Industrial action can take a variety of forms, but the common characteristic of all of them is that workers are acting together in order to put pressure on their employer. Commonly, the aim is to secure the employer's agreement to the employees' claim for improved terms and conditions or to persuade the employer to accept the merits of the employees' collective grievance.
Industrial action can range from minor restrictions on the work that employees are prepared to do through to complete and prolonged stoppages of work. The following are examples of industrial action:
- A 'go slow', where employees deliberately reduce their productivity.
- A 'work to rule', where employees do no more than the minimum required of them under the express terms of their contract.
- An overtime ban, where employees refuse to undertake overtime working, whether or not they are obliged to work overtime under their contract.
- 'Blacking', which entails employees refusing to work with particular customers, suppliers, articles, machines or people.
- Picketing, which involves workers standing outside a particular location, usually a workplace, in order to publicise their case, often with the aim of dissuading their fellow employees or the employees of suppliers or customers from entering.
- Strike action, which involves a complete withdrawal of labour. It can be a continuous stoppage that lasts for days or weeks, or a periodic stoppage, where employees strike for an hour or a day in certain weeks.
A mass meeting may amount to industrial action if it is held in order to disrupt the employer's business or to put pressure on the employer by demonstrating support for the union's position in a dispute. It is important to bear in mind, however, that employees have the right to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to carry out union activities (time off for union activities ) and the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds that they have taken part in union activities at an appropriate time (discrimination on trade union grounds). Union activities do not include taking part in industrial action, but they can include organising or campaigning for it. In practice, it may be difficult to establish whether a meeting amounts to industrial action or a union activity. Employers may therefore wish to seek advice from their Association before taking action in response to the holding of a mass meeting.
Lock-outs
There is one form of industrial action that is taken by employers rather than workers. An employer that wishes to bring pressure to bear on its workers to accept certain working conditions or practices may decide to close the workplace or suspend them from work until they agree. This is termed a lock-out.