A tough week?

I have been trying to figure out how to write this post for awhile. This could be an interesting week for me. I will vote on Wednesday whether to strike and walk out of my job. I never thought it would come to this, and I can't believe we are here now. Emotions are high and the tension is great. I keep telling myself things could be worse, and there are people much worse off than me. I think at the core of this I can't wrap my mind around the issues at hand. This wasn't how I was taught to work. If you had a problem you went to your manager and worked it out, your pay was decided on how hard you worked, and if you did a good job for your company you were rewarded and praised for the work you did. A nurse in the paper yesterday summed it up well, it is horrible for us to think of walking out and leaving our patients behind. I have always believed I was called into nursing and it was more than a job it was part of my personality. I think of all the patients I have cared for in my 12+ nursing years and all the wonderful and hard stories I could share. It is a job that unless you have done it you will never understand. Yet, times have changed. The patients are more demanding, the money is less, and yet we are asked to do more. Much has been made in the paper about the two sides and "their demands." As I see it all we are asking for is to keep what we currently have in regards to staffing, money, and our pension. The union wants to guarantee we have safe staffing in place, and other safety measures that protect us, while also getting "our share" of the profits the hospital made last year. The hospitals states we have to be fiscally responsible. Both at times make me very mad... can't they just work together and come to the best possible compromise. Nobody in the end will win this totally. However, after much thought and prayer I will stick by my nurse friends.
Many of them feel the same way I do... confused, frustrated, and left wondering who is right.
Please pray that a compromise can be reached and the strike won't happen.