about so much more than a strike

okay, so this post from One Child Left Behind is about so much more than a strike, but i was riveted not just because it's well written, but because there is a looming OPSEU strike that may be coming up in the Ontario Public Service and although i'm no longer a member of OPSEU there are a number of people who are dear to me who are.

they will be faced with the unenviable choice of striking or crossing the line. it's a tough call. it's one that everyone has to make for themselves. last time OPSEU struck i was in that union. i didn't cross. i even worked in the office and cooked and delivered food to the line. i did not strike because of a deep seeded belief of the union or what it was fighting for. i did it out of self-preservation. i was warned about how people who crossed were treated. i was new in the organization and wanted to move on through it, i did not want to make any enemies. still, i refused to walk the line. i could not deal with the venom that built to a frenzied pitch every day as people tried to go to and from work. the venom in the office was hard enough to deal with. in fact, the only reason i worked in the office was because i *needed* that $125 a week in strike pay so that i could buy groceries and pay a few of my many bills and only have to push off some of them.

friendships are shattered over a strike. i've seen it happen. even now, almost 4 years later, there are still huge divides between people who crossed and people who walked the line. i am so very thankful that i do not have to go through that again. personally i have no problem with people who cross, the people who cross have their reasons and i think those are just as valid as those who do not cross. it's not an opinion i share readily in my workplace though, because to some people that's as bad as if i had crossed the line during the strike. so much anger, so much hate. not a place i thrive, in fact, a place i wither.

so, to those on both side of the strike (which, who knows, may not even happen, wouldn't that be nice!) my heart goes out to you.