What Is an Unofficial Strike?
Let me explain what an unofficial strike really is. It's a work stoppage carried out by union members without the backing of their union, and it doesn't follow the legal steps required for a proper strike. If you're a worker involved in one of these, you won't have much legal protection if your employer decides to fire you, and you can forget about getting strike pay. People also call this a wildcat strike or an unofficial industrial action.
Key Takeaways
- An unofficial strike is a strike that is not sanctioned by a recognized union or approved under relevant labor relations law.
- Unofficial strikes are also known as wildcat strikes, due to their unapproved nature.
- Unofficial strikes can be especially risky; both for workers (who do not get the normal legal protections) and employers (who can face increased disruption to business).
- Throughout history, unofficial strikes have devolved from official strikes or evolved into official strikes. Many have met with success.
Understanding an Unofficial Strike
In the United States, you need to know that an unofficial strike is illegal under the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and courts have ruled that employers can fire employees who take part in them. However, workers do have the right to ask the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to end their relationship with their labor union if they believe the union isn't representing their interests properly. Once that happens, any strike they organize afterward is technically unofficial but not illegal, because it resolves the conflict between sections 7 and 9(a) of the NLRA.
Causes of an Unofficial Strike
Unofficial strikes happen when workers bypass their own union and act on their own. This can stem from sudden incidents or conditions that spark immediate anger, prompting workers to react before the usual union processes kick in. Workers might also strike against their union leadership if they feel the union is failing them, perhaps by being too cozy with management or influenced by outside forces. Or it could be as simple as the union disagreeing with the workers' demands for fair wages or better practices and refusing to back them.
For businesses, these strikes are particularly troublesome because they come without warning, unlike the more predictable steps in regulated labor relations under the NLRA and other laws. An unexpected strike can cause instant, severe problems for the business, its partners, and customers—especially in today's world of just-in-time supply chains. Given their extralegal status and the emotional intensity often involved, unofficial strikes can also heighten the risk of violence and damage to property, aimed at the business, its managers, or workers who aren't striking.
Real-World Examples of Unofficial Strikes
Take the West Virginia teachers' strike in 2018 as a key example. Teachers there refused to go back to classrooms until they got higher wages and better healthcare benefits. It began as an official strike but turned unofficial when it lost union leadership support. Even so, it succeeded and sparked similar unofficial teachers' strikes in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arizona.
Other notable wildcat strikes started unofficial but later picked up union support to become official. For instance, the 1974 Baltimore municipal strike saw workers demanding better conditions and wages, and the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike involved black workers fighting for fair pay and safety in a segregated city. The Memphis one tied into the Civil Rights movement, attracting figures like Martin Luther King, Jr.
On a global scale, one of the most famous was in France in May 1968. Unofficial strikes spread nationwide, forcing President Charles de Gaulle to briefly leave the country and halting the economy and government. This marked the first time an unofficial strike affected an entire nation.
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