Quick End to County Strike

Re “County Workers End Walkout,” Oct. 12: Service Employees International Union Local 660 agreed to suspend its strike in return for a pledge by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors not to retaliate against strikers. If people deem it of such import that they willingly would forgo compensation to participate in such a work action, then the least of their worries ought to be that they might not have a position to return to upon reaching an agreement.

A strike is not a garden party, it is a sacrifice. A strike is not the byproduct of whimsy, it is not a capricious endeavor. It is the result of cold calculation and grim determination. To strike is to put one’s housing, one’s car, one’s children and one’s future, as well as one’s present, on the line. The right to withhold one’s labor without having to dare the rolling of the dice that might determine one’s ability to labor is a fundamental human right.

S. JOHN DANIELS

Los Angeles

* I have a question for the beach maintenance workers who were striking Wednesday morning at North Venice and Ocean Walk Drive. If I came to your neighborhood at 6 a.m. and blew a whistle outside your house because I don’t think I get paid enough, would you support me? I am all for fair pay for all workers in every profession, especially in such prosperous economic times, but I am stunned by how inconsiderate, self-righteous and flat-out rude these strikers are, to assume that it is acceptable to blow whistles and chant “Fair Share Right Now” in the early morning hours in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

I think all of my neighbors--the hard-working professionals who work long hours every day, the single mothers with small children, those whose jobs require they work until late hours of the night and sleep during the day--would agree that your dissatisfaction with your job and pay does not give you the right to disrupt our neighborhood and our lives.

LAUREN ABBOTT

Venice