In trade union terminology, when does a direct strike take place?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks your understanding of basic trade union terminology in industrial relations. In particular, it asks you to identify the precise meaning of a direct strike, which is one of the most common forms of collective industrial action. Many examinations in labour law, human resource management and general studies expect you to differentiate a direct strike from related concepts such as boycotts and sympathy strikes.

Given Data / Assumptions:
• The question uses the phrase “in union terms”, so we are dealing with standard trade union definitions used in labour law and industrial relations.
• We assume that a strike involves organized workers and an employment relationship with a specific employer.
• The options describe different kinds of collective actions like boycotts, sympathy strikes and direct withholding of labour.

Concept / Approach:
In industrial relations, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by a group of employees to press for certain demands related to wages, working conditions, or other employment issues. A direct strike refers specifically to workers at a particular workplace or company withholding their labour against their own employer. This is different from a boycott, where people avoid buying products, and from a sympathy strike, where workers strike in support of others even when they do not have their own grievance. The key idea is that in a direct strike, the same workers who are in dispute with their employer stop working to exert pressure.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Read each option and identify whether it refers to stopping work or to refusing to buy or handle products.Step 2: Notice that the definition of a direct strike must involve workers withholding their own labour from their own employer as a form of pressure.Step 3: Option B clearly states that an organized body of workers withholds its labour to force the employer to comply with its demands, which exactly matches the standard definition of a direct strike.Step 4: The other options focus on boycotts, refusal to buy products or strikes in support of others, which are related but distinct types of actions.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick check is to ask: where is the pressure being applied most directly? In a direct strike, pressure is applied by stopping work in the very workplace where the dispute exists. Option B matches this structure perfectly. The other options involve consumers or outside workers, which makes the action indirect rather than direct from the standpoint of the employer worker relationship.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A: This describes a refusal to patronize companies that handle the products of a struck company, which is more like a secondary boycott, not a direct strike.Option C: Here union members and supporters refuse to buy products from a company being struck, which is a consumer boycott, again not the same as stopping work.Option D: This refers to a sympathy strike, where workers without their own grievance strike to support others, so it is indirect support rather than a direct strike in their own dispute.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes confuse any collective action by workers with a strike, but a strike specifically involves stopping work. Another common mistake is to treat boycotts and sympathy strikes as if they were direct strikes, but these are separate concepts in labour law. Carefully reading the wording about withholding labour versus refusing to purchase products can help avoid this confusion in exams and practice questions.

Final Answer:
Correct answer: when an organized body of workers withholds its labour to force the employer to comply with its demands