A picket line strike is a form of protest in which people, called pickets or picketers, congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place to put pressure on the party targeted to meet particular demands or cease operations. Picketing is a common tactic used 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 can have a number of aims, but it is generally to draw public attention to a cause or to dissuade others from going in. Pickets normally endeavor to be non-violent.

If youre 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. You have the right to refuse to cross a legal picket line without fear of discipline. However, its a criminal offense for pickets to use threatening or abusive behavior towards others passing close by the picket line. Picketing activities shouldnt interfere with workers not connected with a dispute who use the same entrance as those on strike. If you break the law or encourage others to do so when youre picketing, legal action can be taken against you.