenging game to play in government is "try to find this person on the org chart" Are they in this vaguely-named division or that one? (NEITHER) Ooo this branch has all the right keywords...maybe there? (NOPE) Which of these 35 'strategy' teams are they be part of? (NONE OF THEM)