Industrial action

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Industrial action is integral to the collective bargaining process. It can be initiated by employers (in the form of a lockout), or by workers through their union, usually in the form of a strike. Industrial action, or the threat of industrial action, is part of the leverage that one side exercises on the other in the negotiation to secure a deal. In this context, it is a mechanism for resolving disputes of interest.

Industrial action is also used to resolve disputes of right.

It often represents the final stage of an industrial dispute between an employer and workers where other measures have failed in securing agreement to a collective trade dispute.

A strike is defined in section 246 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992) as any concerted stoppage of work. Other forms of worker industrial action, short of a complete work stoppage, include:

  1. •

    a ‘go-slow’

  2. •

    work-to-rule

  3. •

    an overtime ban

  4. •

    a call-out ban

The right to take industrial action

Any right to take industrial action is made up of two interrelated components:

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