Having lived on the left hand coast for almost 3 decades and having been a ref for a few years I support the strike. To help you understand, the issues of living out there are far different and would not occur here.
Refs out there love the game as much as we do.
While refs get paid a per game fee and a mileage stipend, the issue is travel. Travel destination is "thought of" in terms of time, not mileage. So while it may only be a 15 mile trip to get to a game, it may take you almost 1 hour to drive there after work due to traffic. Rush hour in LA begins around 3:00pm and ends around 8:30pm - so getting around is difficult at best.
In tight economic times, even $1 is a lot. So I can see this will be a prolonged strike.
