IATE Term of the Week: Strike

2319

pearsontopThis week we chose the term ‘Strike’ from the IATE database. The Oxford Dictionary defines a strike as “a refusal to work organised by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer”. This is particularly interesting regarding recent events, where several people found his or her flight cancelled, delayed or re-scheduled this week.

Upon arrival to French or Belgian airports, several flights had to be cancelled due to the air traffic controllers’ strike. The holiday plans of a lot of people were disrupted for the around 14,000 hours of delays that the strikes caused. French air controllers went on work stoppage last Tuesday and the Belgians joined them afterwards, all fighting for better working conditions.

Airlines that were flying to or from these countries were advising the passengers to check the status of their flights before departing, but as usual, airports became a chaos of confused people going up and down trying to find a solution for their problem.

At the moment, the French air traffic controllers called off their strike but the Belgians continue their walkout.

French controllers are not the only ones protesting though, since the SNCF, the national railway company, has been on strikes since mid-June too. Many connections to and from France were affected during the stoppage and the consequences even affected Luxembourg. SNCF workers are against the government’s plans to unite the two railway networks of the country, which will mean job losses, and they went on strike as a protest against this.

strike

We invite you to suggest the equivalent terms in the missing EU languages, or alternatives to the existing term in your language if you consider the proposed term inaccurate. Provide your answer with a reliable reference and an accurate definition and/or context if possible.

A terminologist for the language in question will revise your answer and decide whether to validate them. Given the implications of the process, a delay is to be expected.

 

 

References

Luxembourgish Wort: “French strike affects rail traffic to Luxembourg”

CNN: “French rail workers extend strike”

CNN: “Air passengers face ‘14,000 hours’ of delays over Europe strikes”

Telegraph.co.uk: “French air strikes called off as Belgians begin their walkout”

Telegraph.co.uk: “Flight chaos as Belgian air traffic controllers join the French on strike”

 

 

By Jurdana Martin Retegi, student of the MA Learning & Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts at the University of Luxembourg. Study visitor at TermCoord.