Читать книгу Prison Puzzle Pieces 3 - Dave Basham - Страница 67

When the state offered three percent, it was perceived as more of an insult than an offer. The union recommended a strike. They said it was a bad and unacceptable offer.

As corrections officers we are considered essential services, so we weren’t allowed to strike. We could walk the picket line however. The secretaries could strike, so strike it was on Monday, October 1, 2001.

This was the first time that I’d been on strike; at least that anyone other than me had been aware of.

I would walk the picket line often after my shift. When cars drove by some people waved or honked in approval. Many others waved with their middle finger and shouted obscenities. This made me feel like I was back inside working.

I kind of liked this picket line stuff. It was the first time in years that women had driven by and waved at me, even thou it was with just one finger.

A car full of young guys drove by and flipped me off. I yelled, “Coward.” They yelled, “Fuck you.” I yelled, “Try it. You’ll never go back to women.”

Someone drove by and issued me a salutation with his hand. I asked the person next to me, “Was that one finger or two?”

This one guy brought a couple of his teenage daughters with him to walk the picket line. They were standing there waving at people as they drove by. Everyone was honking and waving back. When their dad and I waved to people driving by, we would generally get only about one fifth of the hand in return.

It’s strange how things change with time. I remember when these kids would have been hotties to me. Now, their grandma is the one that would be the hottie to me. To some of the guys locked up in this place, kids are still hotties.

The case workers were in a different union. Those that refused to honor our strike received a lot of verbal abuse as they crossed our picket line. Correction officers know everything there is to know about the use of salty language. But we got called words at times that I had never even heard before.

After a time, the contract offer was still the same. The secretaries were regretting going on strike. They wanted to get a paycheck again. The union, feeling pressure from them, now said it was a great offer and that we should vote to accept it. It was exactly the same lousy offer that people voted to go on strike against. Nothing changed except that what the union once told us was unacceptable; they were now saying was great. If you aren’t prepared to stick by your guns, don’t start shooting them off in the first place.

The secretaries accepted the offer and went back to work. We stopped going out on the picket line. It was over.

To us at Stillwater, this was unacceptable. Sure the secretaries thought it was great. They wound up with a contract that far exceeded what they had to do and any risk they might have to take.