Blue flu is a work stoppage where employees take sick leave on the same day to protest or win concessions. It was initially used by police officers and adopted by other groups facing strike bans. Strikes are illegal for some workers in the US, leading to the use of blue flu. Courts have debated whether blue flu constitutes a real strike.
Blue flu is a work stoppage by a group of employees who are prohibited by law from calling a standard union-type strike. Instead of going on strike, employees conspire to give sick leave on the same day or days to express a protest or win some kind of concession. Because this tactic was initially used by uniformed police officers, it was given the blue influence label in reference to the most popular color of police uniforms. Other employee groups that faced the same police strike bans eventually adopted the same tactic. As a result, illnesses by groups of employees other than police officers are often identified as blue flu.
Workers have for centuries used strikes, the most common type of work stoppage, to win concessions from employers. The first strikes were outlawed in many countries and were quickly and forcefully broken up. During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, however, strikes were increasingly recognized as legal as organized labor began to flex its muscles. Pickets have become familiar places while the strike has become an important weapon in collective bargaining negotiations. Union leaders have increasingly threatened or called strikes to demand – and win – better working conditions, higher wages and better collective bargaining agreements.
Strikes continue to be illegal for many workers’ groups in the United States. All federal government employees are prohibited from striking by federal law – 5 USC 7311 – Sec. 7311 — and are required to acknowledge this fact in writing before being employed. President Ronald Reagan fired all federal air traffic controllers in 1981 for failing to report to work after going on an illegal strike. In 1967, the state of New York enacted the Public Employees Fair Employment Act, also known as the Taylor Act, which prohibits public employees from striking. Some states, including Iowa and Florida, also ban public school teachers from striking.
Workers who lack the leverage to strike in order to negotiate better working conditions, wages and contracts – and who resort to false declaration of illness in groups, or calling in sick – are said to have the blue flu. Courts have ruled both for and against whether blue flu cases constitute real strikes. In some cases, blue influence has drawn attention to situations that have been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties through arbitration and mediation.
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