The gains usually won via a strike never make up for the lost wages incurred during the strike. I have never understood that tactic. We have some clowns up here in Michigan who have been on strike for MONTHS, they will never get their lost wages made up for the rest of their working life. AND we have an 8.5% unemployement rate. My guess is the scabs who are crossing the picket line and working will end up with those jobs based on the progress of the talks for this strike. Idiots, all of them. Unions were necessary back in the day and very effective before the global economy took hold. Now with competition worldwide, unions don't have the leverage they had in the early 1900's. It is just too easy to move all the jobs to another part of the world if there is bad blood between management and the workers in any given location.