Editing Strike action (section)

==Strikebreakers==
{{Main|Strikebreaker}}
[[File:New York garbage cart being stoned.jpg|thumb|A strikebreaking driver and cart being stoned during sanitation worker strike. [[New York City]], 1911.]]

A ''strikebreaker'' (sometimes derogatorily called a ''scab'', ''blackleg'', or ''knobstick'') is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the [[trade union]] dispute, but rather hired after or during the strike to keep the organization running. "Strikebreakers" may also refer to workers (union members or not) who cross [[picketing (protest)|picket line]]s to work.

Irwin, Jones, McGovern (2008){{Full citation needed|date=March 2021}} believe that the term "scab" is part of a larger metaphor involving strikes. They argue that the picket line is symbolic of a wound and those who break its borders to return to work are the scabs who bond that wound. Others have argued that the word is not a part of a larger metaphor but, rather, was an old-fashioned English insult whose meaning narrowed over time.

"Blackleg" is an older word and is found in the 19th-century folk song "[[Blackleg Miner]]" which originated in [[Northumberland]]. The term does not necessarily owe its origins to this tune of unknown origin.

[[File:Chicago Tribune 1986 strikebreakers.jpg|thumb|Strike breakers, ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' strike, 1986, [[Chicago]], Illinois]]

===Union strikebreaking===
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The concept of ''union strikebreaking'' or ''union scabbing'' refers to any circumstance in which union workers themselves cross picket lines to work.

Unionized workers are sometimes required to cross the picket lines established by other unions due to their organizations having signed contracts which include no-strike clauses. The no-strike clause typically requires that members of the union not conduct any strike action for the duration of the contract; such actions are called ''sympathy'' or ''secondary strikes''. Members who honor the picket line in spite of the contract frequently face discipline, for their action may be viewed as a violation of provisions of the contract.

Therefore, any union conducting a strike action typically seeks to include a provision of amnesty for all who honored the picket line in the agreement that settles the strike. No-strike clauses may also prevent unionized workers from engaging in solidarity actions for other workers even when no picket line is crossed. For example, striking workers in manufacturing or mining produce a product which must be transported. In a situation where the factory or mine owners have replaced the strikers, unionized transport workers may feel inclined to refuse to haul any product that is produced by strikebreakers, yet their own contract obligates them to do so.

Historically the practice of union strikebreaking has been a contentious issue in the union movement, and a point of contention between adherents of different union philosophies. For example, supporters of [[industrial unions]], which have sought to organize entire workplaces without regard to individual skills, have criticized [[craft unions]] for organizing workplaces into separate unions according to skill, a circumstance that makes union strikebreaking more common. Union strikebreaking is not unique to craft unions.