How Do You Strike For A Social Issue Without Getting In Trouble At Work?

This morning, the biggest climate strike in history began around the world. Millions of people took to the streets to protest global ignorance of the climate crisis with protestors in London already being arrested for breaching public-order conditions.

The climate strike initially started as a youth movement, encouraged by Greta Thunberg, however, after calls for everyone to join, people of all ages have walked out of school and employment to take part in the protest.

But for many of us, striking for the climate crisis seems unthinkable. Not because it’s not a gravely important issue, but because we have no idea how to strike for a social issue. It’s complicated enough striking for industrial action(that is, when the majority of employees have a grievance with their employer) but to strike for something outside of that – many of us wouldn’t even know where to start without getting in trouble at work.

Because, thanks to Margaret Thatcher, laws around strike action in the UK are extreme. According to Employment Law Watch, ‘there is no right to strike’ in the UK and calling one is ‘in principle unlawful as it amounts to inducing employees to breach their contracts of employment’. It is therefore described as a ‘privilege’, not a right.

However, there are a bunch of rules strike action must follow to be legally immune. For industrial action, it must be about a trade dispute between the workers and employers, the result of a properly organised ballot and can only occur if the employer has been given detailed notice seven days prior.

Typically, this means strikes are organised by trade unions that actually understand all of the rules that must be followed for a strike to be legal. But, non-union members have the same rights as union members as long as they take part in legal, official industrial action. Which is useful to know given that only 26% of UK employees are union members.

This strike however, is not industrial action at all – it’s a social strike. So what rights do workers have to even take part? Well, none – which is unsurprising given that we don’t even have the legal right to strike against industrial action. What it does mean though, is that striking for climate change would involve taking some all-important holiday time.

‘Someone wanting to take part in the Climate Strike would have to request this as holiday, as it wouldn’t constitute a workplace dispute,’ says HR Advisor Kyle Taylor. ‘Otherwise, they would be classed as Absent Without Leave (AWOL)’

Going AWOL can be grounds for disciplinary action, however it is at the discretion of your employer how serious they take the incident. For example, you may simply not be paid for the day’s work or it could go on your record – it’s not typically grounds for dismissal.

But when it comes to striking for a big protest like this, there’s an extra layer of complexity to consider: what actually happens during the strike?

‘The person striking would need to be careful not to bring the company into disrepute,’ Kylie warns, ‘so how they act during the strike, if they get arrested for disruptive behaviour. However, they would be safe if there was no link back to the company they work for.’

That’s not all – because bringing your company into disrepute also depends on who you work for and what they stand for. For example, striking when you work at a company that is known to be a big contributor to the climate crisis could be seen as a protest against your own employer.

‘If you work for BP, for example, you might bring the company into disrepute whereas if you work for a green company, you’d be pretty safe,’ Kyle says. So where does it end with an issue like climate change? After all, we all contribute to the crisis. If, for example, you work at a fast-fashion brand – would you risk bringing the company into disrepute by striking then?

‘Potentially,’ Kyle says, ‘but only if a reasonable person could link the striker back to the company. Workers are entitled to have a life outside of the workplace, however they just need to be mindful their actions wouldn’t negatively reflect on the company.’

Essentially, it sounds like if you want to strike for social issues in future you need to go incognito and be on your best behaviour during the protest. So strike ahead, but maybe get out your best Victoria Beckham sunglasses that day.

To find out more about how to take strike action, click here.

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