Slowdown

For articles with similar titles, see Slow Down (disambiguation).

A slowdown is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. A slowdown may be used as either a prelude or an alternative to a strike, as it is seen as less disruptive as well as less risky and costly for workers and their union. Striking workers usually go unpaid and risk being replaced, so a slowdown is seen as a way to put pressure on management while avoiding these outcomes. Other times slowdowns are accompanied by intentional sabotage on the part of workers to provide further disruption.

Nonetheless, workers participating in a slowdown are often punished, sometimes by firing and other times by law.

Rule-book slowdown

Another form of slowdown is known as the rule-book slowdown (also known as "work-to-rule"). This refers to the "rule books" that govern worker's actions, which may be for safety or quality purposes. In practice, many rules are seen as impractical, excessive, and inefficient and are disregarded. So a union may make the tactical decision to have workers "follow the rules," obeying each and every rule to the letter and in consequence greatly reducing productivity. This has the advantage that the workers and union can claim no malfeasance, since they are doing only what management actually requires them to do. For instance, New York City subways are required to keep doors open for at least ten seconds at each stop, whereas in practice doors are often open for about three seconds. Likewise buses often take the same liberties with traffic law that drivers do, and are often overloaded with passengers. In a "rule-book" slowdown, the bus may drive slowly and conservatively, and once filled to capacity according to rules refuse to take additional passengers.

Slowdowns are related to but can be distinguished from work-to-rule, another action in which workers refuse to perform more than their required duties.