15 major work stoppages in 2016

In 2016, there were 15 major work stoppages, an increase from 12 major work stoppages in 2015. These work stoppages involved 99,000 workers, the most since 2012. These work stoppages resulted in 1,543,000 days idle, the greatest number since 2008. In the 70 years that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected work stoppages data, the decade from 2007 to 2016 had the lowest number of work stoppages on record, averaging approximately 14 major work stoppages per year.

The largest major work stoppage in terms of number of workers and days idle in 2016 was between Verizon Communications and the Communication Workers of America union. The stoppage involved 36,500 workers and accounted for 1,204,500 days idle from April 13 to May 27, 2016. The second-largest strike in 2016 in terms of the number of workers involved was a 1-day stoppage by the City of Chicago Public Schools involving 27,000 workers (April 1). The second-largest stoppage in terms of number of days idle was between Allina Health and the Minnesota Nurses Association/National Nurses United union, which involved 4,800 workers with 153,600 days idle from two different work stoppages during the year (June 19–26; September 5–October 13). 

These data are from the Work Stoppages program. To learn more, see “Major Work Stoppages in 2016” (HTML) (PDF). Major work stoppages include both worker-initiated strikes and employer-initiated lockouts that involve 1,000 workers or more and last at least one shift. Days idle are calculated by multiplying the number of workers involved in the strike or lockout by the number of days workers are off the job, based on a 5-day workweek excluding federal holidays.