Across Europe there are differing opinions among workers on striking and countries where strikes are fairly common and those where they are not. In the last ten years, French workers have been four times as likely to strike as Dutch workers while Austrians had the fewest strikes. Industrial relations experts point to differences in the cultural ideals of workers, for example French workers treat the strike as a common form of expression whereas in the Netherlands it is considered a distasteful last resort.
See "The Workplace: Differences in nations are striking", Thomas Fuller, International Herald Tribune, October 5, 2004