A slowdown is an 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...

 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.

At Ford's plant in Dagenham

Dagenham

Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...

, UK, during the 1970s, workers introduced a slowdown after Ford management increased the production line speed from 18 to 21 feet per minute. This was a second speed increase and workers felt that this was unfair. After a slowdown by production line staff, Ford management reduced the line speed back to 18 feet per minute.

In July 2011, Qantas

Qantas

Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...

 engineers introduced an unusual slowdown where right-handed engineers used only their left hands to operate essential tools.

Rule-book slowdown

Another form of slowdown is known as the rule-book slowdown. This refers to the "rule books" that govern workers' actions, usually either for safety or quality purposes. In practice, many rules are loosely interpreted in the interest of efficiency. A union seeking to employ a slowdown tactic may take advantage of these common rule oversights by having workers "work to rule," obeying each and every rule to the fullest extent, which consequently will greatly reduce productivity. This has the advantage of allowing workers and unions to claim that no malfeasance is being committed, since they are doing only what the management's rules actually require them to do. For instance, many subways are required to keep doors open for a certain amount of time at each stop, whereas in practice doors are often closed sooner. Likewise, a bus driver typically may take the same liberties with traffic law that drivers do, and are often overloaded with passengers, whilst an experienced pilot can safely fly in some inclement weather. In a "rule-book" slowdown, the bus driver may drive more slowly and conservatively and with a proper passenger load, while the pilot may refuse to fly in mildly inclement weather.

Slowdowns are related to but can be distinguished from work-to-rule

Work-to-rule

Work-to-rule is an industrial action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract, and follow safety or other regulations to the letter in order to cause a slowdown rather than to serve their purpose. This is considered less disruptive than a strike or...

, another action in which workers refuse to perform more than their required duties.