Strike - What good are they for?

Photo by Lara Jameson (Pexels)

Throughout my life, I have experienced my fair share of strikes. Since one just happed oh so recently, I just started wondering, why strikes happen and what good they are for. Strikes are so annoying for the people it effects but is it helping the people who are going on strike?

If I can be frank, I have experienced my fair share of strikes, but I never went on one myself since I am a firm believer in support on the side-lines. If I stand for certain things, I will make sure people know but I won´t take it to the streets.

People may say if you believe in something, you need to take it to the streets but since I am a shy introvert who has sensitive ears (too loud noises give me headaches), I would show my support in a different more personal way.

To get everyone on the same page, I first want to define a strike since I will not be writing a whole article about a sudden military attack because I know nothing about those. Don´t get me wrong, I could most certainly write about surprise military attack strategies but most of it would be speculations.

The strike I will be talking about are the ones where employees refuse to work. According to the dictionary ‘the refusal to work will be organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer.’

In simple terms, the workers are demanding something the employer would take into consideration when the effects of the strike is felt throughout the company. Then the negotiations sort out the details so both parties are satisfied. 

At least that is how a strike is supposed to work. However with the greediness of cooperations these days and the unattainable demands the employees are setting. Who is right in this whole fiasco?

No one can say that the companies are in the right because the working conditions of some are exhausting and the pay does not match the work the employees put in. However no one can say that the employees are in the right as well because they signed the contract which they are unsatisfied with.

I completely understand that employees and employers alike have rights and they have the right to practice their rights. Which is why I try to make this article as unbiased as possible however you also must understand that I am fed up with the strikes which makes me ever so slightly annoyed with the people who go on strikes.

On a faithful Tuesday was the first of many strikes announced for the following Thursday and Friday. Luckily, for me I didn’t need to go anywhere on that day. However, I had friends who had to go to their exams at uni on that day. 

You cannot imagine how stressed they were looking for the connections which would get them to the university on time. On top of that they are probably also stressed out about the exam so the strikes are causing unnecessary stress which is somewhat shitty.

When the Thursday came, the public transit system did what they promised they woul do. They went on strike, leaving many commuters without their usual commutes. 

Aforementioned, I was lucky that I didn’t have to go anywhere that day. Nevertheless, I wanted to find out the extent of the impact the strike had on the community and I wanted to go shopping with a friend. 

So I looked up what options I had to get to city centre. Turns out, just local public transportation went on strike. The regional transportation was still functioning. And luckily for me, there was a small train station 30min away by foot from my apartment. So I walked to the train station and waited for the train. 

Unlucky for me, the train was a bit late because it is a train in Germany so of course it’s late. When the train did eventually come, the train was packed to a certain extent. I mean I did already see the mass of people standing by the platform but oh boy was I surprised still. 

After a bit of walking and waiting, I finally made it to the central train station. From the central station, there was a bit of walkway to get to the city centre and that is where my dependency on public transportation became obvious to me. 

Back when I was in secondary school, I relied upon myself to get myself to school on time and back since buses were not really driving as frequently, weren’t very dependent and are damn expensive. Much more there was no bus going to school directly so there was a long walkway when the bus arrived in the city centre. So I didn’t care much for public transportation. 

However, now I live in a bigger city with very convenient public transportation with a free student ticket. Even though some busses are full and overcrowded, I still managed to get to university most of the mornings. So the most of the time reliable public transportation suddenly being less than dependent is not only frustrating but a bit sad. It used to work so well in the past and now it is not as reliable? It’s like something good came to an end.

Just like the way we came, we also went. Which meant walking from city centre to the central train station and from the central train station to the train station closest to my accommodation and from there walking back home again. Did it take thrice as long as it would have if the public transportation didn’t go on strike? Yes, yes it did.

On the next day of strike, I didn’t feel the effects at all. In fact it was quieter since the busses were not constantly driving by in front of my window. However, truth being that I learned a lesson from Thursday and now know that I shouldn’t mess with faith and the power of a good strike.

To be honest, back then I thought that will be the last of the strikes. It seems so too since there wasn’t another strike announced for the following two weeks. In all fairness, I thought strikes needed to be announced a week prior but turns out I was dead wrong.

They announced their strikes one day prior leaving little time to prepare which is such a shitty thing to do. We know you want a pay rise but please don´t worsen other people´s days by throwing a strike at them so suddenly. Give people time to prepare for the consequences of the strike.

That is what happend, two weeks after the first strike. Another strike was announced on Monday for Tuesday. When the announcement came, I was stressed out since I had to get to uni that day. It was a uni day where I needed to be present and on time.

At first, I thought that I could just take my bike. Even if it is bloody cold outside, I could take the bike like I do in the summer months to get to uni. Taking the bike was not only a faster alternative but also an alternative good for your health.

Nevertheless, on that morning when I went for a test ride, I was hit with a nasty surprise. My bike broke down. Turns out leaving my bike out was not the best for the bike. My bike was old, and it already had many problems, now a few just got added on top.

That is when I started to freak out. I had no idea how to get to university on time. Luckily for me, I got up early enough to walk to uni but I had a strong dislike in wasting my time by walking to school and I, really wanted to ride a bike.

This is the moment when I remembered, that the university partnered with a bike-lending company which meant that students from multiple educational institutions could lend a bike for a certain amount of time for free.

It was a ‘two birds with one stone’ solution, I was fond by but I was pissed nonetheless. At the end of the day, I got to uni on time and well, so I got nothing to complain. Nevertheless, I took issues with the bike lending company.

The bike lending had a parking area marked on the map. The university was outside the bike parking area but had a bike station which was not marked on the map. I thought the whole university was a parking area.

Turns out I was wrong but I noticed the mistake before I needed to pay a fine so at the end of the day, I am fine and have nothing to complain about. However, I still hate the parking area with the company since they don´t use location services to tell you if you parked in the wrong area. You would only find out you parked in the wrong area when you are slapped with a fine.

At uni, the strike was barely noticeable except it being the only thing that everyone was talking about or more accurately complaining about. Many people were also arguing how long the strike was. Since many thought it was only one day long, boy were they pissed the next day when their bus didn’t come.

On the way home from uni, it was a lovely sunny but bloody cold day. I thought it would be nice to go for a walk, but I got bored halfway and decided to rent an e-scooter to get home quicker.

The next morning, the same stress. I needed to get up early to ensure that I had a bike I could rent so I could get to university on time. I got there on time but you have no idea how stressed I was.

The week was stressful enough and it was only Wednesday. Luckily for me, they didn´t strike on Thursday. Unlucky for me, they announced the Friday strike on Thursday. I mean I don’t have to go to uni on Friday but I had plans to go out.

On Friday, I had to take the arduously long route to get to the place I needed to be and it was so annoying. Nevertheless, just like everyone else, I survived the week of strike with my sanity still in tact but my respect for bus drivers less so.

There hasn't been another strike which I am really happy for but according to officials a deal hasn’t been struck so I am living everyday with a looming strike over my head which is not a pleasant feeling, if I can be honest.

Luckily for me, in the following weeks, I don’t need to leave my house to go to university so I will be safe from the consequences of another strike. However, if there is a strike announced for the days I need to go to university, then I will lose my respect for bus drivers completely.

I mean I have deep respect for bus drivers having to drive a huge automobile through the narrowest of roads, dealing with the rudest or most annoying of commuters and just generally having to listen to the same stop-announcements every day.

Truly, I respect that there are some people who are willing to take that kind of jobs and I do believe that they need to be compensated for the work they do if the strikes have show us anything, that is that how reliant many people are on public transportation especially in big cities.

Nevertheless, if they cause that much stress by going on strike, do they truly believe they could go back to their jobs? Commuters will start to rely on other transportation alternatives such as car or lending bikes and e-scooters if they continue to strike every second day.

In the future, the bus drivers would be replaced by self-driving automobiles anyways, do they truly believe they have the upper hand in this situation? I am trying to be realistic and the truth is they are out of a job in the near future so they should do the job and earn the money for as long as possible.