industrial action

American

noun

Chiefly British.

job action.

industrial action British

noun

any action, such as a strike or go-slow, taken by employees in industry to protest against working conditions, redundancies, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The latest industrial action is set to end at midnight, and TfL is advising customers to finish their journeys before 21:00 BST.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

In Communion, Doyle has combined those events with a fictional version of the industrial action which occurred after Tata's announcement that it planned to shut off the blast furnaces.

From BBC • May 31, 2026

Samsung’s management and its union leaders struck the deal in negotiations mediated by South Korea’s labor minister at late last Wednesday, just hours before industrial action at the company was set to begin.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

The government could invoke emergency mediation powers to halt industrial action and trigger mediation if it is deemed a threat to the national economy.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

There has been, it appears, an unfortunate misunderstanding as to the exact meaning of the term "industrial action."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, June 4, 1919. by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023