There's no such thing as a strike that someone won't dispute and call illegal, irresponsible, wasteful, and hurtful to some group. Yet, strikes are labor's ultimate tool when all attempts to compromise fail. As a teacher, I was on the line in 1979.
It was a good thing, the right thing to do. It was painful and exhilarating. We found near-universal support within our small suburban community. Once management, parents, and community leaders figured out that scabs were not educators, gyms were not classrooms, and the teachers would not fold, we settled. Lots of people who were very opposed at first got motivated to pay closer attention; they weren't intimidated by us, they just finally gave us a hearing.
Nobody called it a victory, it was just a settlement--the same agreement that should have been reached 3 weeks earlier before the strike. And everybody had their share of a hard time with their fears about money and very strained personal relationships. Make no mistake, the strike was hard. But we maintained professional dignity and contractual rights. Worth fighting for.
This, of course, was pre-Internet. Our union leaders, even those at school sites, were threatened with sanctions. Today, I can envision a successful, viral, popular uprising in which leadership is distributed across networks of organizers. But, by any other name, it's a strike.
Oh, and I should add, the kids will be alright. What better civics lesson than to see respected adults on the picket line, and engage in their own actions of civic responsibility.