Strike action, also calledlabor strike,labour strike inBritish English, or simplystrike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal ofemployees towork. A strike usually takes place in response toemployee grievances. Strikes became common during theIndustrial Revolution, whenmass labor became important in factories and mines. As striking became a more common practice, governments were often pushed to act (either by private business or by union workers). When government intervention occurred, it was rarely neutral or amicable. Early strikes were often deemed unlawful conspiracies or anti-competitive cartel action and many were subject to massive legal repression by state police, federal military power, and federal courts.[1] Many Western nations legalized striking under certain conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Strikes are sometimes used to pressure governments to change policies. Occasionally, strikes destabilize the rule of a particular political party or ruler; in such cases, strikes are often part of a broader social movement taking the form of a campaign ofcivil resistance. Notable examples are the 1980Gdańsk Shipyard and the1981 Warning Strike led byLech Wałęsa. These strikes were significant in the long campaign of civil resistance for political change inPoland, and were an important mobilizing effort that contributed tothe fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of communist party rule in Eastern Europe.[2] Another example is the general strike inWeimar Germany that followed the March 1920Kapp Putsch. It was called by theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) and received such broad support that it resulted in the collapse of the putsch.[3]
The use of the English word "strike" to describe a work protest was first seen in 1768, when sailors, in support ofdemonstrations inLondon, "struck" or removed thetopgallant sails of merchant ships at port, thus crippling the ships.[4][5][6]
The first historically certain account of strike action was inancient Egypt on 14 November in 1152 BCE, when artisans of the Royal Necropolis atDeir el-Medina walked off their jobs in protest at the failure of the government ofRamesses III to pay their wages on time and in full.[7][8] The royal government ended the strike by raising the artisans' wages.
The firstJewish source for the idea of a labor strike appears in theTalmud, which records that the bakers who preparedshowbread for thealtar went on strike.[9]
An early predecessor of thegeneral strike may have been thesecessio plebis inancient Rome. InThe Outline of History,H. G. Wells characterized this event as "the general strike of theplebeians; the plebeians seem to have invented the strike, which now makes its first appearance in history."[10] Their first strike occurred because they "saw with indignation their friends, who had often served the state bravely in the legions, thrown into chains andreduced to slavery at the demand ofpatrician creditors".[10]
Agitated workers face the factory owner inThe Strike. Painted byRobert Koehler in 1886.
The strike action only became a feature of the political landscape with the onset of theIndustrial Revolution. For the first time in history, large numbers of people were members of the industrial working class; they lived in towns and cities, exchanging their labor for payment. By the 1830s, when theChartist movement was at its peak in Britain, a true and widespread 'workers consciousness' was awakening. In 1838, aStatistical Society of London committee "used the first written questionnaire… The committee prepared and printed a list of questions 'designed to elicit the complete and impartial history of strikes.'"[11]
In 1842 the demands for fairer wages and conditions across many different industries finally exploded into the first moderngeneral strike. After the secondChartist Petition was presented to Parliament in April 1842 and rejected, the strike began in the coal mines ofStaffordshire,England, and soon spread through Britain affectingfactories,cotton mills in Lancashire andcoal mines fromDundee toSouth Wales andCornwall.[12] Instead of being a spontaneous uprising of the mutinous masses, the strike was politically motivated and was driven by an agenda to win concessions. As much as half of the then industrial work force were on strike at its peak – over 500,000 men.[13] The local leadership marshaled a growing working class tradition to politically organize their followers to mount an articulate challenge to the capitalist, political establishment.Friedrich Engels, an observer inLondon at the time, wrote:
by its numbers, this class has become the most powerful in England, and woe betide the wealthy Englishmen when it becomes conscious of this fact … The English proletarian is only just becoming aware of his power, and the fruits of this awareness were the disturbances of last summer.[14]
As the 19th century progressed, strikes became a fixture of industrial relations across the industrialized world, as workers organized themselves tocollectively bargain for better wages and standards with their employers.Karl Marx condemned the theory ofPierre-Joseph Proudhon criminalizing strike action in his workThe Poverty of Philosophy.[15]
A recognition strike is an industrial strike implemented in order to force a particular employer or industry to recognize atrade union as the legitimate collective bargaining agent for a company's workers.[16][17][18] In 1949, their use in the United States was described as "a weapon used with varying results by labor for the last forty years or more". One example cited was the successful formation of theUnited Auto Workers, which achieved recognition fromGeneral Motors through theFlint sit-down strike of 1936-37.[19] They were more common prior to the advent of modern Americanlabor law (including theNational Labor Relations Act), which introduced processes legally compelling an employer to recognize the legitimacy of properly certified unions.[19][16]
Two examples include theU.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901, and the subsequentcoal strike of 1902.[20] A 1936 study of strikes in the United States indicated that about one third of the total number of strikes between 1927 and 1928, and over 40 percent in 1929, were due to "demands for union recognition, closed shop, and protest against union discrimination and violation of union agreements".[21] A 1988 study of strike activity and unionization in non-union municipalpolice departments between 1972 and 1978 found that recognition strikes were carried out "primarily where bargaining laws [provided] little or no protection of bargaining rights."[22]
In 1937, there were 4,740 strikes in the United States.[23] This was the greatest strike wave inAmerican labor history. The number of major strikes and lockouts in the U.S. fell by 97% from 381 in 1970 to 187 in 1980 to only 11 in 2010. Companies countered the threat of a strike by threatening to close or move a plant.[24][25]
Female tailors on strike, New York City, February 1910
Strikes are rare, in part because many workers are not covered by acollective bargaining agreement.[27] Strikes that do occur are generally fairly short in duration.[27] Labor economist John Kennan notes:
In Britain in 1926 (the year ofthe general strike) about 9 workdays per worker were lost due to strikes. In 1979, the loss due to strikes was a little more than one day per worker. These are the extreme cases. In the 79 years following 1926, the number of workdays lost in Britain was less than 2 hours per year per worker. In the U.S., idleness due to strikes never exceeded one half of one percent of total working days in any year during the period 1948-2005; the average loss was 0.1% per year. Similarly, in Canada over the period 1980-2005, the annual number of work days lost due to strikes never exceeded one day per worker; on average over this period lost worktime due to strikes was about one-third of a day per worker. Although the data are not readily available for a broad sample of developed countries, the pattern described above seems quite general: days lost due to strikes amount to only a fraction of a day per worker per annum, on average, exceeding one day only in a few exceptional years.[27]
Since the 1990s, strike actions have generally further declined, a phenomenon that might be attributable to lower information costs (and thus more readily available access to information oneconomic rents) made possible by computerization and rising personal indebtedness, which increases the cost of job loss for striking workers.[27][28][29] In the United States, the number of workers involved in major work stoppages (including strikes and, less commonly, lockouts) that involved at least a thousand workers for at least one full shift generally declined from 1973 to 2017 (coinciding with a general decrease in overall union membership), before substantially increasing in 2018 and 2019.[30] In the 2018 and 2019 period, 3.1% of union members were involved in a work stoppage each year on average, these strikes also contained more workers than ever recorded with an average of 20,000 workers participating in each major work stoppage in 2018 and 2019.[30]
For the period from 1996 to 2000, the ten countries with the most strike action (measured by average number of days not worked for every 1000 employees) were as follows:[31]
Most strikes are organized bylabor unions during collective bargaining as a last resort. The object of collective bargaining is for the employer and the union to come to an agreement over wages, benefits, and working conditions. A collective bargaining agreement may include a clause (a contractual "no-strike clause") which prohibits the union from striking during the term of the agreement.[32] Under U.S. labor law, a strike in violation of a no-strike clause is not aprotected concerted activity.[32]
The scope of a no-strike clause varies; generally, the U.S. courts andNational Labor Relations Board have determined that a collective bargaining agreement's no-strike clause has the same scope as the agreement's arbitration clauses, such that "the union cannot strike over an arbitrable issue."[32] The U.S. Supreme Court held inJacksonville Bulk Terminals Inc. v. International Longshoremen's Association (1982), a case involving theInternational Longshoremen's Association refusing to work with goods for export to theSoviet Union in protest against itsinvasion of Afghanistan, that a no-strike clause does not bar unions from refusing to work as a political protest (since that is not an "arbitrable" issue), although such activity may lead to damages for asecondary boycott.[32] Whether a no-strike clause applies tosympathy strikes depends on the context.[32] Some in the labor movement consider no-strike clauses to be an unnecessary detriment to unions in the collective bargaining process.[33]
Occasionally, workers decide to strike without the sanction of a labor union, either because the union refuses to endorse such a tactic, or because the workers involved are non-unionized. Strikes without formal union authorization are also known aswildcat strikes.
In many countries, wildcat strikes do not enjoy the same legal protections as recognized union strikes, and may result in penalties for the union members who participate, or for their union. The same often applies in the case of strikes conducted without an official ballot of the union membership, as is required in some countries such as theUnited Kingdom.
A strike may consist of workers refusing to attend work orpicketing outside the workplace to prevent or dissuade people from working in their place or conducting business with their employer. Less frequently, workers may occupy the workplace, but refuse to work. This is known as asit-down strike. A similar tactic is thework-in, where employees occupy the workplace but still continue work, often without pay, which attempts to show they are still useful, or thatworker self-management can be successful. For instance, this occurred with factory occupations in theBiennio Rosso strikes – the "two red years" of Italy from 1919 to 1920.[citation needed]
Another unconventional tactic iswork-to-rule (also known as anItalian strike, inItalian:Sciopero bianco), in which workers perform their tasks exactly as they are required to but no better. For example, workers might follow all safety regulations in such a way that it impedes their productivity or they might refuse to workovertime. Such strikes may in some cases be a form of "partial strike" or "slowdown".
During the development boom of the 1970s in Australia, theGreen ban was developed by certain unions described by some as more socially conscious. This is a form of strike action taken by a trade union or other organized labor group forenvironmentalist or conservationist purposes. This developed from the black ban, strike action taken against a particular job or employer in order to protect the economic interests of the strikers.
United States labor law also draws a distinction, in the case of private sector employers covered by theNational Labor Relations Act, between "economic" and "unfair labor practice" strikes. An employer may not fire, but may permanently replace, workers who engage in a strike over economic issues. On the other hand, employers who commitunfair labor practices (ULPs) may not replace employees who strike over them, and must fire any strikebreakers they have hired as replacements in order to reinstate the striking workers.
Strikes may be specific to a particular workplace, employer, or unit within a workplace, or they may encompass an entire industry, or every worker within a city or country. Strikes that involve all workers, or a number of large and important groups of workers, in a particular community or region are known as general strikes. Under some circumstances, strikes may take place in order to put pressure on the State or other authorities or may be a response to unsafe conditions in the workplace.
Asympathy strike is a strike action in which one group of workers refuses to cross a picket line established by another as a means of supporting the striking workers. Sympathy strikes, once the norm in the construction industry in the United States, have been made much more difficult to conduct, due to decisions of theNational Labor Relations Board permitting employers to establish separate or "reserved" gates for particular trades, making it an unlawfulsecondary boycott for a union to establish a picket line at any gate other than the one reserved for the employer it is picketing. Still, the practice continues to occur; for example, someTeamsters contracts often protect members from disciplinary action if a member refuses to cross a picket line.[34] Sympathy strikes may be undertaken by a union as an organization, or by individual union members choosing not to cross a picket line.
Ajurisdictional strike in United States labor law refers to a concerted refusal to work undertaken by a union to assert its members' right to particular job assignments and to protest the assignment of disputed work to members of another union or to unorganized workers.
Arolling strike refers to a strike where only some employees in key departments or locations go on strike. These strikes are performed in order to increase stakes as negotiations draw on and to be unpredictable to the employer. Rolling strikes also serve to conservestrike funds.
Astudent strike involves students (sometimes supported by faculty) refusing to attend classes. In some cases, the strike is intended to draw media attention to the institution so that the grievances that are causing the students to strike can be aired before the public; this usually damages the institution's (or government's) public image. In other cases, especially in government-supported institutions, the student strike can cause a budgetary imbalance and have actual economic repercussions for the institution.
Ahunger strike is a deliberate refusal to eat. Hunger strikes are often used in prisons as a form of political protest. Like student strikes, a hunger strike aims to worsen the public image of the target.
A "sickout", or (especially by uniformed police officers) "blue flu", is a type of strike action in which the strikerscall in sick. This is used in cases where laws prohibit certain employees from declaring a strike. Police, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and teachers in someU.S. states are among the groups commonly barred from striking usually by state and federal laws meant to ensure the safety or security of the general public.
Newspaper writers may withhold their names from their stories as a way to protest actions of their employer.[35]
Activists may form "flying squad" groups for strikes or other actions, a form ofpicketing, to disrupt the workplace or another aspect of capitalist production: supporting other strikers or unemployed workers, participating in protests against globalization, or opposing abusive landlords.[36]
On 30 January 2015, theSupreme Court of Canada ruled that there is a constitutional right to strike.[37] In this 5–2 majority decision,Justice Rosalie Abella ruled that "[a]long with their right to associate, speak through a bargaining representative of their choice, and bargain collectively with their employer through that representative, the right of employees to strike is vital to protecting the meaningful process of collective bargaining…" [paragraph 24]. This decision adopted the dissent byChief Justice Brian Dickson in a 1987 Supreme Court ruling on areference case brought by the province ofAlberta (Reference Re Public Service Employee Relations Act (Alta)). The exact scope of this right to strike remains unclear.[38]
Prior to this Supreme Court decision, the federal and provincial governments had the ability to introduce "back-to-work legislation", aspecial law that blocks the strike action (or a lockout) from happening or continuing. Canadian governments could also have imposedbinding arbitration or a new contract on the disputing parties. Back-to-work legislation was first used in 1950 during a railway strike, and as of 2012 had been used 33 times by the federal government for those parts of the economy that are regulated federally (grain handling, rail and air travel, and the postal service), and in more cases provincially. In addition, certain parts of the economy can be proclaimed "essential services" in which case all strikes are illegal.[39]
Examples include when the government of Canada passed back-to-work legislation during the 2011Canada Post lockout and the 2012CP Rail strike, thus effectively ending the strikes. In 2016, the government's use of back-to-work legislation during the 2011 Canada Post lockout was ruled unconstitutional, with the judge specifically referencing the Supreme Court of Canada's 2015 decision inSaskatchewan Federation of Labour v Saskatchewan.[40]
People's Republic of China and the former Soviet Union
In the Soviet Union, strikes occurred throughout the existence of the USSR, most notably in the 1930s. After World War II, they diminished both in number and in scale.[43]Trade unions in the Soviet Union served in part as a means to educate workers about the country's economic system.Vladimir Lenin referred to trade unions as "Schools of Communism".[This paragraph needs citation(s)]
Strike inPas-de-Calais (1906)Display of demands during a strike in 2016 atVerisure, a French security company
InFrance, the first law aimed at limiting the ability of workers to take collective action was theLe Chapelier Law, passed by theNational Assembly on 14 June 1791 and which introduced the "crime of coalition." In his speech in support of the law, the titular authorIsaac René Guy le Chapelier explained that it "must be without a doubt permitted for all citizens to assemble," but he maintained that it "must not be permitted for citizens from certain professions to assemble for their so-called common interests."[44]
Strike actions were specifically banned with the passage ofNapoleon'sFrench Penal Code of 1810. Article 415 of the Code declared that participants in an attempted strike action would be subject to an imprisonment of between one and three months and that the organizers of the attempted strike action would be subject to an imprisonment of between two and five years.[45]
A "minimum service" during strikes in public transport was a promise ofNicolas Sarkozy during his campaign for the French presidential election. A law "on social dialogue and continuity of public service in regular terrestrial transports of passengers" was adopted on 12 August 2007, and it took effect on 1 January 2008.
In Italy, the right to strike is guaranteed by theConstitution (article 40). The law number 146 of 1990 and law number 83 of 2000[46] regulate the strike actions. In particular, they impose limitations for the strikes of workers in public essential services, i.e., the ones that "guarantee thepersonality rights of life, health, freedom and security, movements, assistance and welfare, education, and communications". These limitations provide a minimum guarantee for these services and punish violations. Similar limitations are applied to workers in the private sector whose strike can affect public services. The employer is explicitly forbidden to apply sanctions to employees participating to the strikes, with the exception of the aforementioned essential services cases.
Thegovernment, under exceptional circumstances, can impose theprecettazione of the strike, i.e., can force the postponement, cancellation or duration reduction of a national-wide strike. Theprime minister has to justify the decision of applying theprecettazione in front of theparliament. For local strikes,precettazione can also be applied by a decision of theprefect. The employees refusing to work after theprecettazione takes effect may be subject of a sanction or even a penal action (for a maximum of 4 years of prison) if the illegal strike causes the suspension of an essential service.
Precettazione has been rarely applied, usually after several days of strikes affecting transport or fuel services or extraordinary events. Recent cases include the cancellation of the 2015 strike of thecompany providing transportation services in Milan duringExpo 2015, and the 2007precettazione to stop the strike of thetruck drivers that was causing food and fuel shortage after several days of strike.
Legislation was enacted in the aftermath of the1919 police strikes, forbiddingBritish police from both taking industrial action, and discussing the possibility with colleagues.[47]
ThePolice Federation, which was created at the time to deal with employment grievances and to provide representation to police officers, attempted to put pressure on theBlair ministry and at the time repeatedly threatened strike action.[47]
Prison officers have gained and lost the right to strike over the years; in the 2010s, despite it being illegal, they walked out on 15 November 2016,[50] and again on 14 September 2018.[51]
In Germany, the Basic Law bans civil servants from going on strike, and the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed that teachers were not permitted to strike.[52] As of December 2023, the matter whether the decision violated teachers' human rights under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) is pending at the European Court of Human Rights.[52]
A strike leader addressing strikers inGary, Indiana in 1919
TheRailway Labor Act bans strikes byUnited States airline and railroad employees except in narrowly defined circumstances. TheNational Labor Relations Act generally permits strikes, but provides a mechanism to enjoin from striking workers in industries in which a strike would create a national emergency. As of 2021[update], the federal government most recently invoked these statutory provisions to obtain an injunction requiring theInternational Longshore and Warehouse Union to return to work in 2002 after having been locked out by the employer group, the Pacific Maritime Association.
Some jurisdictions prohibit all strikes by public employees, under laws such as the "Taylor Law" inNew York. Other jurisdictions impose strike bans only on certain categories of workers, particularly those regarded as critical to society:police,teachers andfirefighters are among the groups commonly barred from striking in these jurisdictions. Some states, such asNew Jersey,Michigan,Iowa orFlorida, do not allow teachers in public schools to strike. Workers have sometimes circumvented these restrictions by falsely claiming inability to work due to illness – this is sometimes called a "sickout" or "blue flu", the latter receiving its name from the uniforms worn by police officers, who are traditionally prohibited from striking. The term "red flu" has sometimes been used to describe this action when undertaken by firefighters.
Under federal law, federal employees who participate in a strike, or who assert the right to strike against the US government, are barred from retaining their employment.[53]
Often, specific regulations on strike actions exist for employees in prisons. TheCode of Federal Regulations declares "encouraging others to refuse to work, or to participate in a work stoppage" by prisoners to be a "High Severity Level Prohibited Act" and authorizessolitary confinement for periods of up to a year for each violation.[54] TheCalifornia Code of Regulations states that "[p]articipation in a strike or work stoppage", "[r]efusal to perform work or participate in a program as ordered or assigned", and "[r]ecurring failure to meet work or program expectations within the inmate's abilities when lesser disciplinary methods failed to correct the misconduct" by prisoners is "serious misconduct" under §3315(a)(3)(L), leading togang affiliation under CCR §3000.[55]
Strike actions have also been discussed from the perspective ofjurisprudence and philosophy, with issues being raised such as whether people have a right to strike, the interaction of strikes with other rights, civil order, coercion, justice and the interplay between striking and contracts.[57][58][59][60][61]
A strikebreaking driver and cart being stoned during sanitation worker strike.New York City, 1911.
Astrikebreaker (sometimes derogatorily called ascab,blackleg, orknobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to thetrade union dispute, but rather hired after or during the strike to keep the organization running. "Strikebreakers" may also refer to workers (union members or not) who crosspicket lines to work.
Irwin, Jones, McGovern (2008)[full citation needed] believe that the term "scab" is part of a larger metaphor involving strikes. They argue that the picket line is symbolic of a wound and those who break its borders to return to work are the scabs who bond that wound. Others have argued that the word is not a part of a larger metaphor but, rather, was an old-fashioned English insult whose meaning narrowed over time.
"Blackleg" is an older word and is found in the 19th-century folk song "Blackleg Miner" which originated inNorthumberland. The term does not necessarily owe its origins to this tune of unknown origin.
The concept ofunion strikebreaking orunion scabbing refers to any circumstance in which union workers themselves cross picket lines to work.
Unionized workers are sometimes required to cross the picket lines established by other unions due to their organizations having signed contracts which include no-strike clauses. The no-strike clause typically requires that members of the union not conduct any strike action for the duration of the contract; such actions are calledsympathy orsecondary strikes. Members who honor the picket line in spite of the contract frequently face discipline, for their action may be viewed as a violation of provisions of the contract.
Therefore, any union conducting a strike action typically seeks to include a provision of amnesty for all who honored the picket line in the agreement that settles the strike. No-strike clauses may also prevent unionized workers from engaging in solidarity actions for other workers even when no picket line is crossed. For example, striking workers in manufacturing or mining produce a product which must be transported. In a situation where the factory or mine owners have replaced the strikers, unionized transport workers may feel inclined to refuse to haul any product that is produced by strikebreakers, yet their own contract obligates them to do so.
Historically the practice of union strikebreaking has been a contentious issue in the union movement, and a point of contention between adherents of different union philosophies. For example, supporters ofindustrial unions, which have sought to organize entire workplaces without regard to individual skills, have criticizedcraft unions for organizing workplaces into separate unions according to skill, a circumstance that makes union strikebreaking more common. Union strikebreaking is not unique to craft unions.
Most strikes called by unions are somewhat predictable; they typically occur after the contract has expired. However, not all strikes are called by union organizations – some strikes have been called in an effort to pressure employers to recognize unions. Other strikes may be spontaneous actions by working people. Spontaneous strikes are sometimes called "wildcat strikes"; they were the key fighting point inMay 1968 in France; most commonly, they are responses to serious (often life-threatening) safety hazards in the workplace rather than wage or hour disputes, etc.
Whatever the cause of the strike, employers are generally motivated to take measures to prevent them, mitigate the impact, or to undermine strikes when they do occur.
To bring public attention, a giantinflatable rat (named 'Scabby') is used in the U.S. at the site of a labor dispute. The rat represents strike-breaking replacement workers, otherwise known as 'scabs'.
Companies which produce products for sale will frequently increase inventories prior to a strike. Salaried employees may be called upon to take the place of strikers, which may entail advance training. If the company has multiple locations, personnel may be redeployed to meet the needs of reduced staff. Companies may also take out strike insurance, to help offset the losses which a strike would cause.
When established unions commence strike action, some companies may decline entirely to negotiate with the union, and respond to the strike by hiring replacement workers. For strikers, this may be concerning for multiple reasons. For example, they may fear that the strike will be lost. The length of time that the strike may last could cause many workers to cease striking, which would likely cause it to fail. They may also be concerned that they will lose their jobs entirely. Companies that hire strikebreakers typically use these concerns to attempt to convince union members to abandon the strike and cross the union'spicket line.
Unions faced with a strikebreaking situation may try to inhibit the use of strikebreakers by a variety of methods – establishing picket lines where strikebreakers enter the workplace; discouraging strike breakers from taking, or from keeping, strikebreaking jobs; raising the cost of hiring strikebreakers for the company; or employing public relations tactics. Companies may respond by increasing security forces and seeking court injunctions.
Examining conditions in the late 1990s, John Logan, professor and director of Labor and Employment Studies atSan Francisco State University, observed that union busting agencies helped to "transform economic strikes into a virtually suicidal tactic for US unions". Logan further observed, "as strike rates in the United States have plummeted to historic low levels, the demand for strike management firms has also declined."[62]
In the US, as established in theNational Labor Relations Act there is a legally protected right for private sector employees to strike to gain better wages, benefits, or working conditions and they cannot be fired. Striking for economic reasons (like protesting workplace conditions or supporting a union's bargaining demands) allows an employer to hire permanent replacements. The replacement worker can continue in the job and then the striking worker must wait for a vacancy.
But if the strike is due to unfair labor practices, the strikers replaced can demand immediate reinstatement when the strike ends. If a collective bargaining agreement is in effect, and it contains a "no-strike clause", a strike during the life of the contract could result in the firing of all striking employees which could result in dissolution of that union. Although this is legal it could be viewed as union busting.
Some companies negotiate with the union during a strike; other companies may see a strike as an opportunity to eliminate the union. This is sometimes accomplished by the importation of replacement workers,strikebreakers or "scabs". Historically, strike breaking has often coincided with union busting. It was also called "black legging" in the early twentieth century, during the Russian socialist movement.[63]
One method of inhibiting or ending a strike is firing union members who are striking which can result in elimination of the union. Although this has happened, it is rare due to laws regarding firing and "right to strike" having a wide range of differences in the US depending on whether union members are public or private sector. Laws also vary country to country. In the UK, "It is important to understand that there is no right to strike in UK law."[64] Employees who strike risk dismissal, unless it is an official strike (one called or endorsed by their union) in which case they are protected from unlawful dismissal, and cannot be fired for at least 12 weeks. UK laws regarding work stoppages and strikes are defined within theEmployment Relations Act 1999 and theTrade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
A significant case of mass-dismissals in the UK in 2005 involved the sacking of over 600 Gate Gourmet employees at Heathrow Airport.[65] The sacking prompted a walkout by British Airways ground staff leading to cancelled flights and thousands of delayed passengers. The walkout was illegal under UK law and the T&GWU quickly brought it to an end. A subsequent court case ruled that demonstrations on a grass verge approaching the Gate Gourmet premises were not illegal, but limited the number and made the T&G responsible for their action.[66]
In 1962, US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy issued Executive Order #10988[67] which permitted federal employees to form trade unions but prohibited strikes (codified in 1966 at 5 U.S.C. 7311 – Loyalty and Striking). In 1981, after public sector union PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) went on strike illegally, PresidentRonald Reagan fired all of the controllers. His action resulted in the dissolution of the union. PATCO reformed to become theNational Air Traffic Controllers Association.
Victims of a clash between striking workers and the army inProstějov, Austria-Hungary, April 1917
In the U.S., as established in theNational Labor Relations Act there is a legally protected right for private sector employees to strike to gain better wages, benefits, or working conditions and they cannot be fired. Striking for economic reasons (i.e., protesting workplace conditions or supporting a union's bargaining demands) allows an employer to hire permanent replacements. The replacement worker can continue in the job and then the striking worker must wait for a vacancy. But if the strike is due tounfair labor practices (ULP), the strikers replaced can demand immediate reinstatement when the strike ends. If a collective bargaining agreement is in effect, and it contains a "no-strike clause", a strike during the life of the contract could result in the firing of all striking employees which could result in dissolution of that union.
Amazon has used the Law firm Wilmerhale to legally end worker strikes at its locations.[citation needed]
Another counter to a strike is alockout, a form of work stoppage in which an employer refuses to allow employees to work. Two of the three employers involved in the Caravan park grocery workers strike of 2003–2004 locked out their employees in response to a strike against the third member of the employer bargaining group. Lockouts are, with certain exceptions, lawful under United States labor law.
In the aftermath, Frick was shot in the neck and then stabbed by an unaffiliated anarchist,Alexander Berkman, in an assassination attempt. Frick survived the attack, while Berkman was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Critical infrastructure workers who are on strike may be forced back to work under military law and/orcivil conscription in countries which allow conscription. In 2010, the Spanish government invoked emergency powers to conscript air traffic controllers who wereon strike.[68]
Brüder ("Brother"), Director:Werner Hochbaum, Germany 1929–On the general strike in the port of Hamburg, Germany in 1896/97
The Stars Look Down, Director:Carol Reed, England 1939 – Film about a strike over safety standards at a coal mine in North-East England – based on theCronin novel
Salt of the Earth, Director:Herbert J. Biberman, US 1953–Fictionalized account of an actual zinc-miners' strike inSilver City, New Mexico, in which women took over the picket line to circumvent an injunction barring "striking miners" from company property. The striking women were largely played by real members of the strike, and one woman was deported to Mexico while filming. Theunion organizerClinton Jencks (fromJencks v. United States fame) also participated.
The Molly Maguires, Director:Martin Ritt, 1970 film starring Sean Connery and Richard Harris. Frustrated by the failure of strike action to achieve their industrial objectives, a secret society among Pennsylvania coal miners sabotages the mine with explosives to try to get what their industrial action failed to obtain. A Pinkerton agent infiltrates them.
Matewan, Director:John Sayles, 1987 – critically acclaimed account of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills ofWest Virginia.
Made in Dagenham, 2010 – based on the strike atFords plant in Dagenham, England, UK, which won equal pay for female workers.
^Mommsen, Hans (1996).The Rise and Fall of Weimar Democracy. Translated by Forster, Elborg; Jones, Larry Eugene. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 83.ISBN978-0-807-82249-4.
^Taylor, Tony."Strike!".ozhistorybytes - Issue Eight: The History of Words. Archived fromthe original on 1 March 2006 – via hyperhistory.org.
^"A body of sailors… proceeded… to Sunderland…, and at the cross there read a paper, setting forth their grievances… After this they went on board the several ships in that harbour, and struck (lowered down) their yards, in order to prevent them from proceeding to sea." (Ann. Reg. 92, 1768), quoted inOxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., s.v. "strike, v.," sense 17; see also sense 24.
^François Daumas, (1969).Ägyptische Kultur im Zeitalter der Pharaonen, pp. 309.Knaur Verlag,Munich
^John Romer,Ancient Lives; the story of the Pharaoh's Tombmakers. London: Phoenix Press, 1984, pp. 116–123 See also E.F. Wente, "A letter of complaint to the Vizier To", inJournal of Near Eastern Studies, 20, 1961 and W.F. Edgerton, "The strikes in Ramses III's Twenty-ninth year",Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 10, 1951.
^Mather, F.C. (1974). "The General Strike of 1842: A Study in Leadership, Organisation and the Threat of Revolution during the Plug Plot Disturbance". In Quinault, R.; Stevenson, J. (eds.).Popular Protest and Public Order: Six Studies in British History, 1790–1920. George Allen & Unwin Ltd. pp. 115–140.doi:10.4324/9781003186892-3.ISBN978-1-003-18689-2.S2CID242636272.
^Adavbiele, J. A. (16 April 2015). "Implications of Incessant Strike Actions on the Implementation of Technical Education Programme in Nigeria".Journal of Education and Practice.6 (8):134–138.S2CID167107092.
^William R. Adams (1990).A Manager's Guide to Labor Relations Terminology. Adams, Nash & Haskell. p. 60.
^Ichniowski, Casey (1 June 1988). "Police recognition strikes: Illegal and ill-fated".Journal of Labor Research.9 (2):183–197.doi:10.1007/BF02685240.S2CID54211734.
^"NATIONAL MASTER UNITED PARCEL SERVICE AGREEMENT: For The Period August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2028" (Document).International Brotherhood of Teamsters. 2023. p. 30.It shall not be a violation of this Agreement and it shall not be cause for discharge or disciplinary action […] in the event an employee refuses to enter upon any property involved in a primary labor dispute […]
^California Code of Regulations §3000,Gang means any … formal or informal organization, association or group of three or more persons which has a common name or identifying sign or symbol whose members and/or associates, individually or collectively, engage or have engaged, on behalf of that organization, association or group, in two or more acts which include, … acts of misconduct classified as serious pursuant to section 3315.
^"The Union Avoidance Industry in the United States",British Journal of Industrial Relations, John Logan, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, December 2006, pp. 651–675.
Norwood, Stephen H.Strikebreaking and Intimidation. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.ISBN0-8078-2705-3
Montgomery, David. "Strikes in Nineteenth-Century America,"Social Science History (1980) 4#1 pp. 81–104in JSTOR, includes some comparative data
Ross, Arthur M., and Donald Irwin."Strike Experience in Five Countries, 1927-1947: An Interpretation"ILR Review 4#3 (1951), pp. 323–342online, covers UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Sweden.
Silver, Beverly J.Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization Since 1870. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.ISBN0-521-52077-0
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