Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sympathy strike

sympathy strike

7.0
Workers stop work to support other workers on strike
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪmpəθi straɪk/
  • Jargon
translation icon : huelga de solidaridad
  • Many employees participated in a sympathy strike to show solidarity with their coworkers who were fighting for better pay.

Examples

  • Secondary action (also "secondary boycott" or a "sympathy strike") is industrial action by a trade union that is initiated by workers in one enterprise and supported by workers in a separate enterprise.

    Blog text (27)

  • Sarah, l think it's time for the sympathy strike.

    The Trotsky (2010)

  • During the negotiation breakdown, the teachers' union initiated a sympathy strike to support the striking janitors.

  • The construction workers decided to go on a sympathy strike after hearing about the unfair treatment of their colleagues in the factory.

Synonyms

sympathetic strike
vssympathy strike
7.1

Workers stop work to support other workers who are not working

is the noun phrase form used instead of the adjective form

Surface Forms

sympathy strike singular
sympathy strikes plural

Morphology

sympathy + strike

The meaning is directly compositional: 'sympathy' (support/solidarity) modifies 'strike' (workers stopping work), so a 'sympathy strike' is straightforwardly a strike undertaken out of support for others. This pattern (a modifier indicating motive + strike) is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The noun sympathy strike comes from workers feeling sympathy, or care for other workers, and choosing to strike, meaning to stop work, to stand with them. So, a sympathy strike means 'a strike to support other workers'.