What Are Strikes? How Do They Work?

Summary: From teachers to railroad workers, strikes are making a comeback. Factors like demands and your rights as a striker must be considered, though. Striking is a last resort, so strikers must weigh the risks of not receiving pay and potentially being replaced. However, attitudes and the labor market have changed since COVID-19, giving strikers more leverage than before.

By Lora Korpar

Labor strikes have been around for centuries and remain relevant as ever. But many — especially those born in the late-90s and beyond —? don’t know how these labor actions work.

?The first labor strike on American soil occurred in Jamestown in 1619, according to the AFL-CIO . The U.S. has experienced thousands more since then.

The Jobs with Justice Education Fund (JWJ) describes a strike as an event that “occurs when a team of people withhold labor in order to improve their working conditions.” Strikes are the result of poor working conditions or the inability to reach an agreement on essential factors like wage or benefits.

Large-scale strikes are less common than they were in the 1980s, but they still happen from time to time and data show they’re increasing in frequency. Some recent headlines captured news of teachers striking across the country for better pay and working conditions. Similarly, a strike in the railroad industry was just recently avoided over similar claims.?

I spoke with Ileen DeVault, a labor history professor at Cornell University, plus Rachel Erstad, research coordinator at the University of Washington’s Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, to discuss how strikes work, their pros and cons and what happens when you go on strike.

How Strikes Work

Unions and non-union groups have the right to strike. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) grants private sector employees the right to strike “to encourage collective bargaining by protecting workers’ full freedom of association.”

“Anyone can go on strike and you can collectively walk out of your workplace anytime you want,” DeVault said. “If workers come together and say, ‘This is unacceptable, we're walking out,’ there's nothing legally that says they can't do that.”

According to the National Labor Relations Board, two main types of strikes exist: economic strikes and unfair labor practice (ULP) strikes.?

An economic strike demands a concession from the employers like higher wages, shorter hours or better working conditions. A ULP strike is a response to an employer violating the NLRA. An example of an unfair labor practice could be an employer firing employees for trying to unionize.

“Typically, economics alone is not going to be what moves people to strike,” Erstad added.

DeVault and Erstad said workers do not take strikes lightly. They are a last resort. The group of dissatisfied workers must first attempt to negotiate with their employer. Most unions with contracts that need to be renewed every few years begin negotiations with plenty of time before the deadline, hoping to avoid the need to strike.

Union members vote on whether to strike, according to the JWJ. Most require a two-thirds majority to initiate a strike.

“A strike is one of the last tools in the tool chest that's going to be used,” Erstad said. “Withholding your labor and doing that in a collective fashion is a big ask. Typically, people who are representing their members or their co-workers within negotiations will say ‘We're at that place where we need to really show our collective action.’ And typically, collective action will have been shown in a variety of ways up to that strike.”

Your Rights While On Strike

The rights you have on strike depend on several factors. For example, economic strikers can be permanently replaced, but ULP strikers cannot. The only exception is if the ULP striker committed a serious misconduct, according to LawInfo.

Economic strikers who were replaced also have the right to return to a similar position or to be the first ones called when a new position opens. Whether a company replaces strikers depends on how long the strike lasts, said DeVault. Some strikes are only a few days while others can continue for weeks.

“That's part of the negotiation of how the strike is ultimately resolved, so often a demand in a strike is that everyone who goes out on strike will get their jobs back,” DeVault added.

Striking workers do not receive pay, but many unions pay members from a so-called strike fund so they don’t go entirely unpaid. However, this fund will not be as high as a regular wage.

LawInfo added that strikers can qualify for unemployment in some states, but it is rare because a strike is classified as a voluntary leave. Also, workers are often allowed to keep their benefits, but they might not be available while they are on strike.?

Always check your city and workplace’s rules before engaging in a strike. Also, Erstad said communication with the group you are striking with is vital.

“If the workers are going to strike but it's not necessarily planned in advance or if there's an issue for the strike, there can be complications in whether or not benefits and such will be kept and even if workers will be able to maintain their employment,” Erstad said. “And that can be the importance of having a labor organization and being represented by a union and not just walking out with one or two people on the job.”?

Risks of Strikes

Strikes are a big-risk-big-reward practice.? A walkout can lead to better pay and working conditions if successful. Going unpaid for days or weeks is always a risk, though.?

“A strike is often a financial hit for the workers involved,” DeVault said. “And I think that tells us something about how pressing the issues are that they're striking for if they're willing to risk their wages by going out on strike. It means that they've got things they're really upset about.”

The risk is even higher for economic strikers because they can be replaced at any moment.

“If the employer chooses to hire strikebreakers and replace striking workers, there is nothing the striking workers can do other than raising huge fuss,” DeVault said. “That's the point at which there is a possibility of violence breaking out… You're risking your livelihood and the employer is bringing in people to replace you. You're not going to feel well disposed toward those people. This is a moment of really heightened tension.”

Many experts have attributed the fear of replacement as one of the main reasons for a sharp decline in strikes over the past few decades. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted every work stoppage involving more than 1,000 workers since 1947. Hundreds of strikes occurred each year from the 1940s to the late 1970s, but the figures dropped dramatically in the early 1980s. In the past decade, only seven to 25 large work stoppages have taken place per year.

DeVault said replacing striking employees was never illegal, but it was typically avoided until Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Despite government workers being prohibited from walking off the job, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike in 1981 and Reagan announced he would fire and replace them.

“It had been an assumed norm that strikers would get their jobs back, but now you had the president of the United States saying they would never work for the federal government again,” DeVault said. “And that was sort of a turning point and a message to private employers that if the president can do this, then why can't we? As strikes came up in the early 80s, then you saw more and more employers doing the same thing.”

Another risk during a walkout is miscommunication among the strikers, said Erstad. Ensure your team is on the same page if you plan to strike.

“The bargaining team should be folks that are workers as well who are elected by their co-workers,” Erstad said. “Make sure that people know what's going on and know the ‘why’ of the strike. And not even just the ‘why’ itself, but why things are escalating to that place.”

Strikes in a Post-Pandemic World

Erstad said the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to encourage strikes by revealing inequalities between workers and management.

“The pandemic really exacerbated blatant disrespect that workers are experiencing and being expected to put up with unsafe and inequitable conditions,” Erstad said. “BIPOC workers often are dealing with additional barriers due to structural racism and historic barriers that have been in place.

“I think the COVID-19 pandemic has not necessarily created new dynamics. It's exactly the dynamics that have been in existence for far too long. And we see workers being aware of their power of collective action in ways that I haven't seen in my lifetime.”?

DeVault said workers are in a unique position now with the labor shortage. This is especially true for highly skilled workers like train operators, but even baristas have increased power now.

“The labor market remains very tight – more jobs than workers – and that gives workers a lot of economic power in making demands on their employers,” DeVault said. “If employers can’t find people to fill ‘regular’ jobs, how will they find people to act as strikebreakers?”

Top Takeaways

What to Know About Strikes

• The two types of strikes are economic and unfair labor practice.
• Strikes only occur after failed negotiations and a majority vote of a union in most cases.
• Economic strikers can be permanently replaced, but ULP strikers cannot.
• Strikers are not paid, but can be eligible for unemployment benefits in some states. They also can often keep healthcare and other job benefits.
• Strikers have unique advantages in our current labor shortage.