PAUL:	As the wise man Pythagoras said 
about 2500 years ago, “It is 
only necessary to make war with 
five things:  with the maladies 
of the body;  with the 
ignorances of the mind;  with 
the passions of the body;  with 
the seditions of the city;  with 
the discords of families.”

He said nothing about union / 
management squabbles.  But his 
words should have meaning for 
all of us.

For once we discover that we are 
more alike than we are 
different, that our goals are 
more similar than opposite, that 
we share so much more than what 
remains exclusively ours alone, 
then we are nearer reaching an 
agreement, climbing to common 
ground, or accepting an 
equitable accord.

The spirit of consensus and co-
operation has a rich and lengthy 
history in Nfld and in radio.  
Where would we be without each 
other ?  If we stopped for a 
moment amid the madness and 
thought about what we do for 
each other, took a figurative 
breath of fresh air ... then our 
minds would be cleared, our 
destiny manifest, our direction 
clarified, our future secured by 
a collectively bargained labour 
agreement.

All this as preamble to the fact 
that the word at this hour is 
that both sides are back at the 
table.  

As we speak, representatives of 
the International Brotherhood of 
Coal Stokers and Tube 
Technicians are meeting in the 
stuffy dining room of a soulless 
national chain motel, drinking 
warm water from smudged glasses 
with the people who tighten the 
purse strings at the BCN. 

Take this opportunity for 
appeasement on both sides. 

Lay aside your swords, brothers 
and sisters, or in this case, 
your truncheons.  Put down the 
weapons that they may be beaten 
into volume buttons and coal 
shovels and tape machines.

Once more, let us join in the 
yokes to pull the great beast 
that is the BCN, twirling the 
knobs, scrutinizing the dials, 
typing the weather report, 
lifting the microphones, 
adjusting the levels, watching 
the clock, polishing the 
communications array, selling 
the advertising, writing the 
cheques, all, together, charging 
the atmosphere with the 
electrical sparks of the 
invisible force, radio.

Both sides, please listen up, to 
another wise person who once 
said, “If you come to a fork in 
the road, take it.”

This is our moment, our fork.
Page 3 of 3	PAULITORIAL - SHOW # 20