strike
strike A form of industrial action involving withdrawal of labour such as to constitute a temporary breach of the employment contract. Effective strike action means preventing the use of an alternative labour-force, usually through picketing the workplace, so causing the partial or total cessation of production until the matter in dispute is favourably resolved. Strikes are the characteristic sanction of trade unions and in this form are often characterized as official. Unofficial or wild-cat strikes arise from spontaneous, even unorganized walk-outs or action, by unrecognized rank-and-file leaders. Strikes are also used as a method of social and political protest, the withdrawal of labour or co-operation aimed at influencing government or state policies. Hence the ‘political strike’ or, where all or much of the population is involved, the ‘general strike’. See also INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT; KERR-SIEGEL HYPOTHESIS.
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strike
