Under what circumstances would you cross a picket line?

Just getting the feel from DU.

As for me -- I wouldn't die or let someone else die to honor a strike. Beyond that, I won't cross. (And I'm using "cross a picket line" more figuratively than literally here -- knowingly buying Tyson products during the strike/lockout a few years ago would count.)

Edited to add: If I truly depended on my income from a day's work in order to survive (eat, not be homeless) and/or I felt that not showing up would literally put me on the streets, I might cross. It would suck.

That because Unions are made up of compassionate men and women that the god damend picket line will open for you in an emergency.

God dam it, that is what Unions, and those of us who belong to unions are all about! It is the humanity of men working with other men for their common good.

They'd see the lines and go elsewhere.

(Yes, I am aware that a group of striking medical personnel will not allow someone to die in front of them for the sake of a strike.)

because striking medical personell would start the treatment right then and there and escort you into the emergency room, if it's open at all.

Sometimes hospitals close down completely during a strike, moving their patients to other facilities. Usually the EMTs realize this and act accordingly.

We can usually tell when there's a big nursing strike somewhere. Agencies for traveling nurses start to offer higher pay for working in those areas as scab labor.

I am a union supporter.

On edit: I know who assured me a weekend, a reasonable workweek, healthcare and all of the workers rights that I have been afforded. :hug: to the unions!

No picket would ever hold up an emergency.

See above.

In every healthcare strike I have ever seen, the public is made aware that emergencies will be handled. (Including on the line)

My background is NEA, and more from an outsider perspective, the building services divisions of SEIU and AFSCME, and a bit of UFCW observation as well.

I'm still talking theoretically, in any case -- we're all human, and we can say with near-certainty what we'd think we'd do (and those of us who've been in the situation can say what we DID do), but for many, this is completely hypothetical and untested.

If you want to cross a picket line ask to see the local union rep. Make it clear that there is no way you will cross the picket without express permission of the union. Usually permission is forthcoming, if not you can join the picket line and show solidarity, you can then discuss the reasons for wanting to cross the line in the first place, this usually gets a lot of sympathy and may get you across anyway. This approach scares the bejeezus out of the bosses.

I should add -- I've never been in the position where I've had to really choose whether to cross a picket line. If I see one in front of a grocery store (and it's not like I wouldn't know about it in advance), I'll go elsewhere -- I'm lucky. I have a car and income and can choose where to shop.

I was in NEA for a year in a state where teacher's strikes are illegal (like, massive fines and jail illegal). We did a rotating sick-out (with VERY EXPLICIT instructions from the union that new teachers and building reps NOT participate, so as to not make it look like an illegal strike, so I did go into work that day per my rep's instructions) and then we got locked out for several days, and we picketed negotiations. (I participated.) We weren't blocking access to the conference center/restaurant (the conference center was not involved other than providing rented negotiation space), so there was nothing for anyone to cross.

My assistant editor once ended up at a hotel, booked by me via hotels.com, that had a strike (with scabs). Hotels.com did not say anything about the scabs. He only found out when he got there. He crossed the line, thinking he'd get fired for going elsewhere. (He was maybe 22, fresh out of college, and had never really known anyone in a union.) I told him next time, he should find a new place to stay and not worry about it. (I did call Hotels.com to bitch, which yielded nothing.)

I wouldn't cross for myself. If it were life or death for my kids, or if I was in a situation where my kids would suffer actual pain (not just because they couldn't get the newest toys, I mean if they were literally going hungry) I'd do what I had to do, and I'd bear the shame of it for them. I'd exhaust all other options first.

Maybe I'm a little soft on the issue, though. I've never lived anywhere where unions were prevalent, so my respect for them is less first-hand than others here.

At the beginning of the strike, as fire calls came in at firehouses, the strikers were "stealing" the trucks/equipment, and putting out fires w/o pay.

My dad was in a union (I believe Communication Workers of America) before he retired after 45 years with Pacific Bell in California...

I'm 43 now, but I remember as a kid all of the tension and anguish the times my poor father did have to go on strike, and how I'd see my mom crying, worrying about how we'd pay for groceries or keep the heat on or repair the car...

It is because of this that I imagine I will always be fiercely pro-union, simply remembering what my dad and mom went through.

That's all it's about to me. If it is an issue I think they are lgeitimate in striking about, I'll side with em. If I think they are being unfair or unreasonable, I'll buy that favorite flavor of ice cream.

It was worth it to lose a good academic job because I wouldn't cross the picket line. I refused to interview for an important job because they were being picketed by the college's academic union. I wouldn't have crossed the picket line under ANY circumstances but thought it was outrageous they even asked me to come in for an interview when it would have meant crossing a picket line established by the union that would represent me if I got the job. My dad was a union organizer in the "good old days" ... there are very few instances (heart attack of a loved one maybe) where I'd let scab workers benefit. The rebooblicans pretty much gutted unions during the days of old Reagan ... and it has hurt every American worker, union members and non-union members. Bravo to any union who stands up for their worker's rights.

and I'd like to think to me. I have learned to never say never or always, but I would surely hope my integrity would rule.

As a health care worker I have to agree with the posters above. In a emergency, the lines would open.

No use speculating on "what ifs" when Unions are in trouble. I don't cross picket lines.

There remains a lot of ignorance about unions in hospital workers by the way. Nurses join in relatively low numbers-- "What does the union do for me anyway" Or, in an open shop you get the benefits whether you pay your dues or not. They confuse decisions made by management with union issues. If management makes an unpopular decision-- somehow in many workers minds, the union becomes the bad guy.

I'm sure this is not restricted to health care. We need to get the word out on what unions do. Many unions have had their teeth pulled, and workers view them as helpless, their dues useless.

Worker involvement is the key to union strength.

I told the guys we needed our stuff as it had been sold to customers and they wanted it. They let me in to get it and then had a smoke with my regular driver on the line.






on edit UPS not USP

but I did cross a picket line once, only because my union instructed us to cross. But since I was also a member of the union that was on strike, I crossed for about five minutes, then came back outside and recrossed back to the street. When the non striking members saw what I had done, they also recrossed and joined the picket line. The strike ended in three days and needless to say, management was not at all thrilled with me.

Again, I am a complete union supporter and never cross picket lines but have to say my daughter is a member of SAG and about 85% of their members NEVER find work. Hollywood finds it cheaper to hire non-union but after a certain number of acting jobs, the industry requires union membership at a rather high fee. Then MOST who join never find work again. My daughter worked steadily in GOOD box office hit films and commercials ... then after joining SAG a few years ago, only one commercial and no films or TV. SAG needs to get its act together and do something meaningful to stop this practice of permitting the industry to hire non-union for the majority of its "extra" and "featured extra" work.

only

It was sad to see the NYT strike end, and with nothing won. I hope ol Ronnie Reagan is on a spit roasting and screaming "Mommy, Mommy" for eternity. Some people bemoan his sad last years, I bemoan his vile & viscious union-busting presidency ... a blight on America - the "reaganbush" years - evil beyond belief. His "let them eat cake" legacy lives on.

Written while the strike was still underway, my letter to the editor of local newspaper, on topic of the strike, is today's featured piece in that paper. In hardcopy form it is in a "box" and includes a Bill Schorr cartoon. So, I was pleased with that. You can find just the text of it by going to www.tallahassee.com and clicking on "Opinions" --- it should be there all day today. If you look for it after today you'll have to go to the search "last 7 days" or "last month", etc. If searching then, use "Naito" as your search term.

I am a public employee too and it is also illegal for teachers to strike in my state. I would not honor a strike if one was called where I work. The only exception is if the strike was about kids. If kids are getting screwed, I would strike. But if it was about our salary or benefits, I would not participate and would be a scab.

I signed up to teach kids, not to get rich. I have tolerated a low salary and shitty benefits for 26 years now. I can't imagine what issue could get me to walk a picket line after all this time.

on edit - forgot to add I would NEVER cross a picket line though. I do respect union workers who are courageous enough to strike.

By honoring a strike, you really teach children THE MOST IMPORTANT thing of all: that the working people of America care about fair treatment for all working people. They learn not to just blindly accept that the way it is, is the way it has to be. They learn to protest, take a stand, and make a change. Our kids are learning all the WRONG values when they see others crossing picket lines, heavy handed governments, big boots of the "law" coming in and suppressing worker's rights - and their adult role models saying "yeah, that's a good thing, let's get back to work in our disadvantaged conditions."

I guess many are failing to understand that Americans have been diminished in every way by having lost most ways to improve working conditions, salaries, health insurance (for workers families --- including their kids that may be your students!) In most situations now, people are considered "expendable", "disposable" and highly "replaceable."

I've come to the conclusion that with the demise of unions, people in America stood by and let it happen so have caused serious damage to ALL our children's working future.

That job interview at a college, where I would not cross the picket line ... that job did go to someone else. But, 6 mos later another opening came up at the same institution and I was hired. I always like to think that in part it was because they respected not only my academic credentials but my integrity as well.

I stayed in the position for 5 years and joined every union strike that happened. I actually LOST wages because the union chose to accept a contract that provided more money to those with more tenure, and less to new hires. But, I also recognized the importance of that to those who were life long professors there.