Causes and trends of strike action in European Union countries

Abstract

In the daily reality of modern polycentric societies, strike action expresses the divergence of contrasting interest and expectations. It is "the morning lunch of Parliamentary Democracy" which the mass media frequently endeavours to make it look or sound frightening, especially if there are some violent and blood clashes related to the dispute. Tpe strike, however, is considered to be the most important source of organized labour in its struggle to win concessions. It is "a planned withholding of labour designed to impose union demands on the employer from the employee or to prevent the employer from imposing his demands on the union". Although, there are multiple economic, social, legal and political interpretations, strike action has been defined as "a temporary stoppage of work by a group of employees in order to express a grievance or enforce a demand". An attempt has been made in this paper to determine the dominant influences of unemployment upon industrial disputes, as well as to trace the causes and trends of strikes in Europen Union countries in recent years. The main source of data is from the LLD's "Yearbook of Labour Statistics 1994". The original source of this same data is mainly drawn by the LL.O. from goverment statistical services of the countries included in the study. For reasons of statistical comparability, the use of sources other than the LLD. (except in certain cases) has been avoided.