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Work Stoppages

Trends in Work Stoppages

Between 1947 and 2023 there were 11,624 major work stoppages. Decreases in the number of work stoppages and the number of workers involved are especially noticeable during and right after recessions and hit an all-time low (5) in 2009. Chart 1 demonstrates the number of annual work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers between 1947 and 2023.

Chart 1 data table
Table 1. Number of Major Work Stoppages beginning in the year, 1947-2023
Year Number of work stoppages beginning in the period

1947

270

1948

245

1949

262

1950

424

1951

415

1952

470

1953

437

1954

265

1955

363

1956

287

1957

279

1958

332

1959

245

1960

222

1961

195

1962

211

1963

181

1964

246

1965

268

1966

321

1967

381

1968

392

1969

412

1970

381

1971

298

1972

250

1973

317

1974

424

1975

235

1976

231

1977

298

1978

219

1979

235

1980

187

1981

145

1982

96

1983

81

1984

62

1985

54

1986

69

1987

46

1988

40

1989

51

1990

44

1991

40

1992

35

1993

35

1994

45

1995

31

1996

37

1997

29

1998

34

1999

17

2000

39

2001

29

2002

19

2003

14

2004

17

2005

22

2006

20

2007

21

2008

15

2009

5

2010

11

2011

19

2012

19

2013

15

2014

11

2015

12

2016

15

2017

7

2018

20

2019

25

2020

8

2021

16

2022

23

2023

33

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Work Stoppages Program

Of the 663 major work stoppages that occurred between 1993 and 2023, 489 occurred in the private industry, 116 in local government, 57 in state government, and 1 in state and local government.

Chart 2 data table
Table 2. Number of Major Work Stoppages beginning in the year, 1993-2023
Year Private industry State and local government

1993

29 6

1994

36 9

1995

22 8

1996

31 6

1997

26 3

1998

30 4

1999

12 5

2000

31 8

2001

25 4

2002

14 5

2003

12 2

2004

14 3

2005

18 4

2006

12 8

2007

12 9

2008

12 3

2009

2 3

2010

7 4

2011

18 1

2012

15 4

2013

6 9

2014

9 2

2015

7 5

2016

8 7

2017

4 3

2018

9 11

2019

11 14

2020

2 6

2021

15 1

2022

14 9

2023

25 8

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Work Stoppages Program

These data also allow users to evaluate differences in the number of annual work stoppages by industry. Chart 3 demonstrates that from 1993 to 2023, there were as many stoppages in manufacturing (171) as in construction (62), transportation and warehousing (55), retail trade (26), and information (25) industries combined. Healthcare and social assistance had a total of 118 work stoppages while educational services had 113 work stoppages.

Chart 3 data table
Table 3. Number of Major Work Stoppages by industry, 1993-2023
Industry Number of work stoppages

Manufacturing

171

Health Care and Social Assistance

118

Educational Services

113

Construction

62

Transportation and Warehousing

55

Retail trade

26

Information

25

Public Administration

24

Utilities

14

Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services

14

Accommodation and Food Services

12

Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction

10

Finance and Insurance

5

Wholesale Trade

4

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

3

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

3

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

3

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

1

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Work Stoppages Program

The top 6 longest work stoppages that occurred between 1993 and 2023 lasted for over a year. The longest one, the Marine Towing and Transportation Employers' Association, lasted for almost 6 years. Over one thousand six hundred workers were kept from their jobs resulting in 2,879,500 days idle.

Chart 4 data table
 Table 4. Longest Major Work Stoppages by Calendar Days, 1993-2023
Work Stoppage Start Date End Date Number of calendar days

Marine Towing and Transportation Employers' Association / International Longshoremen's Association

2/16/1988 12/20/1993 2,134

Charter Communications Inc. / International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

3/28/2017 4/18/2022 1,847

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. / United Steelworkers

10/1/1998 9/18/2000 718

Ormet / United Steelworkers

11/22/2004 7/16/2006 601

Detroit Newspapers / International Brotherhood of Teamsters and other Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions

7/13/1995 2/19/1997 587

Caterpillar, Inc. / United Automobile Workers

6/20/1994 12/3/1995 531

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Work Stoppages Program

The 5 largest work stoppages by number of workers involved between 1993 and 2023 included four private industry companies and one state government. Together, these 5 stoppages included over 763,200 workers.

Chart 5 data table
Table 5. Largest Major Work Stoppages by Number of Workers, 1993-2023
Work Stoppage Number of workers

United Parcel Service / International Brotherhood of Teamsters (1997)

180,000

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers / Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (2023)

160,000

General Motors Corp. / United Automobile Workers (1998)

152,200

General Motors Corp. / United Automobile Workers (1996)

136,000

Association of National Advertisers and American Association of Advertising Agencies / American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Screen Actors Guild (2000)

135,000

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Major Work Stoppages Program

For More Information

You can find the latest numbers on work stoppages within the Work Stoppages Database and the Monthly Tables. The Handbook of Methods provides more information on definitions, collection, and methodology.