The following is a list of specific strikes (workers refusing to work, seeking to change their conditions in a particular industry or an individual workplace, or striking in solidarity with those in another particular workplace) and general strikes (widespread refusal of workers to work in an organized political campaign on a broader national or international level).
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| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1170 BCE | Tomb workers' strikes (possibly earliest recorded strike action in history) | Deir el-Medina | New Kingdom of Egypt |
| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1353 | 1353 Walsham Manor strike [1] | Walsham le Willows | England |
| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1538 | 1538 Cobblers' Strike [2] | Wisbech | England |
| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1619 | Polish craftsmen's strike | Jamestown | Thirteen Colonies |
| 1661 | Indentured Servants' Plot | Virginia colony | Thirteen Colonies |
| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1766 | Silver miners' strike | Mineral del Monte | Mexico |
| 1787 | Weavers' strike | Calton, Glasgow | Scotland |
| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1828 | New Hampshire Mill Women's Strike | New Hampshire | United States |
| 1833 | Four pennies riot | Anzin | France |
| 1834 | Lowell Massachusetts Mill Women's Strike | Lowell, Massachusetts | United States |
| 1835 | Textile strike | Paterson, New Jersey | United States |
| 1835 | 1835 Washington Navy Yard labor strike | Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C. | United States |
| 1835 | New England Mill Strike | New England | United States |
| 1835 | Philadelphia General Strike | Philadelphia | United States |
| 1836 | Lowell Massachusetts Mill Women's Strike | Lowell, Massachusetts | United States |
| Date | Strike | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 1950 Venezuelan oil strike | nationwide | Venezuela |
| 1950 | Atlanta transit strike of 1950 | Atlanta | United States |
| 1951 | New Zealand waterfront strike | nationwide | New Zealand |
| 1951 | Barcelona tram strike | Barcelona, Catalonia | Spain |
| 1951 | 1951 Aliquippa steelworkers strike [15] | Aliquippa, Pennsylvania | United States |
| 1951 | 1951 Caterpillar strike [15] | East Peoria, Illinois | United States |
| 1952 | 1952 steel strike | nationwide | United States |
| 1953 | 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike | Milwaukee | United States |
| 1953 | The Hartal of 1953 | nationwide | Sri Lanka |
| 1955 | Hock Lee bus riots | Singapore | Republic of Singapore |
| 1956 | Poznań protests of 1956 | Cegielski Factories | Polish People's Republic |
| 1957 | Murdochville strike | Murdochville, Quebec | Canada |
| 1957 | 1957 Long Island strike [16] | Long Island, New York | United States |
| 1957 | 1957 Western Electric strike [16] | nationwide | United States |
| 1958–59 | 1958–59 Mexican railroad strike [17] | nationwide | Mexico |
| 1959 | Steel strike of 1959 | nationwide | United States |
A trade union or labor union, often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees and protecting and increasing the bargaining power of workers.
Labour laws, labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, employer, and union.
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike and industrial action in British English, 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. As striking became a more common practice, governments were often pushed to act. When government intervention occurred, it was rarely neutral or amicable. Early strikes were often deemed unlawful conspiracies or anti-competitive cartel action and many were subject to massive legal repression by state police, federal military power, and federal courts. Many Western nations legalized striking under certain conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada. Although its main focus has always been on workers and their rights, the UMW of today also advocates for better roads, schools, and universal health care. By 2014, coal mining had largely shifted to open pit mines in Wyoming, and there were only 60,000 active coal miners. The UMW was left with 35,000 members, of whom 20,000 were coal miners, chiefly in underground mines in Kentucky and West Virginia. However it was responsible for pensions and medical benefits for 40,000 retired miners, and for 50,000 spouses and dependents.
The Seattle General Strike was a five-day general work stoppage by 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington from February 6 to 11, 1919. The goal was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when they tried to strike for higher wages. Most other local unions joined the walk-out, including members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The national offices of the AFL unions were opposed to the shutdown. Local, state and federal government officials, the press, and much of the public viewed the strike as a radical attempt to subvert American institutions.
Justice for Janitors (JfJ) is a social movement organization that fights for the rights of janitors across the US and Canada. It was started on June 15, 1990, in response to the low wages and minimal health-care coverage that janitors received. Justice for Janitors includes more than 225,000 janitors in at least 29 cities in the United States and at least four cities in Canada. Members fight for better wages, better conditions, improved healthcare, and full-time opportunities.
Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or weaken the power of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace.
The Retail Clerks International Union (RCIU) was a North American labor union that represented retail employees.
The New York shirtwaist strike of 1909, also known as the Uprising of the 20,000, was a labour strike primarily involving Jewish women working in New York shirtwaist factories. It was the largest strike by female American workers up to that date. Led by Clara Lemlich and the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and supported by the National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL), the strike began in November 1909.
The U.S. postal strike of 1970 was an eight-day strike by federal postal workers in March 1970. The strike began in New York City and spread to some other cities in the following two weeks. This strike against the federal government, regarded as illegal, was the largest wildcat strike in U.S. history.
See Wayne Horvitz for the musician.
Anti-union violence is physical force intended to harm union officials, union organizers, union members, union sympathizers, or their families. It is most commonly used either during union organizing efforts, or during strikes. The aim most often is to prevent a union from forming, to destroy an existing union, or to reduce the effectiveness of a union or a particular strike action. If strikers prevent people or goods to enter or leave a workplace, violence may be used to allow people and goods to pass the picket line.
A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions of political, social, and labour organizations and may also include rallies, marches, boycotts, civil disobedience, non-payment of taxes, and other forms of direct or indirect action. Additionally, general strikes might exclude care workers, such as teachers, doctors, and nurses.
The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considered an instance of class conflict.
The Chinese Golf Factory Workers Strike for Essential Rights was a strike that happened in Shenzhen, China. On July 21, 2014, approximately 300 Chinese workers at China Qilitian Golf Articles (QLT), in Shenzhen, China, marched in a strike to obtain their essential rights as factory workers. One of the prominent leaders of the strike was Qi Jianguang, a 26-year-old man who worked at the factory for eight years. During the strike, the workers marched throughout a park in Shenzhen as they carried banners, and also took photos on their devices that were later posted on social media. They used social media in a beneficial way, to promote their campaign, and to create worldwide awareness of this event.
On February 15, 2011, in Kigali, Rwanda more than 500 workers at the UTEXRWA textile factory began a five-day long strike in protest of unfair working conditions that started when new management came into power. The strikers were protesting low wages of RWF15,800 a month, lack of annual leave, non-paid overtime hours, and poor working and health conditions.
The 1947 Telephone strike was a five-week long, nation-wide labor stoppage in the United States by the National Federation of Telephone Workers (NFTW) and other smaller unions that started on April 7, 1947. The workers, mostly switchboard operators, were protesting long hours and low pay by AT&T, the Bell Telephone Company, the New York Telephone Company, and others. There were demonstrations throughout the United States with several instances of police arresting passive strikers. The mass of the strike was calculated to be equivalent to 10,100,000 man-days. In total around 370,000 workers struck.
The Bangladesh Garment Workers Trade Union Centre (GWTUC) is a trade union federation of garment workers in Bangladesh. It is one of the largest trade unions in that sector, with more than 20 factory trade unions affiliated to it. It has enough members to be formally recognised as a trade union, but does not have that status, as is not uncommon for left-oriented unions in Bangladesh. Politically, GWTUC is aligned with the Communist Party of Bangladesh.
Anarchism in El Salvador reached its peak during the labour movement of the 1920s, in which anarcho-syndicalists played a leading role. The movement was subsequently suppressed by the military dictatorship before experiencing a resurgence in the 21st century.
