Once again, complaints like this mean nothing without numbers.

According to the county's website, a mental health "specialist" (therapist?) makes a minimum of $21/hr, or as much as $32/hr.  Of course you also receive PERS, a generous health insurance benefit, and "time management" benefits that are unheard of in the private sector (I almost wrote "real world").

If paying $70/month more for your health insurance constitutes "chipping away at (your) soul", you have a fragile soul indeed. Some advice: if a strike is too much hardship for you, just go to work on Wednesday.