Picketing - Definition & Types

Published in Human Resources Terms by MBA Skool Team

What is Picketing?

Picketing is an act where workers belonging to a trade union, involved in an industrial action, assemble in front of their workplace or the home of the employer in order to prevent other co workers from going inside and working. Picketing is to persuade the other co workers to support them in the industrial action and to dissuade customers from doing business with the organization.


The unionized workers who are involved in picketing are called pickets. They involve in picketing mainly because they have some disagreements with the employer. It is lawful only if it approved by a majority vote in the union. Also workers in a picket line need to be peaceful and it is unlawful for them to force people to not enter the premises of the employer. The main purpose of picketing is to pressurize the employer to agree to the demands of the union workers or to bring to the notice of the employer the grievances of the union workers.


Picketing is allowed only to those employees who work at the workplace outside which they picket. For example a business may operate from various locations however workers can picket only outside the location where they work or where their unions are certified. They cannot picket outside other locations of business of the employer.


Types of Picketing

There are different types of picketing:

1) Informational: When pickets inform people about the concern of their union to the public.

2) Mass: When pickets try to gather as many people as possible in the picket line in order to show the employer that their cause is supported by a large majority of people.

3) Secondary: When pickets try to stop suppliers of the employer like lorry drivers etc from delivering supplies to the employer.

4) Flying: When workers involved in an industrial action move from one workplace of the employer to another to picket them. This type is unlawful.

Hence, this concludes the definition of Picketing along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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