Striking

The Right to Strike

You cannot be fired for participating in a protected strike or picketing, depending on the purposes and means of the strike action.

Under federal law, you cannot be fired for participating in a protected strike or picketing against your employer. There are limitations and qualifications on the exercise of that right. Most strikes are protected, but certain kinds of strikes are not protected, depending on the object or purpose of the strike, on its timing, or on the conduct of the strikers. You can be lawfully fired for participating in an unprotected strike.

When a protected strike ends, you are entitled to return to work. If the reason for the strike was, in whole or in part, to protest one or more unfair labor practices, strikers must be immediately reinstated. If the strike was over economic issues, you are likewise entitled to immediate reinstatement except that if your employer hired permanent replacements, returning strikers are placed on a preferential hiring list. Your right to reinstatement may be lost if you have engaged in violence or other serious misconduct in connection with your strike or picketing activities.

Lawful and unlawful strikes

The lawfulness of a strike may depend on the object, or purpose, of the strike, on its timing, or on the conduct of the strikers. The object, or objects, of a strike and whether the objects are lawful are matters that are not always easy to determine. Such issues often have to be decided by the National Labor Relations Board. The consequences can be severe to striking employees and struck employers, involving questions of whether employers can lawfully terminate or replace workers or whether workers have a right to return to their jobs, with reinstatement and monetary relief.

Strikes for a lawful object

Employees who strike for a lawful object fall into two classes “unfair labor practice strikers” and “economic strikers.” Both classes continue as employees, but unfair labor practice strikers have greater rights of reinstatement to their jobs.

Unfair labor practice strikers defined

Employees who strike to protest an unfair labor practice committed by their employer are called unfair labor practice strikers. Such strikers can be neither discharged nor permanently replaced. When the strike ends, unfair labor practice strikers, absent serious misconduct on their part, are entitled to have their jobs back even if employees hired to do their work have to be discharged.

Economic strikers defined

If the object of a strike is to obtain from the employer some economic concession such as higher wages, shorter hours, or better working conditions, the striking employees are called economic strikers. They retain their status as employees and cannot be discharged, but they can be replaced by their employer under certain circumstances.

If the Board finds that economic strikers or unfair labor practice strikers who have made an unconditional request for reinstatement have been unlawfully denied reinstatement by their employer, the Board may award such strikers monetary relief starting at the time they should have been reinstated.

Strikes unlawful because of purpose

A strike may be unlawful because an object, or purpose, of the strike is unlawful. A strike in support of an unfair labor practice committed by a union, or one that would cause an employer to commit an unfair labor practice, may be a strike for an unlawful object. For example, it is an unfair labor practice under Section 8(a)(3) of the NLRA for an employer to discharge an employee for failure to make certain lawful payments to the union when there is no union-security agreement in effect. A strike to compel an employer to do this would be a strike for an unlawful object and, therefore, an unlawful strike.

Strikes unlawful because of timing

Effect of no-strike provision in a contract. A strike that violates a no-strike provision of a contract is not protected by the Act, and the striking employees can be discharged or otherwise disciplined, unless the strike is called to protest certain kinds of unfair labor practices committed by the employer. It should be noted that not all refusals to work are considered strikes and thus violations of no-strike provisions. A walkout because of conditions abnormally dangerous to health, such as a defective ventilation system in a spray-painting shop, has been held not to violate a no-strike provision.

PREPARING FOR AND CONDUCTING A STRIKE

A strike is always our last resort. As explained in the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) Strike Guide, union members know that there are hundreds of ways to put pressure on an employer to settle a good contract. But the strike—or the threat of one remains the single most powerful inducement to force employers to deal with the demands of workers. Because of this, every Local, even one that has never gone on strike, must keep its strike machinery well-oiled. Remember—only your local membership can decide to strike, not UE Officers, staff or workers from other locals or shops.

A strike is the acid test of a Local. It tests a Local's ability to confront the Company. During a strike, a Local also tests itself. A poorly-organized strike can leave resentments that will take a long time to heal, even if the strike itself has been a success. A well-organized strike, on the other hand, can bring a Local much closer together.

A strike cannot be prepared for overnight. Strike preparations should gradually build up over the months before the contract deadline. This is very important. How seriously the Company takes the Local's demands will be influenced by the unity and strength these preparations show. Whatever else they might think, the Company should never be given a reason to believe the workers are bluffing.

Furthermore, some strike activities are part of what every Local should do, day in and day out. The most important is mobilizing the membership. That means the entire membership must be drawn into strike work and kept fully informed at all times. Contact between strikers and strike headquarters must be maintained throughout the strike. All members of the Local should be given every opportunity to participate fully in the strike leadership and activities. That is what a strike requires. But if a Local is already working to keep its members active and mobilized, gearing up for a strike is much easier.

The same is true for enlisting the support of other unions for the strike. Requests for strike leaders to appear at union meetings should be sent to all the unions in the area. These unions should be asked to support the strike both financially and physically by joining our mass picket lines. Again, these requests will be much more successful if the Local has a policy of maintaining good relations with other unions in the area and coming to their aid when they need help.

Finally, community support can be a powerful aid in winning the Union's demands. During the course of the dispute, the Company will probably use local newspapers, radio, and TV to set the community against the strikers. But it can work the other way, too: winning community sympathy and support can put powerful pressure on the Company to meet the strikers' demands.

Public opinion cannot usually be won overnight. A Local with a record of community involvement — and an active Publicity Committee working to make that involvement known — has a much better chance of winning over public opinion when the time to strike does come.

Strikes are not everyday events. But the capability to conduct one should shape how a Local operates both in the short term and for the long haul. In the pages that follow, suggestions are made for both short-term and long-term preparations in each area. Read them carefully, compare them with you Local's current practice, and put them into effect where needed.

The Strike Machinery

The regular leadership of the Local Union — the Officers, Executive Board, Negotiating Committee and Steward's Council — should constitute the leadership of the strike. In an amalgamated Local, the strike organization should be set up on a shop basis with appropriate support and guidance from the Local.

All Committees should be set up and read to operate before the strike begins. Heads (Chairs) for each Committee, when and where the Committees will meet, what their responsibilities are, and how their work is to be coordinated, must be decided beforehand by the Executive Board. Committees will vary in size according to the size of the plant and the nature of their work. In setting up these Committees, special attention should be given to assign members to the work they are best equipped to do.

In selecting Committee Chairs, care should be taken that they can devote all their time to the Committee without being overloaded with other responsibilities. Bear in mind that the success of their Committee may depend on their tact and knowledge of the problems.

Assistant Committee Chairs should also be named to take over in the absence of the regular Chair.

During the strike, it often happens that natural leaders arise outside the formal strike leadership. They should be encouraged and their efforts given recognition. It will increase the leadership depth in the Local.

Suggested Committees are as follows:

General Strike Committee
Picketing Committee
Financial Support Committee
Publicity Committee
Fundraising Committee
Strike Kitchen Committee
Strike Headquarters Committee
Education and Entertainment Committee

For more info about these topics, follow these links:

10 Major Labor Strikes Throughout US History: https://www.history.com/articles/strikes-labor-movement.

How common Are Labor Strikes in the US? USA Facts: https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-labor-strikes-every-year/.

Labor Day: The Deadly Railroad Strike That Led to the Labor Day Holiday: https://www.history.com/articles/labor-day-pullman-railway-strike-origins.

Labor History of the United States: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States.

Largest Worker Strikes in United States History as of 2024, by Number of Workers Striking. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1344019/biggest-strikes-us-history/.

List of US Strikes by Size. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_strikes_by_size.

The 10 Biggest Strikes in U.S. History: Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/the-10-biggest-strikes-in-u-s-history-4773384.

The Most Impactful Strikes in History — For Better or Worse: Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-and-most-powerful-worker-strikes-of-all-time-2019-9.

The Right to Strike. National Labor Relations Board: https://www.nlrb.gov/strikes.

The US Celebrates Labor Day Because of a Bloody Clash Over 100 Years Ago That Left 30 People Dead and Cost $80 Million in Damages. https://www.businessinsider.com/labor-day-history-2017-8.

Top Ten Origins: American Workers and Strikes: https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/strikes-lordstown-haymarket-pullman-shirtwaist-uaw-ufw-afl.

STRIKING