Walking the Picket Line

[benfranklin]

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Strikes exist for a reason. They aren't done arbitraily. Do you think the TWU, facing bankruptcy by the end of the week, its leaders facing jailtime, did this because they thought it would be fun. Most likely, they think it is important enough to risk thier very existence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Strikes exist for a reason: greed and power. The major remaining issues in this strike are health and pension benefits for future hires. Why would the current members care about this? They don't. Only the union leadership cares, because it gives them more control over the membership into the future.

To be blunt, this is not an issue that can be discussed, let alone understood, by anyone that has not been a union member. The agenda of many modern labor unions is not rational, and cannot be analysed or understood without experiencing it. I speak from personal experience. I have worked several union jobs and been kept in the dark, if not lied to, by my "representatives".

The leadership of some unions are aware of the current economic environment, and capable of dealing with it rationally. Others, such as the TWU, are ignorant and base their policy on testosterone. They are doomed for extinction.