While it is possible to start discussing international labour movement communication and coordination before a dispute, in practice disputes are what has given impetus to our discussions and activities building International Industrial Action and Solidarity.
So when a major dispute happens we look at a series of conditions.
We ask: Is this dispute suited to a Global Picketline strategy?
To be suited for a Global Picketline strategy, a dispute has to involve a large, possibly anti-union international company, with multiple production and distribution sites – where there is the active presence of genuine unions on multiple sites.
If all the conditions for a possible Global Picketline are present, we then prepare a dispute analysis, which includes an assessment the importance of the dispute for the workers involved and for the working class, the perceived strengths and weaknesses between workers and the company, and a detailed history of the dispute.
In our experience an International Industrial Action and Solidarity campaign takes significant time and resources to organise, so it is most suited to major disputes that are seen as important for the working class, in that they may result in a major victory or major defeat for workers, with considerable flow-on effects.