Computer Science Geek
Picket Line
London, 1768. Sailors in the merchant navy, angry about their low wages and poor working conditions (not to mention the propensity of the British Navy to seize them and force them into involuntary servitude), ‘struck’ the topgallant masts of nearly every ship in port. Because the topgallants sat upon the very peak of the other masts, they required special skills to dismantle and replace. By striking those masts, the sailors had effectively disabled the ships. The masts would remain struck until the ship’s owners had addressed the grievances of the sailors.
That’s how the term ‘strike’ came to be associated with a work stoppage. But the practice itself goes much deeper into history. The earliest record of a work stoppage is the action by artisans working on the Royal Necropolis at Deir el-Medina. That was in 1152 B.C., during the dynasty of the Pharoah Ramses III. Their complaint? Low wages and poor working conditions.
These men and women are part of a long tradition of workers whose last resort in regard to grievances against their employer is to stop working. So lift up a Tim Hortons double-double in honor of the worker. Whether he’s an over-worked Egyptian artisan constructing the Pharoah’s tomb, an underpaid merchant sailor, a member of the Ontario Public Service Union, or a counter worker at Tim’s, nothing ever gets done without the workers.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
