Because their actions directly affect the readiness of the military that is keeping them from being taken over by some third world dictator who tends to shoot/hang dissenters. If they were just a bunch of dishwashers/car assemblers/airline pilots...no harm/no foul by me. But they signed a contract with the DOD to provide a service that DIRECTLY affects the military (in a time of WAR no less)
If it is okay for these douchebags to strike, why not the civilian contractors overseas. Shit, maybe Blackwater should stop sniping/flying/killing bad guys and wait for a better check...
First, the striking workers did not sign a contract with the government - their company did. It is the company that needs to meet the contract and one of the ways to do this is to make the workers happy. Obviously the workers are not happy. And if the workers are willing to lose income and risk their jobs by striking, they must be really unhappy. Do you want unhappy workers doing the maintenance on your aircraft?
Second, I doubt if this strike is going to put a serious bite on the war effort. The federal budget and lack of money are going to hurt it more. Heck, there is a CVN that has been sitting at Pearl Harbor for the last week because there is no money for them to go to sea. That's a whole air wing of trained aviators grounded and not participating in the war.
You haven't worked in the civilian sector for a while. It's all about money & profit. Companies walk all over their workers and will cut their pay in a heartbeat to give shareholders a couple more cents on their stock value. Sometimes the workers have just got to say "enough".
Picklesuit said:
Not only is that an issue, but how fucking secure are you going to feel going back to work with these guys now? Apparently your safety is expendable when compared to their checking account. Better double-check that engine/ejection seat...oh, and hope you don't need some of these firefighters to actually get close to the fire and save your ass...if they'll throw you under the bus for money, they sure as hell won't put their life on the line for you...
You think they should do it for free or shit wages/conditions? They are civilians, not service members. I actually feel better about the work provided by people that demand to be paid a reasonable salary and expect decent working conditions.
And no, I don't like all unions. I absolutely dispise the Culunary Workers Union in Las Vegas for instance. They forced themselves on the workers at one Vegas strip casino that ended up resulting in pay cuts and benefit cuts because the union contract was worst than what the workers were getting. They also stick their noses in local politics and try to dictate to other unions. They represent all that is bad in labor unions.
You and all the other haters need to chill the fuck out. You don't know the whole story from either management or the workers. It's up to them to sort it out and if The Air Force thinks it is out of hand, then they can exercise their options (like giving a different company the contract).