Hell no. I've been a union member when I've had it as an option (and an association member when not) and understand very well the power of collective bargaining. I won't judge people who have no realistic options outside of crossing a picket line (thinking of food deserts in particular), but I have the privilege of being able to travel inconvenient distances in order to avoid crossing one and will always do so.
As a teacher, LOL at there ever being enough subs in my area to cover a striking district. We can't even get enough subs to cover 10+ teachers per high school currently out with Covid. Good luck finding hundreds of background-checked adults willing to earn peanuts to supervise students for weeks at a time without any lesson plans. This is why my state legislature made it illegal for us to strike.
I've got another question for Colorado posters - not all Kings are union. Would you shop at a non-union one while the union ones are striking?
It's a non-issue for us as we do our groceries either from Target or Imperfect Foods, and occasionally Safeway, but I do know that both Kings in the city just North of us are non-union, while the Kings a mile from us is Union.
I knew that Costco isn't union but I didn't know that TJ isn't union as well. I'm under the impression that both pay decently and have decent benefits. I really hope that's actually the case.
I have a friend who works FT at Costco and one that is FT at TJ's. My friend at TJ's (Virginia Beach) makes $25/hr and she has good benefits. My friend at Costco (Bay Area) also makes a living wage with good benefits.
I've got another question for Colorado posters - not all Kings are union. Would you shop at a non-union one while the union ones are striking?
It's a non-issue for us as we do our groceries either from Target or Imperfect Foods, and occasionally Safeway, but I do know that both Kings in the city just North of us are non-union, while the Kings a mile from us is Union.
No, I am avoiding all of them. I think a lot of people plan to just go to nonunion stores though based on the chatter on nextdoor.
I've got another question for Colorado posters - not all Kings are union. Would you shop at a non-union one while the union ones are striking?
It's a non-issue for us as we do our groceries either from Target or Imperfect Foods, and occasionally Safeway, but I do know that both Kings in the city just North of us are non-union, while the Kings a mile from us is Union.
I've never crossed a picket line but haven't encountered one, either.
As a healthcare worker, especially now, I do wonder what I would do if I was asked to go work in another hospital due to staff striking. My hospital is not a union. I know what not having staff does to patient safety. It would be a tough ethical choice for me to decide to support nurses or help keep patients safe.
Again, I have no experience with unions or strikes and am basing my comments on how I would feel knowing patients are suffering as well as knowing the people on strike are being wronged.
Do the people who answered “Special Snowflake/depends on the industry” realize this is just a longer way of saying “Yes.”
I answered that option because I have never once been presented with this choice to make in life. As I said above I would hope my answer would be no but since I’ve never been in the circumstance I can’t say for sure.
The only places I’m familiar with in my life thay have gone on strike have also shut down services - schools and public transit are the ones I can think of.
But if a hospital was on strike and my kid needed medical care? I can imagine I might cross the line depending on my options and the circumstances.
Something like Target or a store? No I can feel pretty confident I would not.
I’m the daughter of two union workers, so no, never.
Except once. My mom worked at my college. She was on strike once during my college years and I told her I couldn’t possibly go to classes while she was on strike. She didn’t buy it and demanded I go. 🙄😂
I've never crossed a picket line but haven't encountered one, either.
As a healthcare worker, especially now, I do wonder what I would do if I was asked to go work in another hospital due to staff striking. My hospital is not a union. I know what not having staff does to patient safety. It would be a tough ethical choice for me to decide to support nurses or help keep patients safe.
Again, I have no experience with unions or strikes and am basing my comments on how I would feel knowing patients are suffering as well as knowing the people on strike are being wronged.
I've walked on more than a few and was actually arrested for striking (nj teacher) that was 20 years ago. I would do it again, and NEVER EVER cross a picket line.
I've got another question for Colorado posters - not all Kings are union. Would you shop at a non-union one while the union ones are striking?
It's a non-issue for us as we do our groceries either from Target or Imperfect Foods, and occasionally Safeway, but I do know that both Kings in the city just North of us are non-union, while the Kings a mile from us is Union.
I'm not going to any location.
Same, and I'm further north than the area. I figure what happens to one happens to all.
I've got another question for Colorado posters - not all Kings are union. Would you shop at a non-union one while the union ones are striking?
It's a non-issue for us as we do our groceries either from Target or Imperfect Foods, and occasionally Safeway, but I do know that both Kings in the city just North of us are non-union, while the Kings a mile from us is Union.
I know some of the ones here in DougCo are not striking so assuming non-union. Still not going in there though.
Do people who say they have never faced the decision realize that “cross picket lines” is more of an expression than a literal walking through an actual picket? Did you buy a product from a company whose workers were on strike? That’s the same as actually walking through people protesting in front of a Kroger.
edit, actually cross picket lines traditionally referred to people who went to work through a strike (and is a legally protected thing). But it’s kind of taken on the meaning of supporting the company in other ways, which is I think the meaning the OP was headed for.
Do the people who answered “Special Snowflake/depends on the industry” realize this is just a longer way of saying “Yes.”
I mean, if you want to get technical about it, the term is usually applied to workers who fill in, not customers. I assume even the “no” camp would still drive to the closest hospital if their loved one was having a medical emergency, for example.
What she’s asking is whether people boycott stores or businesses where people are striking. And that’s a somewhat different question.
Do people who say they have never faced the decision realize that “cross picket lines” is more of an expression than a literal walking through an actual picket? Did you buy a product from a company whose workers were on strike? That’s the same as actually walking through people protesting in front of a Kroger.
edit, actually cross picket lines traditionally referred to people who went to work through a strike (and is a legally protected thing). But it’s kind of taken on the meaning of supporting the company in other ways, which is I think the meaning the OP was headed for.
The OP says “do you cross physical picket lines”. To me that is taking it very literally.
Do the people who answered “Special Snowflake/depends on the industry” realize this is just a longer way of saying “Yes.”
I answered that because I was thinking of urgent healthcare situations.
Currently my town is 4 weeks into a sanitation strike. The trash provider has brought in workers from outside our area to pick up trash only, no recycling or compost/ green waste. We’re putting trash bins out so does that mean we’re crossing a picket line? For what it’s worth, the striking union members haven’t asked city residents NOT to put out bins.
Our semi-local chain (New England based store) Market Basket went on strike about 8 years ago. A beloved CEO was fired in a takeover move by his cousin. The workers stopped working. Very few shoppers crossed the picket line, even though MB is significantly cheaper than its competitors. It was a really interesting story and the strike was a success. Somebody even made a movie about it.
Agree. Even more interesting was that the workers are non-union and organized not for their own conditions but because how he was being treated.
I shopped at Shaws that summer and my bill went so high. I remember the news interviewed shoppers who were still going to MB despite the strike and lack of food choices and they said they simply could not afford to shop anywhere else. I never crossed that picket line because I could afford to do so.
Our semi-local chain (New England based store) Market Basket went on strike about 8 years ago. A beloved CEO was fired in a takeover move by his cousin. The workers stopped working. Very few shoppers crossed the picket line, even though MB is significantly cheaper than its competitors. It was a really interesting story and the strike was a success. Somebody even made a movie about it.
Market Basket is to this day the only in person picket line I’ve ever seen! Best strike story ever. I am a loyal MB customer and we even mapped the distance between our new house and the closest MB before we mapped the distance to daycare when we were putting in an offer. 🤣
Are you near the northshore?
There was a verizon strike in Woburn and Burlington for a year plus. The Burlington strike was near their common and the Woburn one was in their town center. Had the rat out and everything.
Market Basket is to this day the only in person picket line I’ve ever seen! Best strike story ever. I am a loyal MB customer and we even mapped the distance between our new house and the closest MB before we mapped the distance to daycare when we were putting in an offer. 🤣
Are you near the northshore?
There was a verizon strike in Woburn and Burlington for a year plus. The Burlington strike was near their common and the Woburn one was in their town center. Had the rat out and everything.
Do people who say they have never faced the decision realize that “cross picket lines” is more of an expression than a literal walking through an actual picket? Did you buy a product from a company whose workers were on strike? That’s the same as actually walking through people protesting in front of a Kroger.
edit, actually cross picket lines traditionally referred to people who went to work through a strike (and is a legally protected thing). But it’s kind of taken on the meaning of supporting the company in other ways, which is I think the meaning the OP was headed for.
The OP says “do you cross physical picket lines”. To me that is taking it very literally.
How many on this board work at a union shop that would strike and put us in a situation where we would going to work when the Union is striking? Which is the literal/legal interpretation- crossing the line to work. So yeah, I guess then I can get that there are many who have to be employed by a company workers were striking against. Hmmm. Ok… yeah.
FWIW, I wouldn’t cross a picket line to work, or to shop. And to the best of my ability, I will boycott a company that has a strike against it (I say best if my ability because it’s possible some location somewhere is striking and I don’t know).
The OP says “do you cross physical picket lines”. To me that is taking it very literally.
How many on this board work at a union shop that would strike and put us in a situation where we would going to work when the Union is striking? Which is the literal/legal interpretation- crossing the line to work. So yeah, I guess then I can get that there are many who have to be employed by a company workers were striking against. Hmmm. Ok… yeah.
FWIW, I wouldn’t cross a picket line to work, or to shop. And to the best of my ability, I will boycott a company that has a strike against it (I say best if my ability because it’s possible some location somewhere is striking and I don’t know).
It feels like you are really worked up about this - more than I would expect for this convo.
Whether the OP used the term correctly or not, it was clear to me that she was asking if you would walk through a picket line to shop at a store.
People since then have been judgy towards the 27 people who clicked “special snowflake”. Several of those people (myself included) said they have never been faced with this choice which is why they chose that option.
I don’t think that means that they hate unions, don’t care about workers rights, etc. Just that they couldn’t answer “yes” or “no” since they hadn’t experienced it.
I have a question. Let’s say you order something online for in store pick up. It’s a big box store. When you get there, two inflatable rats are up and about four picketers are milling around at the parking lot entrances. It’s just at this location of the big box store; had you picked another location, then there would be not rats.
What do you do? What is right? I felt like I wandered into a moral morass that day.
Post by sapphireblue on Jan 13, 2022 9:49:21 GMT -5
I would not.
When Stop and Shop was striking we went elsewhere until it was done. Not many choices in our small town but we made it work.
I have relatives that were serious union organizers and my parents were civil rights workers that organized picket lines. They also had a poster on our bathroom wall growing up that was from an old strike that said something like "Don't be a scab!" so they instilled it in me.
Have I shopped at a store that had a pocket line? No I don’t remember seeing a picket line in front of a store that I shopped at.
Do I keep track of all boycotts, no I can’t say I am up to date on every boycott.
A few union guys protested at my work because we hired a non union shop. We are required to pay prevailing wage though. They were protesting the non union shop not us.
Post by jennistarr1 on Jan 13, 2022 10:10:07 GMT -5
I think maybe I have?
I worked at a large hospital...of the people in my department actually were employed by the associated university but my position was actually hospital. Hospital workers are either exempt (me) or non-exempt (and then represented by a union).
To manage an anticipated strike, exempt hospital employees were assigned a non-exempt role they might have to step in a fill. Mine was "soup chef". This came up frequently enough but typically both sides settled before an actual strike. One time there was a strike and one of my coworkers made a comment about me crossing the picket line and my boss went off on the person defending me. But I really had no clue what was happening and though I was exempt, I was in a lower paid position where I was constantly afraid of losing my own job and felt really powerless in that environment overall. I would never have considered not working to support the strike.