Sympathy strike

Sympathy strike

A sympathy strike is a strike action that is initiated by workers in one industry and supported by workers in a separate but related industry or profession. Sympathy strikes are also called sympathy action, secondary strikes and secondary action.

The term "sympathy strike" implies that the purpose of the strike is to support, and express sympathy for, the primary strikers. In some cases, however, apparent sympathy strikes have been called for other reasons. For example, in Australia in the 1910s, sympathy strikes were sometimes called in order to extend a strike beyond the bounds of any one Australian state, thus making it eligible for handling by the Federal Arbitration Court.

In the United Kingdom, sympathy strikes were outlawed by the Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act of 1927. The laws outlawing secondary strikes remain to this day, even though the governing party is now the union-affiliated Labour Party. In 2005, union leaders in the U.K. called for the legalisation of secondary strikes in the aftermath of the strike action against the catering company Gate Gourmet but Labour ministers stated that they had no intention of repealing the law.

In the United States, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlaws secondary strikes.

References

*Kite, Melissa and Freinberg, Tony. "Unions to Challenge Blair Over Ban on Secondary Strikes." "Daily Telegraph." August 27, 2005.


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  • sympathy strike — ➔ strike1 * * * sympathy strike UK US noun [C] HR, WORKPLACE ► a situation where workers stop working to show their support for a group of workers who are on strike …   Financial and business terms

  • sympathy strike — see strike Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 …   Law dictionary

  • sympathy strike — n. a strike by a group of workers in support of another group on strike …   English World dictionary

  • sympathy strike — sympathy ,strike noun count an occasion when workers stop working as a protest to show their support for another group of workers who have gone on STRIKE …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • sympathy strike — noun a strike in support of other workers who are on strike; a strike not resulting from direct grievances against the workers employer • Syn: ↑sympathetic strike • Hypernyms: ↑strike, ↑work stoppage * * * noun : sympathetic strike * * * …   Useful english dictionary

  • sympathy strike — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms sympathy strike : singular sympathy strike plural sympathy strikes an occasion when workers stop working as a protest to show their support for another group of workers who have gone on strike …   English dictionary

  • sympathy strike — a strike by a body of workers, not because of grievances against their own employer, but by way of endorsing and aiding another group of workers who are on strike or have been locked out. Also called sympathetic strike. [1900 05] * * * …   Universalium

  • sympathy strike — noun Date: 1912 a strike in which the strikers have no direct grievance against their own employer but attempt to support or aid usually another group of workers on strike …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • sympathy strike — sym′pathy strike n. bus a strike by workers who have no grievance but wish to show solidarity with another group of striking or locked out workers • Etymology: 1900–05 …   From formal English to slang

  • sympathy strike — /ˈsɪmpəθi straɪk/ (say simpuhthee struyk) noun a strike by a body of workers, not because of grievances against their own employer, but by way of endorsing and aiding another body of workers who are on strike or have been locked out …  

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