Kaiser, UAW Strikes Show Varied Labor Protest Rights: Explained

Kaiser Permanente workers are mounting a three-day strike, the largest health-care walkout in US history, that may trigger stronger legal protections than those available to autoworkers, screen actors, and Hollywood writers in their labor protests.

The alliance of unions representing the Kaiser workers say they are are opposing unfair labor practices, while the United Auto Workers and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists launched strikes for economic reasons, as did the Writers Guild of America, which just settled.

The right to strike is a fundamental tenet of federal labor law. Yet the distinction between the two ...