Emotional autoworkers cross striking janitors' picket lines in Flint

[Mc Mike]

9. AFL-CIO Union Picket Rights:

A Good Union Member Respects Picket Lines

A good union member is extremely careful when confronted with a Picket Line situation. When a picket line is established on a job where s/he is working:

S/he leaves. S/he does not talk -- just leaves.
S/he reads the picket signs as s/he leaves.
S/he does not hang around near the job.
S/he knows that once a picket line is established, her/his business agents and other union officials are legally gagged and handcuffed from giving advice pertaining to that job. They can only tell her/him if the picket is authorized.
S/he does not allow her/himself to be drawn into conversation with anyone at the job site.

A Good Union Member Knows Her/His Rights

S/he has the right not to work behind any picket line.
S/he has to right to decide for her/himself whether to walk off a job being picketed.
S/he understands that her/his trade may be under attack next.
S/he knows that a two gate system means a picket line and s/he has the right not to work, no matter how many gates the employer sets up.



Don't talk to the union about a union picket. Turn around and leave. Try again tomorrow. The boss and company will figure out real quick that you aren't coming in to work, and why. (The last para is my basic paraphrase and sum up.)