For most unions in the United States, ‘no strike’ collective bargaining clauses are the most visible manifestation of the twentieth-century industrial relations commitment to maintaining ‘labor peace.’ Unions and employers agree to a detailed contractual grievance and arbitration process in exchange for workers waiving a right to strike and assurances from management to address worker grievances and abide by a formal protocol. The near universal adoption of ‘no strike’ contract language is a tripartite tradeoff between unions, companies, and the state which affords unions a form of workplace due process while insuring employers against lapses in the flow of profit due to industrial unrest.
Contrary to common practice, however, the workers employed at Wabtec in Erie, Pennsylvania, and represented by United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 506 had functioned for many years with a contractual right to strike over specific workplace issues. This was an exceptional departure from the post-World War II national norm. But in 2019 when Wabtec purchased a locomotive plant in Erie from General Electric (GE), the right to strike over grievances was dropped from the labor agreement. Read the full report here.