Would you cross a picket line?

Shockey, did you tell the union ahead of time that you would strike?

 

I'm wasn't talking about a newspaper strike, J_G. My experience has to do with a job in which life and death were serious issues. But carry on with your expert opinions. They amuse me.

 

Well, I don't think there's been any dissent that unions have had dramatic, romantic moments.

Newspaper unions, pall ... not so much. Save for Detroit.

 

i don't recall. but i did call them when i decided to rejoin them on strike after four days. the union leaders were quite pleased, obviously. i'll never forget the excitement when the one i spoke to shouted to others at union headquarters: "shockey's coming back out!" ;D ;D ;D

as i recall, there was a vote by all union members the days before the strike was to begin. after the vote, the sports department held a separate meeting to discuss what we would do. just about everyone had their say. many decided to cross, myself included. i went home, discussed it one last time with mrs. shockey, who simply told me to follow my heart.

a couple of my good buds talked by phone that night, including our nfl writer and our giants writer. we had agreed we'd all walk into the office past picketers in the late morning.

we did. i was pleaded with by several long-time mentors as we walked in. "Don't do it, shockey! shockey, what are you doing?"

i went in, went upstairs to the office and cried. for days on the job at jets camp, i couldn't take it any more. the n.y. times had captured our crossing in an article, outing me by name.

natch, when i went on strike four days later, no mention in the times. so be it. we all understand that deal.

but the knot gone from my stomach was all i needed to reaffirm i had done the right thing -- FOR ME. mrs. shockey was able to go back to work and i played mr. mom with the ten infant little shockey.

a couple of other sports "crossers" also went back out on strike after four days, for much the same reason. i had started my career at this paper; the picketers had raised me from a pup. i couldn't live with disappointing them.

and to their credit, they greeted me back on the picket line with loving arms... unlike some hardliners here. despite the psychobabble that's gone on here, i'm not seeking any validation. i received mine in spades during 144 days on the right side FOR ME.

 

As long as newspapers are owned (and many of them are) by greedy rapacious bastards who see employees simply as liabilities to be discarded and captive hostages to be exploited and victimized, there will be a need for unions.

They fuck ya at the drive thru.

 

No, there was violence in New York and San Fran and Pittsburgh in the '90s.

 

There was also plenty of violence in New York in '62 and '78 and the Chicago Tribune in '86.

 

When I mentioned life and death issues, I meant as part of a given job, not as an unfortunate circumstance of a strike itself. When a newspaper guild decides to strike, I'm pretty sure that employees' lives being put in jeopardy is not an issue. But that is the case in certain strikes.

 

This is one exchange I remember having with a union rep at a non-newspaper gig:

Him: We're supporting Granholm.
Me: Hey, good for you.

One way to get me to hate you, is to tell me what to do in my free time. I have my own mind, thank you. Plus, as others have mentioned, our union contract actually prevented me and others from deserved pay raises. Yet, pieces of shit who nobody wanted to work with were treated equally. Fuck that. Not every worker is created equal.

 

Please give an example of a union contract that "prevented me and others from deserved pay raises" because I seriously doubt that's possible or even legal, for that matter. You may wrongly construe a pay scale as limiting, however, every newspaper contract I've ever seen allows for merit increases in addition to scale. Union contracts establish minimum standards -- they don't cap people out.

 

When I was in high school, my father gave me this piece of advice:

"Never join a union."

He hated unions. Absolutely hated them. I never asked for an explanation since my dad is a smart dude. I just trusted him and would never join a union.

As for the original question ... I worked for a month once at UPS (worst month of my life). My trainer was telling us about unions. A single mother, she said she joined what was expected to be lengthy strike, but after a week crossed the line. When confronted, she said, "If you guys can find a way to feed my two daughters, I'll be right back over with you."

She said they didn't respond.

 

I ask this genuinely not knowing the answer:

Is there strike pay in the U.S.?

Because when my parents went on strike, they still received a small paycheck from the union. It wasn't like we were going to vacation in Hawaii, but it was enough so that we weren't going to starve or have to sell the furniture for heating oil. I'm assuming the same goes in the U.S., but then I read something like, "You if you guys can find a way to feed my two daughters," and I'm left wondering whether that's a real concern for American picketers or just another cop out.