As I crouched over to change the paper in the (dot matrix) printer, my supervisor asked, "So, ahhh, have you guys voted yet? You know, to strike? The union strike thing?"
"No," I said. "I don't think the ballots go out until the end of the month."
"Oh," she said. "Well, ahhh, I just wanted you to, ahhh, know that I... don't strike. Ever. My, ahhh, husband and I are... strike breakers."
I was about to say that she had nothing to worry about because she's part of a different union when she said, "It happened, ahhh, when my husband was working for a car... dealership. There were these... horrible letters. They, ahhh, threatened my husband. My house, they... came to my house and, ahhh, threatened my kids."
I stood up to adjust the paper in the printer.
"Unions are... just evil, ahhh, things."
I rolled my eyes and asked her how to reset the printer, even though I know how, but it stopped her talking. Thank goodness for that.
I don't know much about the strike or how the vote works.
I do know that on Saturday, there's a meeting somewhere in town to "discuss" the ballot and the potential strike.
Supposedly, if the union does decide to strike, it'll be a rolling strike. That means that only certain groups of employees in certain cities will be out on the line, not everyone in the union.
Supposedly, my office won't be affected since it's very small, compared to almost all the others (I can only think of two that are smaller.) and, adding together all the people who are in this union in the building, the number isn't very large.
Sill, I'm worried that if the strike is approved that my office will eventually be called upon to strike. I think this because the governor wants to be a hardliner, especially during his election year, and wants to look responsible by cutting pay to state employees.
If the strike does come here, I'm worried about how long it may last. I have the money saved right now to pay one month's rent and maybe my electric bill. Not my student loans. Not my car insurance. (Of course, I could pay the full amount of my insurance this month, but that'd leave me without enough to have that cushion of one months rent.) I'd be completely drained of cash.
Is it possible a strike could last that long? Yes. Is it probable? No. Isn't it better, though, to hope for the best and prepare for the worst?
Like all the other employees in this union, old and new, I'd like to see a contract that doesn't eliminate two holidays, force five furlough days, and make it so the employer pays a fixed amount for doctor visits rather than the percentage it pays now. Personally, I'd be happy with a contract that keeps me at the level I'm at, but I'm a newbie just trying to get away from working pay check to pay check. I'm not the single mother whose husband died last year. I'm not a newly wed trying to start a family.
I'm just a guy, you know?
So, I have no idea how I'll vote.
2 comments:
Funny that you were warned that unions are 'evil' things and that she was a 'strike breaker.' For a person trying not to be political, you're really being thrown in, aren't you? I'm not certain of your politics... I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts! Union: Yes?
Me, union: I suppose.
I can see how important it is to be united and bargain collectively, but a union is like any other organization with people at the top who work in mysterious ways and get paid bundles of money, compared to the people actually representing the union.
Right now, I'm torn because I just want to save enough money so that I'm comfortable is something goes dreadfully wrong. However, I understand how others feel and what they think about the situation.
It's tough.
As for my supervisor, I think I have her confused. I think that she thinks I'm more on the conservative side of things because I don't go around blabbing about my political ideology and try to convince others to think like me. (She's tried to convince me of certain things before. I spent a painful trip in the elevator with her explaining to me how all homeless have chosen the life they lead and that they should make better choices in the future because they're in the way of other people, like her husband who opened a restaurant last summer.)
I don't ever remember saying that I don't want to be political. I just don't want to be part of a political party that has no real ideology or focus. I can't help being political and opinionated, it's the way I was raised.
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