In our current crappy economy, you would think people with jobs would do whatever they could to keep their jobs.

But then there’s United Auto Workers Local 578, a majority of whose members voted Saturday to reject the most recent contract offer with Oshkosh Corp., a contract agreed to by Local 578’s leadership.

Local 578 authorized a strike, but hasn’t taken the step to go on strike yet. Should Local 578 actually go on strike, then every striking member should be immediately locked up at the Winnebago Mental Health Institution. Striking during a recession is inviting permanent unemployment — for those who voted to strike or not.

This is the most recent iteration of this year’s nastiness between union and management. Earlier this year, public employee unions faced off against their bosses, the taxpayers, in the Legislature’s restrictions on public employee collective bargaining rights. Two Republican state senators lost to Democrats in Recallarama, but the Republicans maintain control of the Senate and the collective bargaining right changes are not going back to the way they were.

The difference, however, is that Oshkosh Corp. is in the private sector, and government and schools are not. Government-employee unions should not exist, but this conflict is between Oshkosh and its union. People could vote with their feet on whether or not they support Oshkosh Corp., although I think boycotts of military vehicles over Oshkosh Corp.’s labor relations are unlikely.

If this seems similar to 2009’s drama between Mercury Marine and its union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 1947, it’s not. Mercury Marine promised to close its Fond du Lac manufacturing facilities unless IAM Local 1947 made concessions. Under the economic concept of “enlightened self-interest,” the union eventually agreed to the concessions. Add contributions (as in the half-percent sales tax we Fond du Lac County residents are paying) by the state, the City of Fond du Lac and Fond du Lac County, and instead Mercury moved its Stillwater, Okla., manufacturing to Fond du Lac. Oshkosh also has a more diverse economy than Fond du Lac, although a prolonged strike would have an undeniable economic impact on the Oshkosh area.

(Which makes one wonder where new state Sen. Jessica King (D–Oshkosh) has been in all this. King’s predecessor, Sen. Randy Hopper (R–Fond du Lac), worked hard to get a Mercury Marine deal, and was rewarded by being defeated by King. Will King realize the impact of a strike and publicly advocate for a settlement, or will she take orders from her union masters and stand with the working-t0-unemploy-themselves workers?)

There is one definite similarity, however, as the Oshkosh Northwestern noticed — attitude:

One Local 578 member wore a t-shirt saying “I’m voting no because we deserve better” called the offer “a joke” for a work force that builds military vehicles that can save soldiers’ lives.

“People lose sight of the fact we’re building vehicles for the military,” he said. “This offer was a slap in the face.”

I think  the Local 578 member lost sight of the fact that he builds vehicles for the military, whose members are actually serving the country. Unions are not serving the country; they are employees who have decided that everybody should be treated exactly the same, regardless of their actual contributions to their employer. Every time Oshkosh Corp.  has had a job fair, the number of applicants vastly exceeded the number of new hires.

The only time a strike ever makes sense is during a booming economy when stopping production negatively affects the bottom line. Anyone who thinks we’re in a booming economy now is ignorant, to say the least. Moreover, given current political trends, I am dubious that military vehicle manufacturers are going to get much new business from the federal government in the foreseeable future. Of course, Oshkosh Corp. builds much more than military vehicles — Oshkosh airport fire trucks, Pierce fire trucks, McNeilus concrete mixers, Medtec ambulances, Jerr–Dan tow trucks and other vehicles — but not in Oshkosh.

One comment on the Northwestern website to the story points out another similarity between the Mercury Marine situation and the Oshkosh Corp. situation. Neither Mercury nor Oshkosh is a locally owned company.  Mercury is a division of Brunswick Corp., and Brunswick was ready to move Mercury’s Fond du Lac operations to Oklahoma. Oshkosh Corp., as is Brunswick,  is a public company, and the shareholders (and half of American households own stock in a publicly traded company) do not care where Oshkosh builds its vehicles, or about the Oshkosh workforce; they care only about profits.

If the contract rejection is an effort to get a better deal, that’s one thing. If Oshkosh’s union actually goes on strike … well, if Oshkosh management is responsible, Oshkosh already has plans to build its vehicles somewhere besides Oshkosh for reasons independent of possible strikes.