Abstract

When analyzing the strike phenomenon quantitatively, researchers usually use the following variables: the number of stoppages (strike frequency), the number of companies involved in the strike (extent), the number of striking workers (scope) and the length of the strike (number of days’ strike). These data can be used to calculate the strike volume: the total number of days lost through strikes (length of the strike multiplied by the number of strikers). The volume of the strike phenomenon is seldom - if ever - calculated on the basis of the strike pay given to strikers by the resistance fund. This information is not available, because it is confidential and not released for research. However this is not the case for the Confederation of Christian trade unions of Belgium (1.4 million members in 1997). We have had the chance to calculate the expenditure of the central resistance fund over the past 50 years and to break it down among the various sectors (trade union federations) and regions. In this way we were able to analyze how the strike pay handed out annually differs in accordance with trends in unemployment, wages and the restrictions placed on free wage negotiations by the government. In addition, it may be noted that the tendency to strike differs substantially in the various branches of industry. Finally the results of this empirical analysis are internationally compared with the research results of other quantitative studies.

How to Cite:

Martens, A., (1999) “Het arbeidsprotest gebreideld?: kwantitatieve analyse van de stakingsvergoedingen uitbetaald door de ACV-centrale weerstandskas tijdens de periode 1948-1997 (een halve eeuw Centrale Weerstandskas)”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 20(2), 99–147. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86469