Strikes — the New Ultimate Bad?

It’s nothing new that the Lufthansa is on strike again, as this seems to be the case at least once, if not twice a year. Only the German Railways comes close perhaps to this image of strikes perceived as inherently negative.

Not only are the strikes perceived as negative but also the companies in turn; Lufthansa suffered severely from the current strike, so much so that its effect was noticeable in the course of its stocks. News, while (allegedly) trying to maintain neutrality, seem to feed this image, by giving opponents of the strikes more space in their coverage. Which I find a little peculiar. After all, strikes are a fundamental necessity, a right, and we should take pride in strong unions, seeing how workers fare and fared in England or the US, where unions have been broken up and mostly destroyed, with memberships at an abysmal low. I don’t think anyone would seriously want to live in a world where unions are a thing that does not exist.

Considering other instances of strikes, it seems as if there are strong double standards involved. It appears as though the more of the people, the common man in the street, is actually affected by it, the more there are negative reports on it. I’m wondering whether this is an inherently German attitude or whether it’s a global phenomenon. What’s weirder though is that media are likely affected by these personal afflictions, and hence subscribe to a negative viewpoint instead of reporting both sides of the argument — or reporting in favour of the workers on strike.

At any rate, I reckon the bottom line is this: Strikes aren’t the new bad, and the Lufthansa strike is, at least in my eyes, no more “unjust” or “unfounded” than any other — it maybe just goes to show that journalists are only people, too.