098 quickie walkout lightning strike
"Short, spontaneous protest strikes undertaken without deliberation to “let off steam” or to protest over relatively minor issues have come to be known as quickie walkouts in the United States 18 and lightning strikes in England19; they rarely last more than a few hours or involve more than a few workers in a plant. This is one of the forms which wildcat strikes may take. They were fairly common in the United States during World War II in situations where major strikes were banned."...
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High scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
U.S. Disney workers win campaign for higher wages, health care, 2008-2011
On 31 January 2008, the Walt Disney corporation's workers represented by the union Unite Here Local 11 found themselves without a labor contract. Workers held meetings with management to discuss new contract plans, but the talks fell through. Most im...
Canadian Quebecois workers general strike for higher wages and job equality, 1972
At its height, the Quebec General Strike in the spring of 1972 was the largest strike in North America’s history. The strike, which involved over 250,000 public and private service workers, was a very important moment in Quebecers’ self-determination...
Peru workers use general strike to gain 8-hour work day, 1919
Male textile factory workers at El Inca factory in Lima, Peru walked off the job in December of 1918 to protest the effects of a law that enacted an eight-hour workday requirement for women and children. The law was intended to protect the rights of ...
Wal-Mart warehouse workers strike to end poor working conditions, Elwood, Illinois, USA, 2012
The Wal-Mart distribution center in Elwood, Illinois, is one of the five largest in the country. Wal-Mart’s goods are imported here, shipped to smaller centers, and then sent to individual stores. However, many people who worked in the distribution c...
East German workers strike to protect wages, 1953
On 15 June 1953, in East Berlin, construction workers on the Stalinallee Avenue began to voice their issues with the SED’s (Socialist Unity Party) new regulations. The SED trade union officials, following mass worker emigration from East Germany, inc...
Emelle residents protest Chemical Waste Management hazardous waste landfill 1978-1995
In 1978, Chemical Waste Management Inc. (CWM), a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. (WMX), bought 300-acres of land near Emelle, Alabama for a hazardous waste landfill. Residents did not have the opportunity to protest the landfill prior to its cons...
U.S. textile workers strike against wage cuts, Passaic, NJ, 1926-1927
A union presence among the 17,000 wool and silk factory workers in and around Passaic, NJ in late 1925 and early 1926 was almost nonexistent. The United Textile Workers (UTW), an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), had tried to organ...
Low scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
East German workers strike to protect wages, 1953
On 15 June 1953, in East Berlin, construction workers on the Stalinallee Avenue began to voice their issues with the SED’s (Socialist Unity Party) new regulations. The SED trade union officials, following mass worker emigration from East Germany, inc...
Emelle residents protest Chemical Waste Management hazardous waste landfill 1978-1995
In 1978, Chemical Waste Management Inc. (CWM), a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc. (WMX), bought 300-acres of land near Emelle, Alabama for a hazardous waste landfill. Residents did not have the opportunity to protest the landfill prior to its cons...
U.S. textile workers strike against wage cuts, Passaic, NJ, 1926-1927
A union presence among the 17,000 wool and silk factory workers in and around Passaic, NJ in late 1925 and early 1926 was almost nonexistent. The United Textile Workers (UTW), an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), had tried to organ...