Throwback: 8 influential strikes that took the world by storm

8 influential strikes and their impact

Currently, the labor unions across India has around 15 crore employees. What if they call for a strike against any newly introduced tax? A group of people can call for a strike or protest against any law or tax at any point of the time. Earlier, numerous parts of the country were affected due to such strikes. Here are 8 influential strikes that took the world by storm.

Strikes are not new in India. They take place every other day, at some places in the country. Not only in India are strikes common in world. However, only few of such strikes have influenced a change, while mostly go completely unnoticed. To understand the impact that protests can make, we have prepared a list of tax protests around the world that left everyone shocked.

1. Salt March – Also called the Dandi March or the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of sheer non-violence in the colonial India. The march (tax protest) was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi, against the salt tax which was imposed by the British officials. The 24- day long march began on 12 March 1930, from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi. The march aimed to produce salt without paying tax to the then-ruling British government.



2. Boston Tea Party – It was a political tax protest by the ‘Sons of Liberty’ in Boston on 17 December 1773. The demonstrators destroyed an entire ship which was sent by the East India Company. Upon this the British government responded harshly and the whole episode introduced the American Revolution. The Tea Party was the climax episode of a resistance movement throughout the British America against the Tea Act.

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3. Magna Carta Libertatum – Also known as Magna Carta is a combination of rights and authority agreed by King John of England at Runnymede on June 15 1215. It promised the protection of various church rights along with the protection for the barons from an illegal imprisonment, access to smooth justice and limitations on the feudal payments.
4. American Revolution – It was a political turnover which took place between 1765 and 1783. In 1764, the American Parliament passed Currency Act, imposing ban on the use of paper money. In 1767 the parliament passed acts which imposed duties on various goods. In 1774 government passed the quartering act allowing royal governors to house British troops inside the houses of the local peoples. There were many such acts which eventually led to the American Revolution.



5. French Revolution – A time period of far- reaching social and political turnover in France in 1789-1799.Due to the financial crises occurred during the throne of Louis XVI, the low classes were subjected with heavy duties.

   Jacques Necker, a protestant urged that the taxes imposed upon them should be reduced upon this Necker was removed from his position and Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed, upon realizing the financial crises of the company he imposed various taxes including the land tax. All these taxes eventually led to the revolt.

6. Delhi lawyers– Lawyers in Delhi, India went on a tax protest and initiated a strike in 2009 against paying sales tax that the centre was trying to increase to cover the legal services.
7. China’s one-child policy – Yang Zhizhu and Chen Hong protested against the one-child policy in China by refusing to pay a fine of 200,000 Yuan on the birth of their second child.
8. Sales Tax Boycott in Ottawa, 1981– it was a resistance campaign or a tax protest against paying the tax in Ontario. This campaign was against the provincial sales tax which included both merchants and consumers as participants.