Silly Little Country

Two Garbage Bags

So far in the strike, I have dropped off two garbage bags, both in the parking lot of a local park set up by the city as a drop-off point.
The first experience went fairly simply, just driving down into the lot and throwing the bag on a pile.
The second experience, last Tuesday, was quite different. As I descended the hill to the park, I could see that pickets from the unions were out, though not exactly in the manner I had expected. They stopped me and guided me into a specific place, and then came and took the bag and handed it to a city employee, all the time chatting pleasantly with me. As I drove off, all the picketers were waving.
They DO have a public relations problem, and while this behavior does dispose me more favorably to them, it does not dispose me favorably to the current contract provision that allows workers to bank up to six months of sick leave (out of 18 days a year!) for use at retirement. Nor does it make me cheer for them in the negotiations (after all, I, as a city taxpayer, am on the other side of this discussion).
Still, this beats the first day of the strike when picket lines violated the law and refused to allow citizens to dump their garbage.
My current strategy - try to be out of town as much as possible, something I managed last week!

posted by Alan Adamson @ 7:04 PM