You ever been out on Strike?

I've was a Union member almost all of my working life and am retired now but in all of my working years I never once went out on strike. Actually I never read "my" union contract(s) either. I just paid my dues, attended Local Meetings less often that I should have, and understood that my workplace was all the better for having the Union - but I never had to actually do anything.

So I was just wondering if I was the exception among Union folks. I'll give a couple of possible answers so that scabs can participate too.

does that count as a yes?

Hospitality Workers in San Francisco. And I will never cross a picket line or dishonor a union boycott.

She flew for 4 decades for that company. They were our family.

Of all crazy things, we were part of the steelworker's union. Go figure. Anyway, management had always assumed that our little union was pretty much toothless. God knows that our shop steward loved nothing more than to agree with whatever the bosses were saying. I'd been part of the union for about 2 years when the time came to renew our union contract. We employees all got together (WITHOUT the shop steward) and decided to demand raises that we were all due (raises we had already earned, and weren't being paid), plus the same benefits for night-shift full-time employees that the day-shift full-timers had. When the vote was held, we voted the contract down. Our shop steward was flustered and proceeded to raise hell with us--"These are tough times...you can't expect so much...if you don't cave in, they're just hire non-union labor...blah blah blah." We ignored her.

Management refused our demands and threatened to leave the table and hire scabs. We called their bluff and went on strike. They didn't follow through on their scab threat, and it only took four days before they caved and gave us what we were asking for. Honestly, it's not like we were being unreasonable. We simply wanted what was FAIR--to be paid the raises we'd already earned, and for management to stop treating day-shift full-timers better than night-shift full-timers.

Afterward, we replaced our shop steward with someone who actually cared about US, and not about maintaining Happy Fun Relations with management.

:hi:

Came very close twice but never actually went out on strike.

My local SEIU 535 struck the American Red Cross back in the 90's...

It was a bitter 9 week business, and there were plenty of hard feelings and no real victory for either side, unfortunately...

The supervisors sure got a taste of taking care of all the blood donors, though...

I worked for UPS that summer and a strike action shut it down one night and I never did get back to the job. It was a job loading trailer trucks on the night shift and I was 20 and lived at home so no big deal. I actually saw Nixon's resignation speech through a bar window while waitng for the bus to get to that UPS job.

Would NEVER cross a picket line, no matter how bad things got for me. I have seen awfull things. Once a union buster (one of three) came into our line and began a fight (Local 8 in Seattle - 13 Coins). The last guy, before running off kicked one of us in the face with his cowboy boot, shattering his nose up into his skull, pretty serious damage. some of my fellow business agents carried guns on the job. This was in the early 80s.

No strikes occurred during that time.

As a nursing student, I did have a clinical assignment changed because the nurses were on strike at a particular hospital.

I'm not sure which to vote for, so I'm offering the sum of my experiences up for the OP to consider.

I have had to fill in for striking union members on several occasions. Great on-the-job training.

Wasn't really a choice. Never had any resentment against the strikers, and they were always able to work out a deal with management.

We were out for about 4 weeks in October of that year. Much luckier than the folks out in California at the time.

Worked for Vons in Mammoth Lakes. It was harsh considering Mammoth gets a ton of snow from October to April.

Our UAW local union 588 was considered one of the most militant.

Don

I was a little over the top, but I wanted to get the "full strike experience."

The cops sent to watch us voted me their favorite striker. They said if they ever had to go out on strike, they wanted me on their lines.

The best restaurants in town cooked us food and donated it to the strikers.

The paper brought in scabs to try and get the papers out. Those poor fucks had no idea what they were in for.

We committed multiple felonies each night to keep the papers from getting out.

I've still got my home-made picket sign. It was acknowledged to be the best picket sign of the strike. It's the only extra thing I want in my coffin.

I was just there to observe and report any mischief that can go on at any picket line.

but "work to rules" and "safety first" programs are effective....

....days of my life was pulling picket duty during IH strikes....it was cat and mouse with company tricks and our response done with tender loving care so they couldn't run to their judge for an injunction....

"...I never read "my" union contract(s)"

....man, you've got to read and know what's in your Contract; that's your economic Bible....and read your Internationals' Constitution, your Locals' Bylaws, and any Local Agreements or Letters of Understanding....

....these contain what little economic rights, conditions and privileges you have in this capitalist system....

Lasted 5 days officially and then we reached a tentative agreement, and returned to work after a week out. It was funny hearing the company telling the media it was having no effect even when the actual effect slowed operations to a crawl. Recognized a few salaried management wanna-be stooges voices in call-in polls at the local news stations voicing their support for the company...all with the same canned statements.

Many said it was an unnecessary strike as the return terms were little better, but I think the point was made that we WILL actually walk if need be. It never happened in the 40+ years prior....and hasn't since; though a Chapter 11 BK filing a dozen years later pretty much gave the company what it wanted in a future contract talk. But that's another story.

picket picket line with other union members.

I knew going into it what a lot of people around these parts think of unions, but I was still surprised over the mundane hate thrown at those of us demonstrating our legal rights.

My late father was a shop steward at Lockheed; my ex-husband was in the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union and our kids were born at Kaiser Hospital for $70. I believe in unions.

The salary differential for my "confidential" classification was absolutely ludicrous -- pennies per hour. But the jobs were interesting.

I worked for the university's Labor Relations Manager as secretary during a period of intense union organizing activity, and it was very interesting to observe what went on. I actually had no one I could talk to about my job. He never asked me what I thought -- and you can bet I never told him. As the negotiations proceeded I did ask him how they would affect people like me, and he said the university would see to it that we would have comparable benefits etc -- which really was bullshit.

Later I worked for the Director of County Public Works, again a very interesting place to be. I really liked the guy a lot. The county already had an abundance of unions, and while I was there the clerical workers went on strike. No way could I afford not to come to work, especially since I was completely excluded from the bargaining unit anyway. Instead I handed off a 6-pack of soda to my picketing friends and smiled at them as I came up the steps to the county admin building -- I think they understood.

Glad to be retired.

Hekate