We had a small shanty town built across the street from our building.
I remember all of the support we got, The UAW, the CWA, a lot of construction workers unions showed up, The pilots came down in their uniforms..that was cool.
I remember my kids were young--5 and 3--trying their best to carry picket signs.
I remember one of our, um, stranger drivers chanting slogans and beating his kick drum on the picket line...I can still hear that damn drum beating...
I remember asking my buddy how much money he was selling his classic muscle car for. He laughed and said, "The price just got cheaper."
I remember the street in front of UPS had a 40MPH speed limit and had a lot of traffic with 18 wheelers, Our fat assed union president came down there, almost passed the picket line, stopped, and did a U-turn without checking traffic, and nearly got t-boned by a speeding 53 foot truck.
My local got me work with an old man looking for help siding houses, so I went to the picket line before and after work. And yeah, I'll never again stand on a wobbly scaffolding, 25 feet in the air, siding houses, even for decent cash, no sir.
I remember the solidarity we had together, even if it didn't last a very long time after we went back to work.
I remember what a bunch of vindictive prics UPS were when we came back. And the way they acted as if they had no part, whatsoever, in the strike.
I remember on one of the first days management left in the package cars, a couple of our drunker strikers through some empty beer bottles at the trucks. It got kind of nasty when a couple of the hot-tempered sups stopped their trucks and got out looking for a fight. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed.
We had a small number of drivers cross the picket lines. Those drivers are still shunned to this day.
I remember how the public sentiment was on our side.
And I still remember how little Hoffa got his
on CNN and said how we were making a "big mistake". Never will I forget that, and I still can't figure out how the rest of the Teamsters can either, but they do.
All in all, it was a good experience for me. I stood shoulder to shoulder with the guys/gals I worked with a stood up to a company who pushed us around and thought we would never have the guts to stand up to them.
Yeah, "Last, best offer," I'll never forget that, either.