Healthcare strikes are complicated. It’s weird because it’s not like a retail business that can safely shut down. If we shut down a hospital, it could endanger people’s lives, and that’s the exact opposite of what we’re trying to accomplish.

So we strike with compromises. A three day strike is like a warning shot. It can be extended into an indefinite strike, if needed. Just a couple years ago here in Massachusetts, there was a nursing strike that lasted almost an entire year. That was accomplished by forcing them to staff the hospital with expensive travel nurses.

It’s a controversial tactic. It can prolong the strike, but it maintains the trust and support of the public, which is more intrinsic to healthcare than other businesses.