I thought while B was out on strike (hopefully not for long) I would talk about what is going on and how we have been affected by it in each week.
Week 2
B has now been on strike for two weeks. It will be interesting to see how this is going to play out at the refinery where he works. The management, contractors, and temp. workers have been locked into the refinery for the past two weeks. This will be the first time that some of them get to go home to their families that they haven’t seen in two weeks. I can only imagine how they feel and know that they are in the same boat as us. They don’t want this to be happening either. S has a boy in his class that is on the other end of the stick as us (so to speak). S’s friend’s dad is locked in the refinery right now and B is locked out. I know his kids miss him terribly and know I would hate this if B was locked in for two weeks. From the sounds of it they won’t be able to go home every day, and will only be able to leave every few days. Hopefully both parties will be respectful as workers come and go. Yes some union members may be happy to be out on strike and some workers may not mind that they are locked in the refinery doing a job that they aren’t qualified for. But for the most part everyone just wants this to end and end quickly so everything can go back to normal.
B being on strike didn’t really affect us the first week. This week however has been a whole different story. He has finally been able to pick up a little bit of work. He is currently helping his cousin by doing some work on his house for him. Granted it’s not a lot of money, but it is better than nothing. It totally sucks because he is gone a lot more now than when he was working and is making only a third of what he normally makes. His kids know he is gone. S is asking, “When is Dada gonna be home?” P doesn’t say anything but has been extremely whiny lately. The minute she sees B she is happy, giggling, kicking, and all around in a good mood. He has been working late the past few nights so when P gets up for her first feeding between midnight and one she gets to see her Daddy for a few seconds. At night, P refuses to go to B after eight in the evening and is strictly a me baby. So we come out, say hi to B, and she goes back to sleep after she eats.
I haven’t really felt the effects of the strike financially until I wanted to go to Target and shop the 90% Valentine’s Day clearance. I told B that I would not spend more than $20, and I would only spend that much if I found some really good finds like the bags of Legos. I am so happy that I spent less than $10. I could have gotten so much more but had to refrain myself.
On to Week 3.