What does strikebreaker mean?
A strikebreaker is a person who continues working during a strike or takes the place of a striking worker. The term is most often associated with industrial disputes and can be strongly critical, since strikebreakers are viewed as weakening collective action or crossing a picket line. Employers may be accused of hiring strikebreakers or bringing in replacement workers, while trade unions may describe workers who accept such positions as betraying the action. The expression has also been used more broadly for anyone seen as disrupting or frustrating a strike. Though its literal meaning is straightforward, it carries historical associations with labor conflict, solidarity, and disputes over the rights and duties of workers.
nounA person who continues working during a strike or takes another worker’s place, thereby obstructing the strike.
- A person who works during a strike, especially as a replacement for a striking worker.
- A person who takes part in breaking or undermining a strike.
"The company hired replacement workers after the union rejected the strikebreaker’s offer to return to her previous post."
"The strikebreaker was escorted through a crowd of angry picketers."
"Union members accused the agency of supplying strikebreakers during the walkout."
The plural is used for individual workers accused or identified as opposing a strike.
"Several strikebreakers were hired after the factory refused to negotiate."
A strikebreaker divides a workplace as sharply as the dispute itself: one person is doing the job while another is risking it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does strikebreaker come from?
“Strikebreaker” is an English compound formed from “strike” and “breaker,” both of them long-established words. The compound arose in the context of industrial relations, where “strike” denotes a collective work stoppage and “breaker” denotes someone or something that interrupts or breaks a course of action. Its development reflects the history of organized labor and the longstanding use of replacement workers and “strike-breaking” measures to resist workers’ demands.
Related word forms
How strikebreaker is actually used
The term is usually critical or politically charged. “Scab” is a more openly derogatory label, especially in US labor usage, while “blackleg” is used particularly in British English and is also generally derogatory.
Easily confused with strikebreaker
A picket takes part in or guards a picket line, whereas a strikebreaker works during the strike or crosses the line in opposition to it.