Pre-Strike Posting #5

It all feels so inevitable.

There was a union information on Wednesday night. I didn't attend it partly because I had another commitment and partly because I expected it to be much the same as previous meetings: lots of discussion of the implications of a strike vote but no change in course. From talking with others who had attended my conclusion is thus: the government is offering a bad deal and the union is recommending that we reject it. As usual, everyone wants to reject it but no one wants to go on strike. So the question becomes: is it more worthwhile to accept a bad deal and keep working or risk a strike and hope that something better comes along?

I feel caught between the posturing of union and government negotiator. I would hope that some day soon the union will realize that the current mode of negotiating a contract, using the threat of a strike, does not work. What the union seems to forget at times such as these are the following points:

1. when we strike, we save the government money (always an important consideration when the government has a deficit)
2. we do not have public support or at least very little
3. time and money lost on the picket line is never recovered
4. at the end of a strike, the government can afford to present us with a better offer (but is it worth the cost?)

And, of course, they seem to forget about us on the picket line, essentially paying to go on strike. THAT doesn't make sense.