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A strike is when workers stop working to pressure their employer to comply with demands. Strikes can be organized by unions or informal groups, and can take different forms such as sit-down or sympathy strikes. Depending on the region or country, strikes may or may not be legally protected. Some strikes are organized by non-workers, such as tenants or commuters. Unions may negotiate with employers to avoid strikes and may include a no-strike clause in contracts.
More commonly known as a walkout, a strike action is what happens when a group of employees make a work stoppage. Typically, a strike occurs due to grievances that the workforce has with its employer. A strike is usually not just a form of protest in the workplace; workers generally use a strike to pressure employers to comply with demands before returning to work. Strikes can be organized by a union organizer or by an informal group of employees united by a common cause. Throughout history, different strike methods have been used, including sit-down strikes and rent strikes. In some cases, strikes can also be organized by non-workers, such as tenants protesting housing conditions.
Depending on the labor laws of a region or country, a strike action may or may not be a legally protected form of protest. In the United States (USA), federal legislation was passed in the 1930s to protect the rights of workers and unions to organize and strike. However, not all workers are protected by the law. Airline and railroad workers in the United States are not legally allowed to strike except under certain conditions. Other countries, such as England, also have laws legalizing strike action. Some countries, however, do not legally protect workers if they choose to strike and may even oppose it.
There are many different methods of hitting. In a general strike, not only will a mass of workers stop working, but non-workers will also often join the pickets as a form of support. These types of strike actions are sometimes called sympathy strikes. To be unquestionably considered a general strike, strike action must involve a large part of a community, uniting workers and non-workers in protest against a common grievance.
In a strike sit-down, workers stop work but do not leave their jobs, continuing to occupy their workstations to prevent employers from replacing them with non-striking workers. This was employed worldwide by many factory workers and closely resembles the sit-down protests that took place during the Civil Rights era in the U.S. Not physically leaving the job until the demands are met, the workers not only deprive employers of their labor force, but also effectively shut down operations.
However, not all strikes happen with disgruntled workers. Tenants who lead a rent strike, for example, stop paying rent to landlords to try to improve living conditions. Commuters participating in a fare strike can collectively stop paying to ride the bus. Strikes can also be organized by political voters attempting to influence politicians to pass progressive legislation.
Some workers who are not legally allowed to strike, or who are not protected by a union, may try to get around the law in creative ways. In what is known as a sick-out, for example, a workforce might collectively call in sick, creating a strike under the protective guise of another action.
Sometimes, unions will negotiate with employers to meet certain demands in order to avoid a strike. In these cases, contracts are usually drafted to formalize agreements and often include a no-strike clause, in which unions agree not to strike for an agreed period of time.
