SM, The point is that this is all much to do about nothing. The firemen are not going to get their 40%, we all know that. They are going to lose money during the strike, money that they will never recover. I would expect the Forces to comply with the governments wishes without belly-aching, isnt that why we have armed forces? Dont get me wrong, I in no way support what they are doing. They are sheep following instructions from their union. It would be interesting to poll the strikers to see just how many of them really want to be on strike.