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We were in Colorado when one of the unions went on strike against that company then. We crossed the line several times to buy groceries but mostly went to a competitor. Basically, came down to safety. Didn't want to come back out to find four flat tires and key marks on my car.
Where I work now, anyone on strike is confined to one gate and we all enter through the other to avoid confrontations.
But I don't understand the sentiment I frequently hear that you should never cross a picket line, no matter what. Am I just supposed to always assume that the striking workers are right and the management is being unreasonable?
Can someone explain this sentiment?
I cannot explain it.
But you nailed it here:
Quote:
If you have done your research and looked at both sides of the strike (workers and management) and come to the conclusion that the workers position is right and reasonable and you want to support them, that's one thing.
That is all that should matter. The absolutists who would "never cross a picket line" do not have a valid logical position, so no explanation is necessary.
Personally I have never had to cross a picket line for a place of my own employment, but have crossed "picket lines" (or were they actually more employee protests?) to enter establishments I chose to do business with, including a county building I needed to file paperwork with. Their "protest" was over pay, which I was able to see online later (I love when public servants pay is transparent!) and it seemed their pay was quite generous at the time, especially for the lethargic office administrative types I saw protesting. One of them did try to block my path as I entered, under the guise of "engaging" with me, but that failed as I simply stepped around him and went in. Others in the protest shouted at me as I did so. The window I needed to go to inside the building (I needed a permit for construction) was staffed, and I was served, but it did look pretty empty otherwise.
I have indeed talked to picketeers (protesters?) and listened to their grievances before I entered. In the few times I personally encountered this situation, I never once heard a substantive position which made me decide to not enter the establishment at that moment. I did once see a sign a picketeer (protester?) was holding that seemed extreme (this was a restaurant), but once I was inside the owner (who thanked me for entering, as I was making a delivery) broke it down for me, and I knew the sign outside was BS.
Reading peoples anecdotes about tires getting cut and such, if it happened to me, that would only inspire me to double down againstthe picketeers.
Most high-paying jobs with six figures plus def require putting in 60+ hours per week. So? It's worth it.
Except salaried jobs don’t always pay $100k. I think the minimum is $35k or something, which is just over minimum wage in some larger cities.
As for the OP, I choose to avoid it. That said, there are times in my area where a whole industry is striking. For 2-3 months every couple of years, auto workers strike. If I need my car fixed, chances are that I cannot wait.
When I first started with the phone company years back, there were two work stoppages that affected my office. I was taught by some older folks that I respected to honor the stoppage because I was part of the union (mandatory enrollment in IBEW and CWA at those locations).
However, they also encouraged me to find other temporary employment during the strike to pay my bills rather than to walk the picket line if I didn't believe in the cause. That's exactly what I did both times.
These were good lessons in my life about how the union was not what they wanted you to think they were. But that's another story...
I do agree with researching the stoppage before taking a side. But more often than not, I'd pretty much cross a picket line.
Last edited by Stripes17; 01-19-2022 at 05:28 AM..
In 1985-6 the Meat Packer's Union struck against the Hormel plant in Austin MN. It involved 1,500 people and was the largest strike in MN history.
There were road blockades to prevent people from coming in to work and it got violent enough that the National Guard had to be called in.
What I learned from that was that it could be dangerous to cross a picket line. I had friends and family both working and striking so I heard both sides of the story.
I've never been in a situation where I had to make a choice.
Really? Did you know that if you are a "salaried" employee, you can be made to work for 40 hours or 60 hours for the same weekly check?
I can also put in 20 hours for the same check so.....
But back to the OP, I do agree unions are needed to some extent. There are industries where jobs cannot be measured by profit and loss or efficiency. Pilots, for example - their job is not to make the company money but to get the equipment and passengers from point a to point b. There needs to be safeguards in there for the employees whose job cannot be measured by performance metrics alone.
With respect to crossing the picket lines, I echo the sentiment noted above. While I have never been presented with that situation, I would certainly try to understand what the issues are and make a decision based on that. Like someone else mentioned - if you're picketing for "solidarity" with another union in another state, sorry, that's not enough to make me think twice. If you're fighting for a raise to keep up with inflation or benefits in line with industry average, then yeah I'll look at the issue and decide.
End of the day we all have the choice to do something or not do something.
In 1985-6 the Meat Packer's Union struck against the Hormel plant in Austin MN. It involved 1,500 people and was the largest strike in MN history.
There were road blockades to prevent people from coming in to work and it got violent enough that the National Guard had to be called in.
What I learned from that was that it could be dangerous to cross a picket line. I had friends and family both working and striking so I heard both sides of the story.
I've never been in a situation where I had to make a choice.
I remember that for sure. Hormel was playing dirty pool with bad working conditions as I recall. I think I would have stood with the workers in that scenario, but I loved my Marriott corporation job up in Minneapolis at the time.
It's never come up for me, but I will generally cross a picket line. The issue is between the strikers and their employer, and doesn't involve me. If my employer asked me to cross a picket line and work as a replacement, I would probably do that, assuming the extra pay was good. My Dad did that in the mid 1960's, and was paid his regular salary plus the wages of the job he did at the struck location. Christmas was good that year.
In reality, the restaurant manager shouldn't be exempt anymore. those rules were kinda loose and fast up until.. I'm thinking it's been a a good 10 years that they've been changed. Not positive.
I grew up in a fairly poor rural area. My family was better off than most others in town because my father had a good job at a manufacturing company rather than trying to scrape by like the farm families. When I was a teenager, his union went on strike ($$, not safety issues or working conditions). They were on strike for over 2 years, which is a long time to be without an income. Other jobs were few and far between and paid only minimum wage for manual labor. It nearly killed my father and we nearly lost our home like some of his coworkers. The company finally closed the plant and moved their operation to another part of the country. Hundreds of jobs lost. Pointless. My father hated the union leaders. I hate unions.
Like many others here, I'd ask strikers if they were protesting health and safety issues, or another 10 cents/hour, and if the latter, I'd cross the line if I could do it safely. I do think that this is a bit of a moot point given the many, many job openings and low unemployment rate now. If someone wants a little more money, they can go somewhere else. I also think societal mobility makes a difference. Fifty-sixty years ago, people didn't move readily to take another job and were more invested emotionally and socially with a life-long employer. Now people are much more mobile and change jobs at the drop of a hat. Why pay union dues when you can find a new job offering more money online?
Don't get me started on strikes in pro sports. I'd like to make what those guys make for throwing a ball around.
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