Protests in the workplace

Extracted Attributes

• Definition

  A form of social protest in a workplace where individuals or groups take possession of organizational spaces or public areas to influence public opinion, organizational policies, or achieve political and economic change.

• Perception

  Often perceived as disruptive, bringing conflict and political contention into the organization, and potentially constituting workplace deviance.

• Modern Purpose

  Demanding changes in ownership of the means of production, addressing ethical concerns (e.g., company contracts), influencing public policy.

• Primary Tactic

  Occupation (protest), including sit-down strikes.

• Historical Purpose

  Worker struggles for higher wages, better conditions, prevention of strikebreakers, and abolition of capitalism.

• Employee Rights (US)

  Political speech and activities outside the workplace are generally protected, but on-the-job activities can lead to discipline/firing if they significantly disrupt business or job duties.

• Employer Responsibilities

  Navigating protests requires balancing legal considerations, ethical leadership, and active engagement; fostering a transparent and inclusive culture can mitigate conflicts.

• Major Work Stoppages (2023)

  30 major work stoppages involving over 464,000 workers in the US.

• Legal Status (US Sit-down strikes)

  Declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court.

Timeline

• United Auto Workers staged successful sit-down strikes in the US. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1930s

• The Flint Sit-Down Strike, a famous example of a sit-down strike, occurred. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1936-1937

• Workers in Sydney, Australia, occupied and ran the Harco Steel Factory for four weeks, introducing the 35-hour working week. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1971

• The Occupy Wall Street movement began, popularizing the occupation of public spaces as a key protest tactic globally. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  2011-09

• 30 major work stoppages occurred in the US, involving over 464,000 workers, highlighting a significant rise in workplace protests. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023

• Google fired 28 employees for staging sit-in protests at offices in Sunnyvale and New York City against Project Nimbus, a cloud contract with Israel. (Source: Summary, Related Documents, Web Search Results)

  2024-04-18

Occupation (protest)

As an act of protest, occupation is a strategy often used by social movements and other forms of collective social action in order to squat and hold public and symbolic spaces, buildings, critical infrastructure such as entrances to train stations, shopping centers, university buildings, squares, and parks. Occupation attempts to use space as an instrument in order to achieve political and economic change, and to construct counter-spaces in which protesters express their desire to participate in the production and re-imagination of urban space. Often, this is connected to the right to the city, which is the right to inhabit and be in the city as well as to redefine the city in ways that challenge the demands of capitalist accumulation. That is to make public spaces more valuable to the citizens in contrast to favoring the interests of corporate and financial capital. Unlike other forms of protest like demonstrations, marches and rallies, occupation is defined by an extended temporality and is usually located in specific places. In many cases local governments declare occupations illegal because protesters seek to control space over a prolonged time. As such, occupations are often in conflict with political authorities and forces of established order, especially the police. These confrontations in particular attract media attention. Occupation, as a means of achieving change, emerged from worker struggles that sought everything from higher wages to the abolition of capitalism. Often called a sit-down strike, it is a form of civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers, usually employed at a factory or other centralized location, take possession of the workplace by "sitting down" at their stations, effectively preventing their employers from replacing them with strikebreakers or, in some cases, moving production to other locations. The recovered factories in Argentina are an example of workplace occupations moving beyond addressing workplace grievances, to demanding a change in ownership of the means of production. Another example was when workers in Sydney, Australia occupied and ran the Harco Steel Factory in 1971 for four weeks after the owner laid off employees. With the workplace under their control, they introduced the 35-hour working week. The Industrial Workers of the World were the first American union to use it, while the United Auto Workers staged successful sit-down strikes in the 1930s, most famously in the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936–1937. Sit-down strikes were declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court, but are still used by unions such as the UMWA in the Pittston strike, and the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago. The Occupy Wall Street movement, inspired amongst others by the Arab Spring and the Indignados movement of Spain, started a global movement in which the occupation of public spaces is a key tactic. During these protests in 2011, the tactic of occupation was used in a new way as protesters wanted to remain indefinitely until they were heard, resisting police and government officials who wanted to evict them. In contrast to earlier protest encampments, these occupations mobilized more people during a longer time period in more cities. This gained them worldwide attention.

Web Search Results

• The Career Consequences of Workplace Protest Participation

  Workplace protest is a form of social protest in a workplace that is intended to influence the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of the public and/or the policies of organizations and institutions in society (Gamson 1975, Klandermans 1997). Research on social movements highlights what motivates people to participate in social protest from the desire to enact a social identity (Reicher 1996, Drury and Reicher 1999) to expressing personal or social grievances (Lind and Tyler 1988, Klandermans [...] Second, workplace protests are apt to be perceived as disruptive because they bring conflict into the organization (Briscoe and Gupta 2016, Weber and Waeger 2017). Protests introduce political contention into the workplace (Zald and Berger 1978), potentially leading to interpersonal conflicts among workers and managers and detracting from work and organizational performance. Protests also often involve workers commandeering organizational spaces and physical resources (Lammers 1969), sparking [...] Whereas social protests that take place outside the workplace are primarily viewed through the theoretical lens of social movements scholarship, protests that take place in the workplace can benefit from the additional theoretical lens of organizational behavior because they occur within the boundaries of an organization. When viewed through this latter lens, protesting constitutes a form of workplace deviance because it lies outside established organizational and professional norms (Robinson

• Workplace Protests: Employee Rights and Employer Responsibilities -

  While protesting is a fundamental right in the United States, it’s also a critical sign that a group is feeling unheard. When protests arise in the workplace, it indicates a breakdown in communication. Recent statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics highlight the significant rise in major work stoppages; in 2023 alone, 30 major stoppages occurred, involving over 464,000 workers​. [...] Navigating employee protests requires a careful balance of legal considerations, ethical leadership, and active engagement. By fostering a transparent workplace culture focused on inclusion and belonging, employers can mitigate the impact of protests and build a more committed workforce. Addressing concerns proactively and ethically can also enhance the company’s reputation and increase employee satisfaction, turning potential conflicts into opportunities for improvement. [...] After establishing a robust legal and ethical framework for managing workplace protests, take the opportunity to mitigate the potential for such conflicts. Prevention is about more than just averting disruptions; it’s about an inclusive workplace culture that supports transparency, free discourse, and continuous education. By implementing these strategies, employers can address potential grievances early, reducing the likelihood of protests escalating. Following these three vital, preventive

• Your Workplace Rights as a Political Protester - Legal Aid at Work

  Generally, courts have found that political speech and activities that occur outside of the workplace (e.g., a political protest away from your work) are protected. However, if your political activity significantly disrupts your employer’s business or your job duties you may be disciplined or fired. If you work for the government, your on-the-job “political” speech may also be protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it likely addresses a matter of “public concern.” [...] Skip to content Quick Escape Legal Aid at Work # Your Workplace Rights as a Political Protester Protesting is considered a protected political activity in California, whether the topic is immigration, war, or another political issue. But your specific rights as a worker who engages in a political protest will depend on your situation and when, how, and where you decide to protest. ## Can I be disciplined or fired for participating in a political protest? [...] You cannot be fired simply because you engaged in a political protest that occurred outside of the workplace since this is considered a protected political activity in California. Specifically, California Labor Code 1102 does not allow your employer to discharge or threaten to discharge you for following any particular “course or line” of political action or activity, such as a gathering or march to protest actions by federal, state, or local government officials. Additionally, under Labor Code

• picketing | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute

  Picketing is a method of protesting where individuals stand outside of a workplace or organization to publicize an issue, often a labor dispute, and persuade employees or customers to withhold their work or business. Picketing allows the picketers to notify the public of the existence of a strike, to disseminate information concerning the controversy, and to communicate the facts dealing with their side of the dispute. Usually, the picketers bear signs with messages voicing their grievances.

• Google Fires Workers Who Protested Work for Israeli Government

  Google is one of several employers pushing back on employee activism. At the same time, there has been a call for civility in the workplace and reasonable conversations among co-workers who disagree. We’ve rounded up articles and resources from SHRM Online and other outlets to provide more context on the news. ## Agitation Over Conflict in Gaza [...] (CNBC) ## Change in Direction The action taken by Google is the most recent and starkest example of companies’ stricter stance on employee activism and dissent. Google leaders said the protesting workers violated company policy by taking over office spaces and disrupting work. While preserving the company’s open culture is important, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote to staff afterward, “we also need to be more focused in how we work, collaborate, discuss and even disagree.” [...] (The Wall Street Journal) ## Incivility More Common Disagreement over hot-button issues can lead to incidents of incivility in the workplace. SHRM research reveals that incivility has become a regular occurrence at work. A survey of over 1,000 U.S. employees found that two-thirds of workers (66 percent) say they have experienced or witnessed incivility in their workplace within the past month and over half (57 percent) have experienced or witnessed incivility at work within the past week.