GERMANY - 70,000 workers downed tools at VW factories today, as the EV crisis spreads.
(twitter.com)
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I’m not sure the phrase is used much anymore these days. It does sound odd, but it’s something most Union workers are (or were) familiar with.
From Google —
“Down tools" is an idiom that means to suddenly stop working, usually in protest or to strike. For example, "The printers are threatening to down tools if the pay offer is not increased to eight percent".
Well, I'm a 61 year old child of 2 UAW members and while I remember hearing talk of strikes and actual strikes, that phrase is not one I can recall hearing. But, again, I'm 61...
The idiom "downed tools" is certainly common in the UK and it means "stopped work and walked out".