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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, Copy editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

You should count your blessings, Boeing machinists

Thousands of American workers have lost their jobs in the midst of what political leaders are now calling an economic crisis.

And there's no telling how many more workers will file for unemployment in the months and years ahead.

Most of us still collecting paychecks feel pretty lucky right now. We're no doubt antsy about the future, but thankful to be employed in this volatile market. So it's difficult to sympathize with striking laborers, especially when their actions are putting other laborers out of work.

Boeing machinists have been on the picket line since Sept. 6.

While non-union workers can expect a year or more with no pay increases -- no cost of living adjustments -- or benefit enhancements, Boeing machinists were offered an 11 percent salary increase over three years, a $2,500 contract signing bonus and a one-time payment equal to 6 percent of their individual salaries. But that wasn't enough for workers, who've accused their bosses of being stingy with company profits.

Boeing workers are certainly entitled to living wages, and they're right to protest outsourcing of potential American jobs overseas.

But during these tough economic times -- while corporate executives are thinning the workforce, and food banks are experiencing a surge in new users -- labor strikes insult those people who've been forced out of their jobs and even their homes.

Union officials arguing that striking machinists should be eligible for unemployment benefits demonstrates a lack of feeling for the many thousands of Americans who didn't choose to leave their jobs.

There's an appropriate time and place to hold greedy corporations accountable for shortchanging workers. At the precipice of an economic depression that threatens the livelihood of thousands and thousands of Americans is neither the time nor the place.