A picket line is a form of protest where people, called pickets or picketers, gather outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place, such as a business, organization, or institution. The purpose of a picket line is to put pressure on the targeted party to meet particular demands or cease operations. Picketing is often done by trade unions during strikes, who will try to prevent dissident members of the union, members of other unions, and non-unionized workers from working. Those who cross the picket line and work despite the strike are known pejoratively as scabs.

Picketing is a legal form of protest, but there are limitations to what picketers can do. For example, picketing activities should not interfere with workers not connected with a dispute who use the same entrance as those on strike. It is also a criminal offense for pickets to use threatening or abusive words or behave in a threatening manner towards others passing close by the picket line, get in the way of other people attempting to enter or leave premises being picketed, be in possession of an offensive weapon, damage property, either deliberately or recklessly, or cause or threaten to cause a breach of the peace.

If you are thinking of joining a picket line, you should ask your union for advice. You can lawfully join a picket line as long as the picketing is connected to a trade dispute which you are involved in, carried out at or near your own workplace, and carried out peacefully. If you are a worker on a picket line in dispute with your employer, you can peacefully try to persuade workers who arent affected to support you.

In summary, a picket line is a form of protest where people gather outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place to put pressure on the targeted party to meet particular demands or cease operations. It is often done by trade unions during strikes, and those who cross the picket line and work despite the strike are known as scabs. Picketing is a legal form of protest, but there are limitations to what picketers can do.