Strike action

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Female tailors on strike, New York City, February 1910.

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Chronological list of strikes

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v
t
e

Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, 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 common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass
labor became important in factories and mines. In most countries, strike actions were quickly
made illegal,[citation needed] as factory owners had far more 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. Notable
examples are the 1980 Gdask Shipyard or 1981 Warning Strike, led by Lech Wasa. These
strikes were significant in the long campaign of civil resistance for political change in Poland,
and were an important mobilizing effort that contributed to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the
end of communist party rule in eastern Europe.[1]

Contents

1 History
o 1.1 Etymology
o 1.2 Pre-industrial strikes
o 1.3 During and after the Industrial Revolution
2 Variations
3 Legal prohibitions
o 3.1 Canada
o 3.2 People's Republic of China and the former Soviet Union
o 3.3 France
o 3.4 United Kingdom
o 3.5 United States
4 Strikebreakers
o 4.1 Union strikebreaking
5 Antistrike action
o 5.1 Strike preparation
o 5.2 Strike breaking
o 5.3 Union busting
o 5.4 Lockout
o 5.5 Violence
6 Films
o 6.1 Non-fiction
o 6.2 Fiction

7 Other uses
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links

History

Strike action (1879), painting by Theodor Kittelsen

See also: List of strikes

Etymology
The use of the English word "strike" first appeared in 1768, when sailors, in support of
demonstrations in London, "struck" or removed the topgallant sails of merchant ships at port,
thus crippling the ships.[2][3][4] Official publications have typically used the more neutral
words "work stoppage" or "industrial dispute".

Pre-industrial strikes
The first historically certain account of strike action was towards the end of the 20th dynasty,
under Pharaoh Ramses III in ancient Egypt on 14 November 1152 BC. The artisans of the
Royal Necropolis at Deir el-Medina walked off their jobs because they had not been paid.[5][6]
The Egyptian authorities raised the wages.
An early predecessor of the general strike may have been the secessio plebis in ancient Rome.
In the Outline Of History, H.G. Wells characterized this event as "the general strike of the
plebeians; the plebeians seem to have invented the strike, which now makes its first
appearance in history."[7] Their first strike occurred because they "saw with indignation their
friends, who had often served the state bravely in the legions, thrown into chains and reduced
to slavery at the demand of patrician creditors."[7]

During and after the Industrial Revolution

Agitated workers face the factory owner in The Strike, painted by Robert Koehler in 1886
The strike action only became a feature of the political landscape with the onset of the
Industrial Revolution. For the first time in history, large numbers of people were members of
the industrial working class; they lived in cities and exchanged their labor for payment. By
the 1830s, when the Chartist movement was at its peak, a true and widespread 'workers
consciousness' was awakening. In 1842 the demands for fairer wages and conditions across
many different industries finally exploded into the first modern general strike. After the
second Chartist Petition was presented to Parliament in April 1842 and rejected, the strike
began in the coal mines of Staffordshire, England, and soon spread through Britain affecting
factories, mills in Lancashire and coal mines from Dundee to South Wales and Cornwall.[8]
Instead of being a spontaneous uprising of the mutinous masses, the strike was politically
motivated and was driven by an agenda to win concessions. Probably as much as half of the
then industrial work force were on strike at its peak over 500,000 men.[citation needed] The
local leadership marshalled a growing working class tradition to politically organize their
followers to mount an articulate challenge to the capitalist, political establishment. Friedrich
Engels, an observer in London at the time, wrote:
by its numbers, this class has become the most powerful in England, and woe betide the
wealthy Englishmen when it ... The English proletarian is only just becoming aware of his
power, and the fruits of this awareness were the disturbances of last summer.[9]
As the 19th century progressed, strikes became a fixture of industrial relations across the
industrialized world, as workers organized themselves to collectively bargain for better wages
and standards with their employees. Karl Marx has condemned the theory of Proudhon
criminalizing strike action in his work The Poverty of Philosophy.[10]
In 1937 there were 4,740 strikes in the United States.[11] This was the greatest strike wave in
American 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.[12][13]
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted in 1967 ensure the
right to strike in Article 8 and European Social Charter adopted in 1961 also ensure the right
to strike in Article 6.

Variations

A rally of the trade union UNISON in Oxford during a strike on 2006-03-28.

2005 New York City transit strike

Most strikes are undertaken by labor 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 which prohibits the union from striking during the term of the agreement, known as a
"no-strike clause."
No-strike clauses became prevalent in the United States immediately following World War
II.[14] Nowadays, virtually all modern collective bargaining agreements contain prohibitions
on work stoppages. Some in the labor movement consider no-strike clauses to be an
unnecessary detriment to unions in the collective bargaining process.[15]
Generally, strikes are rare: according to the News Media Guild, 98% of union contracts in the
United States are settled each year without a strike.[citation needed] 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 concerned are not unionized. Such strikes are often
described as unofficial. Strikes without formal union authorization are also known as wildcat
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 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 the United Kingdom.
A strike may consist of workers refusing to attend work or picketing 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 either to do their
jobs or to leave. This is known as a sit-down strike. A similar tactic is the work-in, where
employees occupy the workplace but still continue work, often without pay, which attempts

to show they are still useful, or that worker self-management can be successful. This occurred
for instance with factory occupations in the Bienno Rossi strikes - the "two red years" of Italy
from 1919-1920.
Another unconventional tactic is work-to-rule (also known as an Italian strike, in Italian:
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 work overtime. Such strikes may in some cases be a
form of "partial strike" or "slowdown".
During the development boom of the 1970s in Australia, the Green 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 for environmentalist 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 the National 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 commit unfair labor practices
(ULPs) may not replace employees who strike over ULPs, and must fire any strikebreakers
they have hired as replacements in order to reinstate the striking workers.

Teamsters, wielding pipes, clash with armed police in the streets of Minneapolis during a
1934 strike.
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.
A sympathy strike is, in a way, a small scale version of a general strike 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 the National Labor

Relations Board permitting employers to establish separate or "reserved" gates for particular
trades, making it an unlawful secondary boycott for a union to establish a picket line at any
gate other than the one reserved for the employer it is picketing. Sympathy strikes may be
undertaken by a union as an organization or by individual union members choosing not to
cross a picket line.
A jurisdictional 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.
A student strike has the students (sometimes supported by faculty) not attending schools. 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.
A hunger 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 strikers call in sick. This is used in cases where laws prohibit certain employees
from declaring a strike. Police, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and teachers in some U.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.[16]

Legal prohibitions
Canada
On 30 January 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that there is a constitutional right to
strike.[17] 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 by Chief Justice Brian Dickson in a 1987 Supreme Court ruling
on a reference case brought by the province of Alberta. The exact scope of this right to strike
remains unclear and will no doubt be subject to further litigation. Prior to this Supreme Court
decision the federal and/or provincial governments would introduce "back to work
legislation", a special law that blocks the strike action (or a lockout) from happening or
continuing on further. Canadian governments would also impose binding 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 has 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.[18]
Examples include when the government of Canada passed back to work legislation during the
2011 Canada Post lockout and the 2012 CP Rail strike, thus effectively ending the strikes.

People's Republic of China and the former Soviet Union

Main articles: Trade unions in the Soviet Union and All-China Federation of Trade Unions

Lenin Shipyard workers, Poland, on strike in August 1980, with the Soviet-modeled trade
union name crossed out in protest
In some MarxistLeninist states, such as the former USSR or the People's Republic of China,
striking was illegal and viewed as counter-revolutionary. Since the government in such
systems claims to represent the working class, it has been argued that unions and strikes were
not necessary.[citation needed] In 1976, China signed the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, which guaranteed the right to unions and striking, but Chinese
officials declared that they had no interest in allowing these liberties.[19] (In June 2008,
however, the municipal government in Shenzhen in southern China introduced draft labor
regulations, which labor rights advocacy groups say would, if implemented, virtually restore
Chinese workers' right to strike.[20]) 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." They were essentially state propaganda and
control organs to regulate the workforce, also providing them with social activities.[citation
needed]

France

Strike in Pas-de-Calais (1906)

In France, the right to strike is recognized and guaranteed by the Constitution.
A "minimum service" during strikes in public transport was a promise of Nicolas 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.
This law, amongst other measures, forces certain categories of public transport workers (such
as train and bus drivers) to declare to their employer 48 hours in advance if they intend to go
on strike. Should they go on strike without having declared their intention to do so
beforehand, they leave themselves open to sanctions.
The unions did and still do oppose this law and argue these 48 hours are used not only to
pressure the workers but also to keep files on the more militant workers, who will more easily
be undermined in their careers by the employers. Most importantly, they argue this law
prevents the more hesitant workers from making the decision to join the strike the day before,
once they've been convinced to do so by their colleagues and more particularly the union
militants, who maximize their efforts in building the strike (by handing out leaflets,
organising meetings, discussing the demands with their colleagues) in the last few days
preceding the strike. This law makes it also more difficult for the strike to spread rapidly to
other workers, as they are required to wait at least 48 hours before joining the strike.
This law also makes it easier for the employers to organize the production as it may use its
human resources more effectively, knowing beforehand who is going to be at work and not,
thus undermining, albeit not that much, the effects of the strike.
However, this law has not had much effect as strikes in public transports still occur in France
and at times, the workers refuse to comply by the rules of this law. The public transport
industry - public or privately owned - remains very militant in France and keen on taking
strike action when their interests are threatened by the employers or the government.
The public transport workers in France, in particular the "Cheminots" (employees of the
national French railway company) are often seen as the most radical "vanguard" of the
French working class. This law has not, in the eyes of many, changed this fact.

United Kingdom
The Industrial Relations Act 1971 was repealed through the Trade Union and Labour
Relations Act 1974, sections of which were repealed by the Employment Act 1982.
The Code of Practice on Industrial Action Ballots and Notices, and sections 22 and 25 of the
Employment Relations Act 2004, which concern industrial action notices, commenced on 1
October 2005.
Legislation was enacted in the aftermath of the 1919 police strikes, forbidding British police
from both taking industrial action, and discussing the possibility with colleagues. The Police
Federation which was created at the time to deal with employment grievances, and provide
representation to police officers, has increasingly put pressure on the government, and
repeatedly threatened strike action.[21]
Prison officers have gained and lost the right to strike over the years; most recently despite it
being illegal, they walked out on 10 May 2012.[22]

United States

A strike leader addressing strikers in Gary, Indiana in 1919.

The Railway Labor Act bans strikes by United States airline and railroad employees except in
narrowly defined circumstances. The National Labor Relations Act generally permits strikes,
but provides a mechanism to enjoin strikes in industries in which a strike would create a
national emergency. The federal government most recently invoked these statutory provisions
to obtain an injunction requiring the International Longshore and Warehouse Union 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" in New York. Other jurisdictions impose strike bans only on certain categories of
workers, particularly those regarded as critical to society: police, teachers and firefighters are
among the groups commonly barred from striking in these jurisdictions. Some states, such as
New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa or Florida, 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.
Often, specific regulations on strike actions exist for employees in prisons. The Code 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 authorizes
solitary confinement for periods of up to a year for each violation.[23] The California 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 to gang affiliation under CCR 3000.[24]
Postal workers involved in 1978 wildcat strikes in Jersey City, Kearny, New Jersey, San
Francisco, and Washington, D.C. were fired under the presidency of Jimmy Carter, and
President Ronald Reagan fired air traffic controllers and the PATCO union after the air traffic
controllers' strike of 1981.

Strikebreakers
Main article: Strikebreaker

Strikebreaking driver and cart being stoned during sanitation worker strike. New York City,
1911.
A strikebreaker (sometimes derogatorily called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person
who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not
employed by the company prior to the trade 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 cross picket lines to work.
Irwin, Jones, McGovern (2008) 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, originates from the old-fashioned English
insult, "scab."
"Blackleg" is an older word and is found in the late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century folk
song from Northumberland, "Blackleg Miner". The term does not necessarily owe its origins
to this tune of unknown origin. The song is, however, notable for its lyrics that encourage
violent acts against strikebreakers.

Strike breakers, Chicago Tribune strike, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

Union strikebreaking
The concept of union strikebreaking or union 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 called sympathy or secondary 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 of industrial unions, which have sought to organize entire workplaces
without regard to individual skills, have criticized craft unions for organizing workplaces into
separate unions according to skill, a circumstance that makes union strikebreaking more
common. Union strikebreaking is not, however, unique to craft unions.

Antistrike action
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 in May 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 giant inflatable rat is used in the U.S. at the site of a labor dispute.
The rat is meant to represent an unfair employer or strike-breaking replacement workers.

Strike preparation
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 prior to an anticipated strike, to help offset the
losses which the strike would cause.
One of the weapons traditionally wielded by already-established unions is strike action. Some
companies may decline entirely to negotiate with the union, and respond to the strike by
hiring replacement workers. This may create a crisis situation for strikers do they stick to
their original plan and rely upon their solidarity, or is there a chance that the strike may be
lost? How long will the strike last? Will strikers' jobs still be there if the strike fails? Are
other strikers defecting from the strike? Companies that hire strikebreakers typically play
upon these fears when they attempt to convince union members to abandon the strike and
cross the union's picket line.
Unions faced with a strikebreaking situation may try to inhibit the use of strikebreakers by a
variety of methods establishing picket lines where the 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 observed that union busting agencies
helped to "transform economic strikes into a virtually suicidal tactic for U.S. 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."[25]
In the U.S., as established in the National 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.

Strike breaking
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 20th century,
during the Russian socialist movement.[26]

Union busting

Strike, painting by Stanisaw Lentz

Main article: Union busting
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."[27]
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 the
Employment Relations Act 1999 and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation)
Act 1992. One of the most significant cases of mass-dismissals in the UK in 2005 involved
the sacking of over 600 Gate Gourmet employees at Heathrow Airport,[28][29] to which the
media responded with outrage. Under the direction of Gate Gourmet's HR Director Andy
Cook, according to BBC: "Gate Gourmet sacked more than 600 staff last week in a working
practices row, prompting a walkout by British Airways ground staff that paralysed flights and
stranded thousands of travellers in the UK." Andy Cook, Gate Gourmet's director of human
resources at that time, said "The company had not been looking to cut the size of the protests,
only stop the minority engaged in harassment.".[30] Cook is now CEO of the UK labor
relations advisory firm Marshall-James Global Solutions Ltd.[31]
In 1962 US President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order #10988[32] 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, President Ronald Reagan fired all
of the controllers. His action resulted in the dissolution of the union. PATCO reformed to
become the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Victims of a clash between striking workers and the army in Prostjov, Austria-Hungary,
April 1917
In the U.S., as established in the National 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 to unfair 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.

Lockout
Another counter to a strike is a lockout, the 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.

Violence

The charge by Ramon Casas (1899)

Main article: Anti-union violence
Historically, some employers have attempted to break union strikes by force. One of the most
famous examples of this occurred during the Homestead Strike of 1892. Industrialist Henry
Clay Frick sent private security agents from the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to
break the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers strike at a Homestead,
Pennsylvania steel mill. Two strikers were killed, twelve wounded, along with two
Pinkertons killed and eleven wounded. In the aftermath, Frick was shot in the neck and then

stabbed by Alexander Berkman, surviving the attack, while Berkman was sentenced to 22
years in prison.

Films
Non-fiction

Final Offer - A look at the 1984 contract negotiations between General Motors and its
union.
Harlan County, USA, Director: Barbara Kopple, USA 1976A documentary film
about a very long and bitter strike of coal miners in Kentucky
American Dream, Director: Barbara Kopple, USA 1990 A documentary film about
the unsuccessful 1985-1986 meatpacker's strike against Hormel Foods in Austin,
Minnesota.
Jimmy Hoffa, a labor union leader who ran the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters (IBT) union from 1958 until 1971, was portrayed by Robert Blake in the
1983 TV-film Blood Feud, Trey Wilson in the 1985 television miniseries Robert
Kennedy & His Times, and by Jack Nicholson in the 1992 biographical film Hoffa.
Bastard Boys, A miniseries based on the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute.
Made in Dagenham, A film about the strike by female employees at the Ford Motor
company in the UK.
The Great Grunwick Strike 1976-1978 Director: Chris Thomas, Brent Trades Union
Council (2007 film)

Fiction

Statschka ("Strike"), Director: Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet Union 1924

Brder ("Brother"), Director: Werner Hochbaum, Germany 1929On 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 the Cronin novel
The Grapes of Wrath a 1940 film by John Ford includes description of migrant
workers striking, and its violent breaking by employers, assisted by the police. Based
on the novel by John Steinbeck.
Salt of the Earth, Director: Herbert J. Biberman, USA 1953Fictionalized account of
an actual zinc-miners' strike in Silver 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. The union organizer Clinton
Jencks (from Jencks 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.
F.I.S.T, Director: Norman Jewison, 1978 loosely based on the Teamsters union and
former president Jimmy Hoffa.
Norma Rae, Director: Martin Ritt, 1979.

Matewan, Director: John Sayles, 1987 critically acclaimed account of a coal mineworkers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills
of West Virginia.
Made in Dagenham, 2010 based on the strike at Fords plant in Dagenham, England,
UK, which won equal pay for female workers.

Other uses

Sometimes, "to go on strike" is used figuratively for machinery or equipment not

working due to malfunction, e.g. "My computer's on strike".