Complete the text with the words from the box. Then press "Check" to mark your answers.
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A strike is the refusal of organised workmen to continue their work except on certain conditions. Some people denounce strikes as wrong and and even say they should be forbidden by law and put down by force. Such people know nothing of the history of strikes or the benefits they have secured for the working classes.
Strikes are a natural result of our modern industrial system. They came into with the present age of machinery and large factories. Before workers had learned the secret of combination, they were at the mercy of rich and powerful employers, who kept wages low and forced them to work long hours. They could do this because the and ignorant workman was no match for a rich and influential employer. If he did not agree to the employer's hard terms, he could be , for dozens were ready to take his place. He must submit or starve. Then the workmen learnt that unity was strength: and they themselves into organised societies, called Trades Unions. Formerly, when a single workman demanded higher wages, he was promptly kicked out. Still, when all factory workers struck in a body or refused to work unless higher wages were given, the employer usually had to give in sooner later or ruin his business. There is no doubt that the Trades Unions, armed with this powerful weapon, the strike, have secured enormous for the working classes - higher wages, shorter hours, better work conditions, and better housing.
But of course, there are evils and dangers with strikes. Even when they are successful, they cause much suffering themselves, great damage to trade and industry, and much inconvenience and hardship the public; and when they fail, they often make matters worse than they were before. Sometimes, too they are unjustifiable and tyrannical. We say that they, like wars, are necessary evils in the present state of society. They are, indeed, industrial battles. Sometimes war is necessary, it is always a calamity that strikes. It will be a blessing when all industrial disputes, and all international quarrels, are by arbitration.