Labor unrest is a term used by employers or those generally in the business community to describe organizing

Organizing

Organizing is the act of rearranging elements following one or more rules.Anything is commonly considered organized when it looks like everything has a correct order or placement. But it's only ultimately organized if any element has no difference on time taken to find it...

 and strike action

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

s undertaken by labor unions, especially where labor disputes become violent

Violence in industrial disputes

When Union violence has occurred, it has frequently been in the context of industrial unrest. Union violence is generally a defensive measure carried out against guards or strikebreakers during attempts to undercut strikes...

 or where industrial action

Industrial action

Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...

s in which members of a workforce

Workforce

The workforce is the labour pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, country, state, etc. The term generally excludes the employers or management, and implies those involved in...

 obstruct the normal process of business and generate industrial unrest

Industrial unrest

Industrial unrest is the term used to describe activities undertaken by the workforce when they protest against pay or conditions of their employment....

 are essayed.

Such a conception of labor action was common in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the nineteenth century, most prominently amongst mining interests

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 in the American West, and remained common in the twentieth century CE amongst totalitarian states, such as the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, in which complete control of the working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

is desired.