Strike action, also called labor strike, on strike, greve (of French: grève), or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines. In most countries, strike actions were quickly made illegal, as factory owners had far more political power than workers. Most western countries partially legalized striking in the late 19th or 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 of civil resistance. A notable example is the 1980 Gdańsk Shipyard strike led by Lech Wałęsa. This strike was significant in the long campaign of civil resistance for political change in Poland, and was an important mobilized effort that contributed to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of communist party rule in eastern Europe.
Read more about Strike Action: History, Categories of Strikes, Strikebreakers, Methods Used By Employers To Deal With Strikes, Other Uses
Other articles related to "strike action, strike, action":
... The paper's staff has gone on strike twice ... The first strike was in 1964 and lasted nearly eight months the strikers published the Steel Valley Times during this time ... The second strike lasted from November 2004 to July 2005, and the strikers published their own paper, The Valley Voice, during this time ...
... Further industrial action was taken in 2009 ... An overwhelming YES vote of 3 to 1 backed the action and 2 days of national strike action was taken in October 2009 ... This followed significant periods of local strike action in London, Bristol and areas of Scotland ...
... a lack of good health premiums, arbitrary shift changes, lack of action on operator safety, and an assortment of other grievances assembled by the Amalgamated ... Some experts in worker relations suggest that a wildcat strike would have been unfathomable if relations were indeed amicable ... Signs of an impending strike action on the part of unionized workers were becoming evermore apparent to those inside the TTC ...
... Sometimes, "to go on strike" is used figuratively for machinery or equipment not working due to malfunction, e.g ... "My computer's on strike" ...
... own areas, miners in various coal fields began strike action ... In the Yorkshire coal field strike action began when workers at the Manvers complex walked out over the lack of consultation ... Over six thousand miners were already on strike when a local ballot led to strike action from 5 March at Cortonwood Colliery at Brampton Bierlow, and at Bullcliffe Wood ...
Famous quotes containing the words action and/or strike:
“Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life. Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“When we walk the streets at night in safety, it does not strike us that this might be otherwise. This habit of feeling safe has become second nature, and we do not reflect on just how this is due solely to the working of special institutions. Commonplace thinking often has the impression that force holds the state together, but in fact its only bond is the fundamental sense of order which everybody possesses.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)