Struggles pay off. The effect of strikes on workers’ income in Western Europe

Strikes have received decreasing attention in both academic and public debate, in line with the neoliberal transformation of industrial relations and increasing competition in the globalised economy. This paper investigates whether strikes can play a role in determining workers’ incomes. To this end, we conduct a dynamic panel data analysis based on an error-correction model and covering 14 Western European countries over the period 1971–2019. The analysis examines the relationship between strikes and both the wage share and real wage growth. Despite the institutional differences among the countries included in the sample, the results reveal a positive long-run relationship between the variables. This relationship remains robust after controlling for inflation, real GDP, unemployment, trade union density, and other variables capturing broader changes in the structure of production and in workers’ bargaining power. These findings support the conclusion that channelling the social conflict toward strikes can produce positive outcomes for workers, therefore contrasting the prevailing view that wage claims produce an increase in inflation or unemployment and detrimental effects on workers’ income.