You should really talk to Barbara. Or Rosemary Carey, who works at the Yale Law Journal. Or Barbara Tracy, who works in the Career Development Office at the law school. Or the women and men who are clerical and technical workers in whatever department you major in. If someone I know is standing outside on a February morning, I usually stop and say hello.
Most people do.
I am not sure how it is different when the person is on a cigarette break or on strike. In fact, if someone I know is willing to stand in the cold for weeks on end, without a paycheck, I usually figure that she has a good reason. Striking workers have an awful lot to lose. But we felt that it would hurt us more to accept what Yale was offering. But even if you somehow believe that the union employees are whining and complaining and trying to bankrupt Yale, there is no excuse not to stop and say hello.