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I was a manager at PacBell when the 1989 strike hit. I was assigned to check all the offices in the desert. El Centro, Holtville, Calexico, Imperial, Calipatria, Brawley and Niland. 12 hours on, 12 hours off. My shift was 7 PM to 7 AM. The strike coincided with the Perseid meteor shower. Great viewing in the desert. Lots of driving. Food and lodging covered. Getting hit with spray from a passing ag plane and passing out for 4 hours in the Calipatria central office was the worst thing that happened. Apparently, I'm real sensitive to the organophospates they were using.

The Bell operating companies always string a strike along until the wages and benefits saved during the strike exceed the concessions they intend to offer at the table. The more they ask, the longer the strike will run. The union members ALWAYS lose. The fat cat union bosses really don't give a damn. They understand the game. The BOCs usually learn what union labor they can do without in the strike too. While I was out, the computer facility was fitted with new robotic tape handlers. 100% of the non-management personnel handling tapes on my floor were out of a job at the end of the strike. One manager could swap out the 8mm tapes each morning on the UNIX boxes. The big robotic tape handlers cared for the mainframes. In the desert, the step by step switches were replaced with new digital switching machines that are remotely administered. Most of the non-management folks in the desert didn't have a job after the strike either. I took advantage of having the non-management folks out of the CO buildings and fixed many trouble tickets that they refused to work while they had a contract. Tough beans guys. They got fixed while you were making idiots of yourselves in the parking lot.

I'm a retired 30 year employee from SBC and you are absolutely correct on the strike durations. I asked how long a strike would be and the UNION bosses said 21 days at most. It was 21 days exactly. My boss told me that to get the package we asked for the company estimated 3 weeks of strike would cover it. The company saved the money and the union crowed they had taken on the giant corporation and won. Win- win, as they say. The only problem I found was I was paying dues for this crap. So, being from a "right to work" state, I quit the union and saved the dues.

Didn't much care for the company, but hated the union. What a bunch of con men.