It's sad, really...

Strikers' tactics never cease to amaze me. You'd think the goal would be to win public support to put pressure on management. You know, get people to boycott a company or call their city councilor. But far more often the strategy is to cause as much disruption and chaos as possible, act like thugs, and basically bully your way to victory. Take this case for example:

Judy Anthony's aunt was the kind of woman who would go to downtown Montreal to feed the homeless. She couldn't stand to see anyone hurt or cold, Anthony says.

She was popular in her Little Italy neighbourhood for her volunteerism; more than 800 people went to pay final respects when she died last month.

So it was all the more shocking when 50 striking Urgel Bourgie workers cheered as her casket was loaded into a hearse outside a funeral home. The strikers then formed a raucous cordon around the departing cortège.

"When they brought my aunt's casket through the doors, that's when the cheering and the clapping and the yelling started," Anthony recounted.

"And as all the cars (bearing about 60 family members to the church service) went through this horrible gauntlet of strikers, they kept waving and shouting and clapping and cheering.

"It was like they were at a soccer match in Europe."

Anthony said the antics were especially hard on her 73-year-old uncle, who had just lost his wife of 50 years.

But don't think they're just a bunch of heartless goons. Here's what the vice-president of the funeral workers' local said:

"The union feels badly for the families who are victims of the conflict."

Well, that's alright then.

Posted by Bruce Gottfred at February 26, 2004 12:23 PM | TrackBack