This paper describes the effects of a labor dispute upon teacher trainees in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) alternative training program. The individual stories highlight the stress a labor dispute places on those who do not have the status of full-time teachers or prospective teachers in a traditional teacher education program. In the dispute, the trainees had three logical paths to choose regarding possible actions they could take: actively support the union, actively oppose the union, or remain neutral. The trainees' post-dispute justifications for their choices and their views on professionalism are described, as well as how the trainees perceived the dispute affecting their progress in the program and their views of the Teacher Trainee program and the union during and after the dispute. Many people now argue that prospective teachers should have long-term and sustained exposure in schools if teacher education programs are to produce better teachers. The paper concludes that teacher preparation programs that demand sustained presence in schools for student teachers raise new issues regarding the student teachers' status as members of a school community. (ND)