How to End a Strike

A labor strike is a financially stressful and personally difficult period for people on both sides of the picket line. Knowing how to end a strike quickly and satisfactorily is important to keeping all parties moving forward with their work and their lives.

Instructions

1. Meet quickly and regularly with the opposing side or, if you're not one of the parties of the strike, bring the two sides together for talks. Make the initial goals limited so that the first meetings bear some kind of success (even if it's small success) rather than furthering any existing acrimony.

2. Cast the terms of grievances in public and private as a desire to achieve a deal that's fair to your party and the opposing party. Showing the public and the other side that you want a reasonable solution and aren't looking to punish either the labor or the management gets people working to end the strike quickly and in a positive way.

3. Give the other side "soft concessions," or concessions that acknowledge the other side's contribution to the company and work conditions. Go so far as to offer labor weekly meeting where they can voice their opinions about the company. Moves like this not only help assuage labor leaders' and strikers' feelings of being slighted but also make the company more productive in the long run.

4. Make a careful review of important labor law and make it clear to the opposing party or parties that you know how to play "hardball" but prefer to end the strike quickly with a deal that's suitable to all parties.

5. Be willing to allow the labor leaders and executives to save face in front of their strikers' and stockholders since ultimately these decision makers have many people to please before they can cut a deal.