Billy looked to his left and saw nothing but more work ahead of him. He hated this time of year. And working overtime for less pay and fewer benefits than last year made his mood even worse. He stood there at his station for a moment and watched the procession of products heading down the conveyor belt toward him. _God, I'll be here all night_, he thought. At the meeting last night held at the union hall, the strike was put on hold for the second time. Billy thought it would finally happen, but the strike organizers decided to wait a few more days. &quot;We need to put some heat on the Corporation by timing our strike just right,&quot; they had said. The main concerns by the workers were being ignored by Mr. C., so they intended to go on strike some time within the next week. But for now, all Billy could do was continue to work and wait. He trusted his union to do the right thing at the right time. And the North Pole was no place to be staging an unplanned walkout and risk going without a paycheck. 2008-01-31T20:39:14Z http://ficlets.com/feed/story/15611 <p>If they push their luck with a poorly-timed strike, they might find themselves replaced with industrial robots&#8230; outsourced to normal manufacturing plants around the world, like all other toy production.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/15611?basename=37807 2008-01-31T20:39:14Z White Hat http://ficlets.com/authors/whitehat <p>Nothing worse than disgruntled elves. They won&#8217;t think twice about kicking you in the shins, and when it&#8217;s cold out that really hurts. Ah well, at least they can&#8217;t flick your earlobes; that hurts when it&#8217;s cold too.</p> <p>LoA</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/15611?basename=27451 2007-12-10T17:20:44Z THX 0477 http://ficlets.com/authors/thx_0477 <p>ha ha. poor sucker&#8217;s will freeze to death, or rather, SINK to death. this nedds a continuation. I love the christmassy feel. If you dont continue I WILL &#8230;.!</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/15611?basename=27435 2007-12-10T09:33:57Z Tad Winslow http://ficlets.com/authors/tjd