Public Employees' Strikes and Catholic Social Thought

David Opderbeck, business law prof and evangelical Christian, raises the following question at his blog Through a Glass Darkly:

I'm a member of the Professional Staff Congress -- City University of New York (PSC-CUNY) a local union of the American Federation of Teachers. This isn't an ideological commitment for me; the union extracts dues from my pay regardless of whether I join. . . .

PSC-CUNY has been without a collective bargaining agreement for three years. They are now making strike noises. So here is a question for my theology-and-ethics inclined readers: what do I do if the union calls a strike? Under New York's "Taylor Law," as I understand it, it's illegal for public workers (including CUNY faculty) to go on strike. Obviously the New York State government is a Romans 10 [amended to Romans 13 -- ed.] authority that I must respect.

But what about the union leadership and the faculty officers in my college? Are they in any sense "authorities" whose contrary instructions about a job action I also must respect? Is a job action the sort of "civil disobedience" that would permit me to disobey the Taylor Law? In this regard, what are the principles of civil disobedience when my individual situation is just fine -- I'm satisfied with my own pay, work schedule and benefits -- but my "union brothers and sisters" feel aggrieved? Does a law that unequivocally prohibits public workers from exercising the "right" to strike, coupled with hardball negotiating tactics from management, present the kind of systemic injustice that violates God's higher law?

And, what about the pragmatic side of a strike? If my department supports a strike, and I cross the picket line, my prospects for tenure will be over. In that event, should I accept that consequence and start looking for another job? Or would I be justified in following the union leadership in the strike even if a principal motivation for me individually is to ride out the storm so that I can preserve my hopes of eventually gaining tenure?

David writes that he'd "particularly like to hear some perspectives from Catholic social theory, given the historic links between the Catholic Church and labor."  It strikes me that (a) this could be an issue for many workers given the widespread reach of "no strike" laws for public employees (if such a law extends to public-college profs as well as safety-related jobs such as air traffic controller and police, it cuts a very broad swath, of doubtful justification even if it's not fundamentally wrong); (b) there might be questions here about subsidiarity as well as civil disobedience; and (c) we likely need to know more about how fundamental are the teachers' grievances and what exactly have been management's negotiating tactics that the union claims are "hardball."  Any reactions on how someone faced with this situation should think it through?

Tom