106 industry strike
"An industry strike is “a suspension of all the establishments of an industry (e.g., mining, printing, etc.) of a local or other area.” 55 Local and regional industry strikes have occurred frequently. Examples include: the strike in 1902 of the United Mine Workers against the operators of the “anthracite monopoly” in eastern Pennsylvania56; the strike in 1912 of textile workers employed by several companies in Lawrence, Massachusetts, led by the Industrial Workers of the World57; the dockworkers’ strike in June-July 1959, led by several unions, in Colombo, Ceylon58;"...
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High scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Ahmedabad textile laborers win strike for economic justice, 1918
A heavy monsoon season had destroyed agricultural crops and led to a plague epidemic claiming nearly 10 percent of the population of Ahmedabad in 1917. During the period of intense plague outbreak from August 1917 to January 1918, the workers of the ...
Spanish coal miners challenge Franco dictatorship, 1962
The strikes in April and May of 1962 in Asturias (the coal mining center of Spain) were executed by the miners of Asturias and were a direct challenge to General Francisco Franco’s regime. Although the mines were privately owned and operated, the sta...
Indigenous Gurindji win land rights in Australia (Wave Hill Walk Off) 1966-1975
On August 23rd, 1966, the workers of the Wave Hill Station in Northern Territory, Australia, participated in a walk off led by Vincent Lingiari. The workers felt oppressed by the low wages, poor working and living conditions they received at the Wave...
Kansas miners strike and women march for industrial freedom, 1921-22
In the early twentieth century, Kansas was the third largest coal producing state in the United States, with more than 8,000 unionized miners concentrated in the two southwestern counties of Crawford and Cherokee. In January 1920, the Kansas legislat...
Lawrence, MA factory workers strike "for Bread and Roses," U.S. 1912
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men, For they are women's children, and we mother them again. Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses! - James Opp...
Polish shipyard workers' initiate regime change, 1970-71
In the face of a stagnating post-war economy, Polish Communist leader Władysław Gomułka, the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), decided to end government subsidies for food and other everyday items in late 1970. Although the ...
Cubans general strike to overthrow president, 1933
For two years prior to this campaign there was a violent struggle to oust dictator Gerardo Machado: running gun battles, bombings, political assassinations. The leading violent group agreed to a ceasefire in July 1933 to allow for mediation, but smal...
Cameroonian transport workers strike in protest of gas price, 2008
On 25 February 2008, Cameroonian workers in the Syndicate of Transportation and the Urban Transportation Union formally began a strike to reduce the cost of gasoline. On the morning of the 25th, taxi drivers, bus operators, and affiliated workers too...
Saskatchewan coal miners win strike for better working conditions, 1931
In 1931, many people across Canada were struggling to survive through the Depression. In Bienfait, Saskatchewan, Canada, coal miners were facing the same struggles. The price of coal was lower than it had been in recent years, and mine workers were f...
Senegalese workers general strike for increased wages, 1945-1946
Beginning in the year 1944, French West Africa experienced economic difficulties. Prices continued to augment, while salaries remained the same. This was complicated by the fact that insufficient sales (because of the poor salaries) also affected the...
Low scoring campaigns using this method
Historical cases from the Nonviolent Action Database that used this method
Alabama Inmates in the U.S. Strike for Better Prison Conditions, 2022
In December 2020, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Alabama for unconstitutional conditions in the state’s prisons, alleging that the state “fails to provide adequate protection from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and pris...
Shanghai truck drivers strike to lower trucking fees, 2011
In 2011, Chinese Truckers in Shanghai became fed up with the increase in prices and decrease in profits they were making as professional truck drivers. Truckers were frustrated not only with the small fees and high oil prices, but also with the syste...
Belgians protest austerity measures, 2011-2012
On 2 December 2011, tens of thousands of Belgian citizens took to the streets in the capital, Brussels, to protest the austerity measures taken by the then-incoming government. The new socialist prime minister was going to be sworn in the week after ...
Bermudian hotel workers walkout to demand compensation for tips, 1994
On January 14 1993, the Essential Industries Dispute Settlement Board (EIDSB) agreed to a ruling regarding a dispute between Bermudian hotel workers and hoteliers. Hotel workers, represented by the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU), claimed that they we...
British printers strike for their jobs, unions (Wapping Dispute), 1986-1987
By 1986, Australian Rupert Murdoch was already well on his way to becoming the head of what would be the world’s largest news conglomerate, News International. His meteoric rise to the top, however, clashed with a centuries-old printing tradition in ...
Manchester workers campaign for economic equality and political representation (Peterloo Massacre), 1817-1820
The economic plight of the people of Manchester in the early eighteenth century was rooted in three major historical developments: the Industrial Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Corn Laws of 1804. The first solidified an enormous and conspic...
New Zealand waterfront workers strike for better wages and shorter hours, 1951
Between February and July of 1951, up to 22,000 waterfront workers (wharfies) in New Zealand struck for better pay and shorter workings hours.\n\nDuring World War II, the New Zealand government played a much larger role in peoples’ lives than it ever...
Philadelphia transit workers strike against negro workers, 1944
During the first week of August 1944, employees of the Philadelphia Transit Company (PTC) effectively shut down the city's transit system, defying both the federal government and their own union. The strike, which lasted for six days and halted much ...
South Korean Railway Workers Union resist creation of a new affiliate rail company, 2013
The South Korean railway strike began when Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) revealed plans to establish a new affiliate rail company to manage the bullet train line from Suseo to Pyeongtaek. The Korean Railway Workers Union (KRWU) claimed that thi...
Spanish workers strike in Asturian mines, 1963
The Asturian strikes that occurred in the summer of 1963 were the second major challenge to the Franco dictatorship over the span of one year. The first challenge had occurred in the spring of 1962 (see “Spanish coal miners challenge Franco dictators...