Haven't followed much about this strike in particular, so I might be wrong, but... Most strikes come about the time of contract negotiations. So it cases like this, it's usually not just $15/hr right now, but $15/hr for many future years. And they're not aiming for a target of "the shitty wage we got before, adjusted for inflation," they're trying to bump it up to a livable wage that doesn't require a second job and government checks to support oneself. Also I'd re-think that evaluation of only the artisans being deserving of the unions. In the bay area, Bart's union (Can't seem to find their name), AFSCME, and UAW have all been making news via strikes for service workers / graduate students' rights. Just because you aren't in the 1% of the population qualified to do a job, doesn't mean you don't still have the ability to engage in collective bargaining, given some organization.from what I've read, it should be somewhere between $10/$11 an hour