Quote:
Originally Posted by bluebeetle
Check with local authorities and see if it is legal to do so.
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Do not check with the local "authorities", because it's NOT a legal issue; it's a loyalty issue. Besides, the cops don't know what's going on at a private employer until they see people lining the street with picket signs.
If you cross a picket line, you will forever be labeled a "scab". That term came about a long time ago, and a federal judge ruled that it's appropriate. Back in the day people could incur physical harm for crossing a picket line, and nobody in the picketing crowd would have seen anything. Nowadays, with unions becoming fewer and farther between, I doubt you would encounter bodily harm, but, still I guess going to work for the company that is trying to screw their work force, while said workers go without pay to keep their bargained benefits, depends on you and your own conscience.
I am in a union on my current gig, but it's a weak union and next contract we will probably be hung out to dry. We probably won't gain anything, and it will be considered a victory if we keep what we have now. But at the very same time there are alot of things I do not like about our union and unions in general. Chief among them, is their liberal persuasion and the fact that they want me to vote for Obama. I would rather be urinated on and set on fire than vote for Obama.
Long story short, you can cross if you want to, that's between you and yourself; me, I would
not cross a picket line, whether at my own place of employment or any other place that was on strike.
By the way, unions typically only go on strike during contract negotiations, when the company side of the bargaining table is being recalcitrant. Strikes at other times are single issue strikes, commonly referred to as "wildcat" strikes, and are extremely rare.
As for someone above posting that their buddy went broke and scabbed across a picket line, here's the deal on that: if you are in a union shop, you KNOW when your contract comes up for renewal, years ahead of time. You KNOW ahead of time, based on conditions at your shop whether or not a strike is imminent - sometimes a couple YEARS ahead of time. Having said that, wouldn't the smart thing to do be to start saving money for the possibility of a strike? I would. I am doing that now.