The "General Strike" as a labour weapon

Abstract

The special point to which your attention will be directed this evening is the comparatively novel use of the "general" or "sympathetic" strike as a means of compelling a settlement of disputes between employers and employed. The practice appears to have arisen in the Latin countries of Western Europe, notably in France and Italy, and to have gradually spread to these shores. The procedure adopted is familiar to all from recent experiences and need not be described in detail. In its essentials it is an effort to enforce a settlement of partial or local industrial disputes by spreading the area of contention and involving eventually so many interests that the whole commercial and industrial world is practically brought to a standstill.