What Is an Economic Strike?

Strike is a concept lacking a recognized connotation. Generally speaking, a strike refers to the action of a considerable number of workers to systematically suspend labor obligations. However, this concept is only a factual description of a strike action, and it is difficult to study the issue of strike. The basic category, therefore, needs to be further divided into political strikes and economic strikes: Political strikes usually refer to the planned suspension of work against state agencies for the purpose of achieving specific political claims; accordingly, economic strikes, also known as narrow strikes or labor A legal strike usually refers to "the majority of employees who work in concert to suspend labor for the purpose of maintaining and improving working conditions or obtaining other economic benefits."

Economic strike

Economic strike refers to the employment of a certain number of employees who collectively stop working for a certain period of time or even prevent others from working, in order to force employers to make concessions on matters such as compensation and benefits, safety and working conditions in labor contracts. . Economic strikes are the most important means of economic struggle.

The purpose of economic strikes is to exert pressure to force employers to make concessions on matters such as labor compensation, working hours, rest and vacation, labor safety and health, insurance benefits, etc. in labor contracts. By its nature, it is caused by the employer's infringement of the interests of employees.

The basic difference between economic strikes and improper labor strikes is that the former occurs because of disputes over labor contract issues, while the latter occurs for the struggle of workers' rights outside the labor contract. But the two also have an interconnected side, and economic strikes may also translate into strikes involving improper labor practices. For example, when an employer engages in improper labor after hiring an employee for an economic strike refusing to negotiate with a union and firing a striker an economic strike translates into an improper labor strike. Therefore, both types of strike purposes should be recognized in our country, and strikes held for other purposes, such as political strikes and religious strikes, should be excluded.

Economic strikes are an important means for workers to collectively suspend the supply of labor and force employers to make concessions to maintain or improve the economic conditions of the workforce. They have experienced complex and tortuous processes that are prohibited by laws and restricted to become legal rights and basic human rights in national constitutions and international conventions. This is consistent with the historical stage of the formation and development of human rights. "In the era when modern democracy began to rule the world, basic human rights all mean the right to freedom", and this right to freedom is a basic human right corresponding to the "night police state" and "free state" national outlook, emphasizing that the state has Negative obligation not to infringe on the right to freedom and to prevent infringement, but the fast-growing capitalist society has gradually produced many social ills that cannot be overcome by the self-regulatory mechanism, which seriously endangers its own operation. Therefore, the country abandons traditional non-interventionism and moves towards "Social state" and "welfare state", the concept of rights has also changed. The new social right emphasizes that the state must fulfill its active obligations to fully guarantee the realization of various socio-economic and cultural rights. The core of social rights is the right to existence, that is, to rely on the active intervention of the state to realize the right of people to "live like humans". Work is the basic activity of the survival of citizens. Therefore, the right to work is an extension and embodiment of the right to life, and it is also a social right. important content.

Article 42 (1) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China stipulates: "Citizens of the People's Republic of China have the right and obligation to work", and Articles 2, 3, 4 and 43 of this article further specify that the state shall The realization of the right to work rest should fulfill positive obligations. However, the structure of rights and obligations is not scientific and reasonable, because in the legislative experience of various countries, there are basically two ways to protect the right to labor, which can be taken at will. The first way is to unite workers, organize trade unions, engage in collective bargaining with employers, enter into group agreements, and determine the rights and obligations between each other. The second way is to pass legislation to stipulate the rights and obligations between each other and protect the workers' rights and obligations. Rights and interests, what kind of approach a country (region) takes, is affected by its social, philosophical, industrial and economic development, and political system. China's labor legislation is overly focused on the latter, that is, in the form of constitutionally authorized legislation, national labor regulations specify labor protection standards such as wages, working hours, vacations, benefits and safety and health, and sanctions are imposed on violators. The main disadvantage of this method is that uniform legal standards obliterate the gap between industries and regions, and it is difficult to reflect the actual situation of specific enterprises. In addition, excessive government intervention in the labor market may be formed, thereby distorting supply and demand relations and price mechanisms. Comparatively speaking, the latter is more reflected in the marketization of labor relations, but requires the law and even the Constitution to confirm and protect the basic labor rights of workers, that is, workers' right to solidarity, collective bargaining, and collective action. Among the three rights of labor, the right to collective action mainly means that the right to economic strike is the key. Only when a single vulnerable worker comes together and is backed by the right to strike, can a fair and reasonable agreement be reached with an economically and politically strong employer. Therefore, unlike political strikes, the right to strike derived from economic strikes should be one of the constitutional social rights.