Reasons of Latest Strike Actions
Strike can be defined as work stoppage that means concerted refusal or employees to do work that their employer has assigned to them so as to force the employer to grant certain demanded concessions such as, increased wages or improved employment condition1 but, work stoppage is generally undesirable option for both employees and employers. The reasons for that employee are not paid and employers lose productivity when they go on strike. To avoid industrial action,’’ There are likely to be formal arrangements for resolving disputes, usually involving your trade union. It is generally good practice to exhaust the steps in any dispute resolution arrangements before industrial action is taken. Sometimes it may be sensible to bring in outside help. Advisors from Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) can help employers and trade unions to resolve disputes in a number of different ways2
On the other hands, industrial action can be in different forms such as, slow-down strike, sickout and wildcat strike. Labor Laws issue industrial action in terms of legality. Every country around the world, have different strike laws. Whilst some countries such as France or Spain have a weak strike laws, countries such as, Germany, US. and Japan have tougher strike laws. The UK could be placed in between these countries. ‘’The employment relations legislation of the 1980s and 1990s has restricted the definition of what constitutes lawful industrial action and has make it more difficult for workers to take industrial action as a result of balloting procedures and threats concerning the use of injunction by employers’’. (Rose, E, 2008, pp456) Therefore, it does not necessarily show that legislation make workers less willing to take industrial action. Recently industrial actions have taken place all over the United Kingdom. Thus, there are other
References: 1-Thefreedictionary, “definition of strike” http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Strike last accessed 8th Marhc 2012 2-DirectGov. (16/02/2012). Industrial action and trade unions. Available: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/employment/tradeunions/dg_10031235. Last accessed 10th March 2012 3- BBC. (01/12/2011). Public sector strike rallies held across UK. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15953806. Last accessed 8th March 2012 4-BBC. (06/12/2009). British Airways cabin crew vote for Christmas strike. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8411214.stm. Last accessed 11th March 2012 5-Lou. (13.06.2010). Foxconn suicides and Honda strike in China: Call for Asian workers solidarity. Available: http://gatheringforces.org/2010/06/13/foxconn-suicides-and-honda-strike-in-china-call-for-asian-workers-solidarity/. Last accessed 10th March 2012 Rose, E. (2008). Employment Relations. 3rd ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. 456.