ABSTRACT
The increase in the numbers of strikes and threats of strikes in democratic countries in recent years has led to a good deal of discussion about how to reduce their frequency, but rather less about the principles that ought to govern the relations between trade unions and the state. John A. Fitch, the author of the article 'strikes and Lockouts' in the Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences points out that in totalitarian countries, strikes are regarded as subversive, and goes on: 'Elsewhere strikes have outlived their criminal origins and have, in degree, become institutionalized as one of the acknowledged sanctions of collective bargaining'. This chapter is concerned with the matters of fact and law to consider some questions of nature and of right. It suggests that sanctions should be contrasted with rewards. The chapter also suggests that trade unions ought to be transformed into a sort of employment agency.
