Picketing

Picketing is a form of non-violent resistance in which people congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place and attempt to dissuade others from going in ("crossing the picket line"). It can have a number of aims, but is generally to put pressure on the party targeted to meet particular demands. This pressure is achieved by harming the business through loss of custom and negative publicity, or by discouraging or preventing workers from entering the site and thereby preventing the business from operating normally.

Related Topics:
Non-violent resistance - Place of work - Picket line

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Picketing is a common tactic used by trade unions during strikes, who will try to prevent dissident members of the union, members of other unions and ununionised workers from working. Those who cross the picket line and work despite the strike are known as scabs.

Related Topics:
Trade union - Strikes - Scabs

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A mass picket is an attempt to bring as many people as possible to a picket line, in order to demonstrate support for the cause. It is a particularly useful tactic when only one workplace is being picketed, or for a symbolically or practically important workplace. Due to the numbers involved, a mass picket may turn in to a blockade.

Related Topics:
Mass picket - Blockade

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Picketing is also used by pressure groups across the political spectrum.

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While picketing is often legal in certain countries due to freedom of assembly laws, most countries have severe restrictions on its use.

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Also attributed to the firm stands of the union line during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg during the American civil war.

Related Topics:
Pickett's Charge - Gettysburg - Civil war

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