Sympathy Strikes & the Law: Is Solidarity Legal?

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THE RIGHT TO SYMPATHIZE

Labor law recognizes two exceptions to a ban on sympathy strikes. The first applies if the strike being supported is an unfair labor practice strike, such as a walkout triggered by the employer's refusal to bargain. If workers honor the picket line of a ULP strike, they have the same status as the strikers they are supporting: they cannot be fired or permanently replaced. (Some contracts close this loophole by inserting language that bars unfair labor practice strikes.) The second exception comes from the National Labor Relations Act itself. The law says that a stoppage to avoid an “abnormally dangerous” working condition is not a strike. Avoiding a picket line may meet this standard if pickets have threatened line crossers.
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Teamsters Don’t Cross

Some unions have won the express right to respect picket lines. Article 9 of the Teamsters National Master Freight Agreement says it’s not a violation if an employee “refuses to enter any property involving a primary labor dispute, or refuses to go through or work behind any primary picket line.” Similar language exists in the Teamster contracts with other companies.
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A contract that forces workers to cross the picket lines of fellow employees is a symptom of a weak labor movement. Fighting for language that permits sympathy strikes is necessary to rebuild labor's power.
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FULL ARTICLE
http://labornotes.org/node/1952