A general strike is a strike action in which a substantial proportion of the total labour force in a city, region, or country participates. General strikes are characterized by the participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tend to involve entire communities. General strikes first occurred in the mid-19th century, and have characterized many historically important strikes.
Read more about General Strike: Purpose, Concept, Reaction of Orthodox Labor, Notable General Strikes
Famous quotes containing the words general and/or strike:
“General education is the best preventive of the evils now most dreaded. In the civilized countries of the world, the question is how to distribute most generally and equally the property of the world. As a rule, where education is most general the distribution of property is most general.... As knowledge spreads, wealth spreads. To diffuse knowledge is to diffuse wealth. To give all an equal chance to acquire knowledge is the best and surest way to give all an equal chance to acquire property.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Man, at least when educated, is a pessimist. He believes it safer not to reflect on his achievements; Jove is known to strike such people down.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)