strikebreaker

American  

[strahyk-brey-ker] / ˈstraɪkˌbreɪ kər /

noun

1. a person who takes part in breaking up a strike of workers, either by working or by furnishing workers.

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strikebreaker British  

/ ˈstraɪkˌbreɪkə /

noun

1. a person who tries to make a strike ineffectual by working or by taking the place of those on strike

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strikebreaker Cultural  

1. An employee hired to replace a striking worker. (See scab.)

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Other Word Forms

• strikebreaking noun

Etymology

Origin of strikebreaker

First recorded in 1900–05; strike + breaker ¹

Explanation

When workers go on strike, anyone who passes their picket lines to go to work is known as a strikebreaker. Most strikebreakers are hired after the strike begins. Strikes usually start when employees believe their official complaints haven't been adequately addressed by their employer. When a whole group of workers refuses to work, they hold a kind of collective power. Strikebreakers are those people who agree to do the work despite the strike — and for that reason, they're not popular with striking workers, who also refer to them as "scabs." In many countries (though not the U.S.), it's illegal to hire strikebreakers during the bargaining process.

Example Sentences

A notorious strikebreaker noted for paying his workers abysmally low wages, the complicated robber baron also publicly supported progressive tax laws, including estate taxes.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 6, 2023

Logan Marshall-Green of “Quarry” plays the strikebreaker hired to discourage an insurrection by any means necessary.

From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2017

Hammett, who was working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency as a strikebreaker, declined the offer.

From Washington Post • Sep. 9, 2015

Besides, the Hippocratic oath, which commands a physician to put his patients before himself, was proving to be an effective strikebreaker.

From Time Magazine Archive

He next became a private detective for a street railway corporation, and by successive steps developed into a professional strikebreaker.

From The Iron Heel by London, Jack