scab
A strike started today at the hospital I work in. I don't know all the details of why the SEIU Local 250 are striking, but they are. It was 6:00 in the morning when I came in to work and they were out in full force. As I was trying to enter the hospital, the strikers rushed the parking lot shuttle bus and some security had to push their way through the crowd to open a a path to the door. Quite possibly the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me at 6:00 in the morning.
Even as I sit here during the portion of my day that I do administrative work, I can hear them through my open window chanting and screaming into their megaphones. I have had friends who were adamant about not crossing picket lines. I've never had a problem with the concept and I didn't have a problem with it this morning. Even amid the yelling and the megaphones in my ear screaming "SCAB!" at me (though I've worked at the hospital for two and a half years now), I still crossed. I agree with their right to strike and that, if they believe they're being unjustly treated, they should strike. But the thing is, I have to go to work. I can't spare time off without pay. I understand that that this is the sacrifice that the strikers are making but, I can't. Bills to pay and debts to pare down are my reasons to stay. Good Luck to you strikers. It'll be tougher days because you aren't here.
Even as I sit here during the portion of my day that I do administrative work, I can hear them through my open window chanting and screaming into their megaphones. I have had friends who were adamant about not crossing picket lines. I've never had a problem with the concept and I didn't have a problem with it this morning. Even amid the yelling and the megaphones in my ear screaming "SCAB!" at me (though I've worked at the hospital for two and a half years now), I still crossed. I agree with their right to strike and that, if they believe they're being unjustly treated, they should strike. But the thing is, I have to go to work. I can't spare time off without pay. I understand that that this is the sacrifice that the strikers are making but, I can't. Bills to pay and debts to pare down are my reasons to stay. Good Luck to you strikers. It'll be tougher days because you aren't here.
posted by Sherman @ 12:14 PM
1 Comments:
At September 23, 2005 8:13 AM,
rekkidbraka said…
Good luck to you, Sherman. I'm not a fan of most unions, personally. Having worked at the GSU Southern Labor Archives in college, I can testify from seeing lots of their paraphernalia that some of the larger ones appear to me to simply be mirror images of the corporations and institutions they claim to protect workers from. But then, Southerners like myself have never been union folks historically. We prefer to work things out with our bosses ourselves.
Regardless, you have to look out for yourself. No one else will. So I'm with you, even if they aren't.
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