When

This is a word commonly heard when refilling a coffee cup, iced tea glass, or maybe even upon being served a portion of food. In this context, saying “when” signals that you are pleased with the current amount offered. “When” also has commercial applications, but in those instances it generally refers to reaching an intolerable level of abuse.

The pilots of Spirit Airlines recently said “when” and withheld their services after a protracted (and fruitless) negotiation period with their management team. After several days of walking a picket line, their differences with the airline were settled and they are back in their cockpits. Nurses in Minneapolis recently staged a one-day strike to protest proposed staffing levels. Striking nurses? My god, people will die! No, they won’t. The union must give ten days notice of a job action to allow hospitals the time for rescheduling elective procedures and transferring patients.

One might think that, what with a national unemployment figure hovering around 10%, this would be a terrible time to say “when”. We should feel lucky to have a job, right? Well, many of the unemployed have a specific set of skills that cannot be universally applied to other positions while others have no specific skills, at all. In the meantime, those who can claim continued employment find that the continued increase in productivity with a stagnated wage is drawing them ever-nearer to the point of “when”.

Imagine for a moment that you have been diagnosed with a slow moving infection that originated in the tip of your little finger on your non-writing hand. It is incurable and your only way to fight it is the amputation of affected tissue as it advances. First goes your pinkie, then your hand. But you write with the other one, so you cope and adapt. But then you lose your lower arm and then the whole thing. Slowly, inexorably, you are less and less. Until you get to that point where continued decimation is no longer a viable option. “Let me go”, is your new mantra as the fight is no longer commensurate with the reward.

Worker bees are approaching the same point in their careers. Slowly, inexorably, their pay and quality of life have diminished to a point where continued effort to maintain seems ridiculous. Some have no choice but to hang on and hang in while hoping for a more benevolent time. Others simply quit and go their separate ways. And others are afforded the protection of an organization that unifies their concerns into a chorus that cannot be ignored. We call these organizations labor unions. Unions have not enjoyed much success over the past decade, or so, but I can’t help but believe that their renaissance is afoot. The labor/management pendulum has reached its maximum arc to the side of the bosses and must now start the return swing to labor. Legislation that makes it easier for employee groups to organize will add to the momentum as more and more laborers say “when”.

Nurses, airline pilots, teachers, and other labor groups are seeking avenues of redress and an organization that protects members of the work group while voicing displeasure seems to fit their bill. They now have the ability to say “when” while fighting for a better future for themselves and for those that require their services. The issue at hand is rarely as simple as “pay”, but that reason is usually quoted in articles and interviews. More often than not, other issues outweigh the size of the paycheck. Hospital staffing, classroom size, and pilot fatigue are just some of the issues facing those within the associated industries and society is better served when these concerns are addressed. The sad truth seems to be that, without the security of an organized work force, such concerns can be ignored.

There is a difference in saying “when” and withholding services. Only after unsuccessful negotiations and unresolved shortcomings in the workplace will a strike be called. It is, after all, used as a last resort and will be settled sooner if would-be opportunists resist the lure of crossing the picket line. Scabs have been around since the advent of striking and “scab” simply stands for “Still Collecting All Benefits”. An ugly name, to be sure, but a logical methodology behind the acronym. Whether the individual comes from the outside or within the union’s ranks, the act does nothing but delay a solution to a long festering impasse. In the meantime, the end user receives something less than the level of expertise normally provided by those on the picket line. Some strikes are broken if enough scabs are willing to cross the picket line, but after several months the scabs, themselves, realize that the job is no longer worth keeping and move on to other opportunities.

Unfortunately, there will always be collateral damages during any strike: passengers, patients, students, and customers of all kinds. The ability to say “when” is essential, though, if we are to maintain a balance between those that seek profit over progress and those that care more for quality over quantity.