| Part of a series on |
| Organized labor |
|---|
 |
A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred in 2017.
| Part of a series on |
| Organized labor |
|---|
| |
A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred in 2017.
A labor strike is a work stoppage, caused by the mass refusal of employees to work, usually in response to employee grievances, such as low pay or poor working conditions. Strikes can also take place to demonstrate solidarity with workers in other workplaces or to pressure governments to change policies.
 |
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 79 work stoppages in the United Kingdom in 2017, with 276,000 working days lost and 33,000 workers involved. This marked a new record for the lowest number of strikes in a single year in the UK since the ONS began keeping records in 1981. [20] 68% of the working days lost were lost in the transport and storage industry. [21] In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked 7 major work stoppages in 2017, the second-lowest since it began keeping records in 1947. [22] In South Africa, the Department of Employment and Labour tracked 132 work stoppages in 2017, an increase of 10 from 2016, involving a total of 125‚000 workers. [23]
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike 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 Canadian Union of Postal Workers is a public-sector trade union representing postal workers including letter carriers, rural and suburban mail carriers, postal clerks, mail handlers and dispatchers, technicians, mechanics and electricians employed at Canada Post as well as private sector workers outside Canada Post. Currently comprising upwards of 50,000 members, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has historically been labeled as militant because of some of the actions undertaken since its inception in 1965 to help guarantee rights to all postal workers. According to former president Jean-Claude Parrot, "We succeeded to get the support of the membership because we earned our credibility with them...we got that reputation [of militancy] because we earned it."
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan, and known as Foxconn Technology Group internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. In 2023, the company's annual revenue reached 6.16 trillion New Taiwan dollars and was ranked 20th in the 2023 Fortune Global 500. It is the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics. While headquartered in Taiwan, the company earns the majority of its revenue from assets in China and is one of the largest employers worldwide. Terry Gou is the company founder and former chairman.
As an act of protest, occupation is a strategy often used by social movements and other forms of collective social action in order to squat and hold public and symbolic spaces, buildings, critical infrastructure such as entrances to train stations, shopping centers, university buildings, squares, and parks. Opposed to a military occupation which attempts to subdue a conquered country, a protest occupation is a means to resist the status quo and advocate a change in public policy. Occupation attempts to use space as an instrument in order to achieve political and economic change, and to construct counter-spaces in which protesters express their desire to participate in the production and re-imagination of urban space. Often, this is connected to the right to the city, which is the right to inhabit and be in the city as well as to redefine the city in ways that challenge the demands of capitalist accumulation. That is to make public spaces more valuable to the citizens in contrast to favoring the interests of corporate and financial capital.
The 2007 Swazi general strike started on 25 July 2007, and lasted 2 days, ending on the 27 July, 2007. It was led by the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, the Swaziland Federation of Labour and the Swaziland National Association of Teachers. They plan to stage a two-hour full stoppage of public life every month until the incumbent absolute monarch Mswati III gives in to their demands: multi-party elections in October 2008, that benefits cease to be taxed and an end to absolute monarchy.
Apple Inc. manufactures most of its products in China through partners like Foxconn. Apple's decision to outsource its manufacturing has received significant criticism, due to allegations of poor working conditions, long work hours, and other labor rights violations. In response, Apple launched its Supplier Responsibility program, which aimed to improve Apple's oversight of supplier partners and enforce its ethics policies. It has also attempted to introduce greater diversification into its supply chain by sourcing products from other countries.
The 2010 Chinese labour unrest was a series of labour disputes, strike actions, and protests in the south of the People's Republic of China that saw striking workers successfully receive higher pay packages.
The Foxconn suicides were a spate of suicides linked to low pay and brutal working conditions at the Foxconn City industrial park in Shenzhen, China, that occurred alongside several additional suicides at various other Foxconn-owned locations and facilities in mainland China. The series of suicides drew media attention, and employment practices at Foxconn—one of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturers—were investigated by several of its customers, including Apple and Hewlett-Packard (HP).
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.
United Voices of the World (UVW) is an independent grassroots trade union, established in London in 2014.
The Jasic incident was a labour dispute in Pingshan District, Shenzhen of the Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China between labour organizers and Chinese authorities that lasted from July to August 2018.
Trade unions have historically been unrecognized by IBM. Since the company's foundation in 1911, it has not recognized any in the United States, despite efforts by workers to establish them from 1970 onward. In Australia, Germany and Italy, several trade unions have limited recognition from IBM. IBM has been able to minimize union membership even in traditional union strongholds in Western Europe.
With over 1 million union members in China, the Foxconn Trade Union is the world's largest trade union, and is also a company union. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., better known as Foxconn, is the largest private employer in China, with 1.4 million employees. In 2006, Foxconn workers established the first trade union in Shenzhen, China.
A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions have occurred in 2022.
A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions have occurred in 2024.
A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred in 2018.
A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred in 1979.
In 1980, a number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred.
In 1986, a number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred.