Union Members Put Family, Pay On the Line During Strike

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=6201897&nav=6DJI

"We survived Katrina; we can survive anything," shipfitter Carl McCaskill says.

Workers say they've had practice before Thursday's strike in making it through tough times. As they hold up signs, and yell at passing trucks, these workers won't get paid as long as they're striking. Union leaders say health insurance will soon expire too.

Pipefitter, Lisa Gonzalea is a single mother of four. When asked how she would feed her kids, Gonzales says, "I got family. I got churches; they'll pull for me. I got backup."

Striking workers say they're making this stand for their families. In the parking lot, it's a different kind of family forming. As one worker said, the shipyard brothers and sisters will take care of each other.

"You cut wood, look for a job, whatever it takes. If I got a loaf of bread, we share that loaf of bread. Somebody got some hamburger meat, they'll share that hamburger meat. We gotta stand up and let these people know, we're sick and tired of being walked over, looked over, and not respected as a classman," McCaskill says.

FULL story at link.