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School of Management and Labour Studies
Master of Arts in Globalisation and Labour
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Strikes and Protests: What are they, comparatively?
This document is written as a requirement in the partial fulfilment for the award of Master of
Arts Degree in Globalisation and Labour
Lecturer: Dr Srinath Jagannathan
TISS Mumbai
Student: Naaman Kipumbu
M2014GL021
26th
January, 2014
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1.0. Introduction
Industry has lately seen a remarkable and resounding number of strikes and protests from
both the workers and the members of the public. There are a number of reasons that lead
people to take action in many different ways. The two have occurred from ancient days and
writing about them is not a new thing, though I wish to put my personal thought on these two
paradigms. This document will discuss the meaning of these words individually and then a
comparative approach will also be discussed to see how they are connected.
Strikes and protests are seen in almost all situations where there are human beings. Industry
and even religion has not been spared from strikes and protests. They have been differently
recorded at all levels of human habitation; they are present in the informal and formal sectors.
The rich and the poor are entangled in them!
Protests unlike strikes may be done at corporate level, individually, collectively and
otherwise. Strikes on the other hand are more of a collective action. Strikes and protest take
different definitions when they are looked at from the labour point of view or perspective.
In this document, I will try to define, describe features and compare strikes and protests in
general, giving much focus on labour and I will also briefly attach the family in the
discussion just as interludes at certain times, assuredly as an inference base too.
2.0. What is a strike?
In spite of the elaborate machineries that employees and employers and the state have
evolved everywhere to bring about a peaceful settlement of industrial disputes, strikes and
lock outs have not been completely eliminated (Sinha et al 2009). In many instances strikes
look like they are officially adopted methods by employees and employers to resolve their
differences. Accordingly, when employees fail to secure a redressal of their grievances and a
fulfilment of their demands, through peaceful negotiation (collective bargaining), with
employers, withdrawal of their (employees) labour remains as the only option through a
strike. A strike is the strongest weapon in the hands of the employees that may fire or misfire
depending on the weapon handlers (trade union leaders)
With the statements above, a strike can basically be defined as temporal withdrawal of labour
by employees. Sinha et al (2009) defines a strike as a ‘concerted and temporary cessation of
work by workers with a view to furthering or protecting their interest and rights, in general,
and in securing a fulfilment of their specific demands in particular’. McGrath (2011) in his
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book Training for Life and Leadership in Industry defines a strike as ‘temporary stoppage of
work by a group of employees (not necessarily members of a trade union) to express a
grievance, enforce a demand for changes in conditions of employment, obtain recognition, or
resolve a dispute with management’. From the definitions above, it can clearly be seen that a
strike is not permanent in the work environment; it is a temporal withdrawal of labour. This
means that, therefore, when areas of concern are addressed, the strike action is stopped on
one end or when the strike becomes a threat to peace of the community, the organisation or
indeed the country. In that case, the state puts in other measures to stop the escalation of the
strike into other areas of the economy. Strikes are also called industrial disputes
3.0. What are the causes of strike action in the work environment?
Interests and rights the labourers may be to seek to promote and protect may be
multitudinous. For example, they may range from conditions of employment to solidarity for
colleagues within or outside the organisation, from fighting for social security to resisting the
oppressive Multi-National Corporations and from political interests to protection of the
environment. These may be among the purposes of strike action, though primarily it still
remains to bring and pressure upon the employer to commit or desist from committing certain
actions arbitrary that relate conditions of employment.
Causes of strikes are as explained above and there cannot be any other newly found causes of
strike actions. Sinha et al (2009) has indicated that ‘looking for causes strikes means
searching for causes which lead the workers to choose the method of the strike preference to
others, if available. ‘This being the case’ Sinha et al adds, ‘then the only cause of a strike is
that it either no other alternative methods are available, or if available, the workers feel that
the use of the alternatives will not be as be affective as the strike
It must be mentioned that without exception strikes are a very expensive venture to
undertake; there is loss of revenue by the organisation facing this industrial dispute, there is
loss of earning by the employees. An example is the recent strike in the Republic of South
Africa where is estimated that the mine lost over 3.3 million work days were lost and this also
translated into over 6.6 million rand (about $603000) in wages lost by the striking and
protesting workers (City Press 18 September 2013 12:38). Strikes also cause strain and
emotional anguish in both the employee and the family, additionally there is also loss of
income in terms of union contributions from the employees. Sadly, there is loss of
employment and when things turn violent as was the South African case, death and avoidable
innocent and productive labour is lost in cold blood (City Press 18 September 2013 12:38).
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4.0. What role does the family play in these strikes?
The employees are engaged in some form of employment in order to sustain themselves. In
the African and some Asian communities, where extended families are still holding the
families together, the employed family members automatically become ‘breadwinners’ for
the family. This being the case, it may not be wrong to state that the organisation that
employs these people have also indirectly employed the entire families! This therefore,
means that are the income becomes smaller to carter for the large family, coupled with
borrowing from financial institutions, strikes can be started at the slightly misjudgement by
management. If issues of collective bargaining are not well handled, it becomes relative easy
for the employees to revolt. What roles then do the members of the family play?
As it can be seen from the above statement, the family is greatly affected as monthly income
becomes smaller to go round the month. Family members through their negative talk about
the organisations in comparison with other organisations that they may not even information
on may lead to strikes and agitations. Families are the providers of comfort, social solidarity
and some form of social security, and as such, they have an unprecedented approach which is
unpredictable in many instances.
5.0. What is the prevention of strikes?
Strikes can result in loss of productivity, angry customers, financial losses, injury, damage to
property and soured employee relations and loss of income to both the trade unions and the
employees. On more adverse level, loss of employment cannot be overruled. It is because of
these adverse repercussions that strikes need to be prevented at all costs. It is gratifying to
note that most of the strikes occur in situations which are preventable. Strikes are
preventable! According to FSP Business the following points can help in preventing strikes:
i. Be proactive in addressing disputes and grievances
Developing an agreed good communication policy and procedures; this helps the employees
in approaching management and engage them on issues before certain extreme actions are
taken, like taking strike action.
ii. Speed, Skill and Scale
As soon as employees raise certain issues, they must be attended to with caution but with
speed, skill and of measurable scale. This gives confidence to the employees especially when
their plights are attended to in the shortest possible time. It may not necessarily mean the
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results should be positive towards the employees, but just that attempt, speaks volumes as it
motivates the employees as their management is considered a caring one.
Creation of an environment that allows for compromise from both management and the
labourers/employees, ensuring that everyone's point of view is heard and understood and
explained upon being considered.
iii. Open door policy:
Trade unions are the workers representatives and they have a great following drawn from the
workers/employees and their families as they are indirectly employed as well. Having an
open door policy with workers’ representatives to discuss issues of concern before resorting
to strike action is healthy in any organisation. It is through such fora that many other matters
can be addressed and sorted out and a permanent approach put in place. This policy approach
establishes a relationship of trust between management and the labourers/employees.
It is worth mentioning that management’s willingness in trying to address the workers
concerns leads to a very harmonious work environment full of trust and dialogue in sorting
out issues instead of resorting to strike action. Once these are implemented, the organisation
gets immunity off strike action!
6.0. What are the consequences of strikes?
In many countries, strike action is still illegal. According to BIS1 (2010), ‘employees who
take industrial action will know that there may be damaging financial consequences for them,
since they are unlikely to receive any pay if they withdraw their labour. They should also be
aware that they are putting their jobs at risk.
An employer may take various measures, up to and including dismissal, against any
employee who takes industrial action. An employee who is dismissed by his employer while
taking industrial action may lose his right to claim unfair dismissal.’ Dismissed employees
lose income which is not only meant for themselves but also for the entire extended families.
In as much as withdrawal of labour may seem to be based on personal conviction of being
exploited, it is done collectively in many cases. This gives strength to the workers by
standing together…united we stand divided we fall. During strikes, organisations lose
significant amounts of money in business, workers and trade unions also lose money in terms
of salaries and membership subscriptions. This is against the bigger loss of customers’ trust
1 BIS Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Industrial Action and Law
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and possible isolation. The way forward is to look at ways and means of preventing these
strikes mainly through dialogue, good communication policy and developing an open door
policy which is ALL embracing and being approachable. What is the way forward?
7.0. What is a protest?
The Black Law’s dictionary defines a protest as ‘a formal declaration made by a person
interested or concerned in some act about to be done, or already performed, and in relation
thereto, whereby he expresses his dissent or disapproval, or affirms the act to be done
against his will or convictions, the object being generally to save some right which would be
lost to him if his implied assent could be made out, or to exonerate himself from some
responsibility which would attach to him unless he expressly negatived his assent to or
voluntary participation in the act.’ Additionally, a protest can basically be defined as when
disagreement is displayed to show unhappiness for something that may not be pleasant, for
example, a new law is being passed, but it is not liked, you protest. Another example is the
planned trip of Prime Minister Modi to the United Kingdom in February, 2015, he will face
protests from the Scottish trade unions over the ‘AUCTION’ of India and the Bhopal
unresolved matters. This is a protest!
Unlike strikes, a protest can be done individually as the definition is more in a singular
perspective. ‘Protests have taken places mainly on a broader perspective like district, state
and at national levels. In the recent past, North Africa has seen the worst protests that even
led to ousting President of Libya and Egypt Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak
respectively. These were strikes that were violent as they last. In Libya, the country has not
been stable since. It is divided and a surge of a civil war.
Revolution is a big change, for example, trying to change the government; as stated above,
the Muslim Brotherhood succeeded in Egypt when they were demanding democracy in the
country, that was a revolution, though a counter revolution worked against them when their
President was ousted arrested and replaced in an election. He still remains in prison up this
present day.
I have taken particular interest in the many protests Egypt has had in the recent times.
Currently (today 25/01/2015) Egypt has protests in the famous Tahrir Square with protesters
protesting against the dropping of all charges against the former head of state His Excellence
Honsi Mubarak. In 2011, during protests that led to his (Mubarak) ousting the protesters were
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camped in the Tahrir square for days, weeks and months. Food supplies and medical facilities
were provided in the square. The Muslim Brotherhood organised these protests so well that
the protester never lacked the basic social enmities; this encouraged the protests to continue
until the President was finally overthrown by the military. Well-coordinated mass protests are
able to draw results on a larger scale just as strikes also get results on organisational level.
8.0. What are the causes of protests?
Protests happen always in different countries. Protests, unlike strikes which are
labourer/worker based cut across a broader and expansive cross section of life. Protest as they
are in different countries at different levels also, cannot be the same. Unless they are based on
solidarity, like environmental concerns or wild life protection etc. it is expected that these
protests varied. South Africa, Ukraine, France, India and Zambia are not expected to have
protests based on the same reasons, unless as it is stated above, they are based on solidarity.
Where a strike may focus on improvement of conditions of employment, a protest may focus
on fulfilment of certain differentiated things. There can be protest against failure to provide
security, escalating rate of rape, unemployment or report abuse of workers by the employer,
especially women.
Protests can also be on the much larger scale where nations protest against each other. This
has not been my area of interest in this document. I will cover it in the next document as
things keep going well with me at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
9.0. What is the prevention of protests?
It must be mentioned that protests are not easy to prevent. The reasons may be many, but one
of the most important is that they are normally a reaction to some stimuli. For as long as there
is not stimulus, it is expected that protests are inhibited.
Normally, protests are against the state machinations. Therefore, it is the state that has the key
to locking out these protests. As Offe (1991) records, ‘Post-communist transitions are ‘a
Pandora’s Box full of paradoxes, in the face of which every ‘theory’ or, for that matter,
rational strategy of the transition must fail.” This is an indication that protests are not easy to
handle.
National legislations, international Bill of Rights, Human Rights all have issues that need to
be understood regarding protests.
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10.0. What are the consequences of protests?
Protests have immense consequences. They range from property distraction, economical
losses and when the reach their last, death is recorded not in small numbers, but life is lost in
great numbers. Egypt and Ukraine are examples of fresh examples among the many other
areas. The way forward for protest prevention is running open institutions that are open to
criticism, transparent to information access and a society must be happy. Is this achievable?
Is it possible to have all the citizens of a particular country happy with ALL that the leaders
do, when their interests are different? A critical look at the India’s constitution, the preamble
states in part…’We the people of India’, but is it holistically embracing? I may not be very
competent to debate this matter, and I leave it to others do that work for me.
11.0. Strikes and protests: A comparative analysis
Both strikes and protests are a form of disruption of continuous processes in the in
organisation and the governance system of particular country. They are both counter
economic advancement in the negative perspective, but they are needed to make the leaders
wake up and do their work in conformity to the requirements of the governed. Marina
Ottaway, a Senior Associate, for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace writes in her
journal on Iraq that ‘Without Consensus, Democracy Is Not the Answer.’ This means,
therefore, that democracy in this perspective is not a matter of the majority but based on
consensus.
12.0. Conclusion
In as much as strikes and protests are concerned, employees and other members of the
communities and countries do not just resort to taking these seemingly infamous actions.
There are things or issues that invoke them to go in the certain direction. It takes ‘two to
tangle’ as the old English adage says; there is ALWAYS a pushing and pulling in both the
actions. Where there are not immediate and swift actions by the managers at both levels, and
if left unchecked and unattended to, they lead to unprecedented great measure of economic
damage. The damage that is done is not easy to mend, and it is at great cost that the post
effects are corrected. Both the protesters and the opposing factions must make it a point that
matters are EXHAUSTIVELY resolved at all levels where either strikes or protests are
predicted or have the potential to occur.
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13.0. References
1. Claus Offe 1991 Preventing Protests Divide and Pacify as Political Strategy
2. Marina Ottaway, Carnegie Endowment, 2005. Policy Brief
3. McGrath S J, 2011: Training for Life and Leadership in Industry
4. Sinha P R, Indhu Bala Sinha and Seema Priyadarshini Shekar, 2009: Industrial
Relations, Trade Unions and Labour Legislation
5. Journal BIS 2010 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Industrial Action
and Law
6. New Dawn Reports Work Stoppage at Dalny Mine, Zimbabwe. Toronto, Ontario,
January 16, 2013, New Dawn Mining Corp. (TSX: ND)
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