More workers idled by work stoppages in 2007

Major work stoppages—lockout or strikes—idled 189,000 workers in 2007, up from 70,000 in 2006.

[Chart data—TXT]

There were 21 lockouts and strikes in 2007; for 2006 there were 20. Of the 21 major work stoppages beginning in 2007, 12 were in private industry and nine were in State and local governments.

In 2007, the largest major work stoppage in total days idle was between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America East and West, with 10,500 workers accounting for 409,500 lost workdays.

The largest work stoppage in number of workers was between General Motors Corporation and the United Auto Workers, with 74,000 General Motors workers involved in the two-day work stoppage.

These data are from the BLS Work Stoppages Program. Learn more about work stoppages from "Major Work Stoppages in 2007," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-0202. Major work stoppages are defined as strikes or lockouts that idle 1,000 or more workers and last at least one shift.