Does going on strike really work?

From TVNZ to IKEA, Farmers staff to firefighters, a large number of workers have opted to walk off the job in strike action recently.

In the past three months there have been more than 10 instances of prominent strikes. But does striking work?

Anita Rosentreter, deputy secretary of Workers First Union, said it was often used as a last resort when negotiations were not progressing.

"It's pretty much the most effective thing we can do, the most effective tool in the toolbox."

But she said the impact would vary depending on how many members were involved.

"If you have hardly any members and they've got heaps of people who are working through regardless, then that's not going to be very effective. But if you've got enough people doing it to either shut the place down or to hamper things such that they can't continue operations as usual, then it is very, very effective.

"When you're in bargaining, there's a degree to which you're relying on the other side seeing your point of view, understanding where you're coming from, and compromising on their position to sort of meet you. And obviously, you compromise as well. But there are many circumstances in which we just can't get employers to agree to a very reasonable claim from members. And so, it's putting pressure on them in terms of, 'if we remove our labour or if we withdraw our labour, you'll see just how important we are to the operation'."

She said it had to be done carefully because there was a legal framework that must be followed. "We have to jump through a bunch of hoops to make sure it's not an unlawful strike action because if it is unlawful there's a great risk to the union and to members. We make sure we do everything by the book."

Sometimes, it was possible to go through mediation with a service such as that provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment beforehand, and avoid the need for a strike.

"It's quite common that you might go to mediation before you go out on strike. But in saying that, it's not a requirement and it's not always the case because the wait list for getting into mediation is actually really long. It didn't used to be so bad.

"In some circumstances, that's just not plausible when workers are trying to negotiate a pay rise in a cost of living crisis, to wait around for some mediator who ultimately doesn't have any actual authority to make a ruling or anything like that."

Victoria University professor Jim McAloon said it was hard to say exactly how effective strikes were because it was not possible to know what would have happened without one.

"My impression is that often a strike, or at least a strike notice, does move negotiations along. So, yes, often it is effective and that's been the case in some recent examples as well as perhaps more particularly, back in the 1970s, 1980s. All sorts of things need to be there for strikes to be effective.

"But they are an important part of the negotiating process as a serious step. I don't imagine any union or group of workers takes that step lightly. I know my own Tertiary Education Union doesn't, but there is a place for it if necessary."

He said some recent strikes had made progress quite quickly.

"IDEA, which is a service organisation for developmentally disabled … in 2020, the support workers and admin staff there had 11 months of bargaining, and that involved a number of strikes. So that's an example, I think, of how in strike action unions often need to be in there for the long haul. And that means commitment among members. It's not quick strike, then back to negotiations. Often it can drag on.

"Sometimes too, unions will issue further strike notices, and they're in the background while mediation continues and produces a result. And that was the case, for example, in 2018 with Air New Zealand engineer and logistics workers. They were in negotiation for some months, too. Strike notices for just before Christmas might have concentrated the mind of the employer. It's a weapon that can be used strategically in that sense."

He said in the 1970s and 1980s, strike action was in the context of a mass union movement, and compulsory membership, and it could make progress more quickly. "Now a much longer campaign is required. That means that the union, the workers need to be prepared for that and stick with it."

He said strike action now was less common than it had been then.

"The other thing that I think distinguishes it from, and this is partly because of the change in legal definitions, in the 1970s, 1980s, a strike was ceasing work for usually at least a day, sometimes as many, as much as a number of weeks in the case of some big ones. Now, any sort of limitation of normal duties is defined as a strike. And so that might be a few hours away from work, it might be refusing to do particular parts of the job as normal."

At Otago University, associate professor Lynnair Sheridan said research showed that an employer's relative power, particularly with relation to its ability to withstand reputational or financial pressure, was a key factor in determining whether collective action such as strikes would turn into tangible gains for workers.

"There may also be an interesting distinction between negotiating with government entities - such as Te Whatu Ora - and private or independent employers. I wonder whether employees in the public sector are sometimes more understanding of the constraints associated with government budgets and competing funding priorities, potentially influencing both their bargaining strategies and expectations of outcomes.

"Indeed, the concept of good faith could also be explored at multiple levels in the New Zealand context. For example, how should good-faith bargaining operate when an employer argues that genuine fiscal constraints - particularly those of government - prevent a wage increase? At what point, if ever, might continued employee demands be considered unreasonable, and conversely, to what extent should an employer be expected to demonstrate that its claimed financial constraints are genuine rather than simply a matter of competing priorities? There is, of course, substantial evidence from economists and others that collective bargaining generally contributes to higher wages."

Economist Cameron Bagrie said the right to strike was fundamental when bargaining did not reach a resolution but it should be a last straw because it could create significant disruption.

"But sometimes striking can have unintended consequences such as losing your social license or confidence of people, especially in public sector roles. Examples here are the firefighters and teachers. Remember the strikes we used to see from airline staff at critical holiday points or Cook Strait ferries?"

Rosentreter said customers could be frustrated or impatient which would add to the pressure on workers but sometimes they could be a great source of support, too.

"Often you will find that members of the public actually support the object of a strike and are willing to communicate that to the employer and put up with a little bit of inconvenience because they recognise that the workers at their local IKEA or whatever are not being paid enough and working hard and deserve more."

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