Work Stoppages: 1940-1949

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected information on work stoppages in the U.S. through a few publications dating back to the 1880s. Starting with 1947, the Work Stoppages program captured stoppages involving 6 workers or more lasting at least one full shift or day. Beginning in 1982, the program limited its scope to capture major work stoppages. Major work stoppages are defined as any stoppage that involves 1,000 or more workers and lasts for at least one full work shift.

An annual listing summarizing major work stoppages from 1947-present is maintained, and additional resources and historical publications are available in the Work Stoppages Resources section at the end of this factsheet. Note that information presented in this fact sheet is not directly comparable to the annual listing for 1947-1949 because of some difference in methodology. One should also note, some values reported are rounded in thousands.

Before diving into the work stoppages, it’s important to understand the economic situation of the 1940s. The decade experienced significant labor activity in the U.S. The number of work stoppages, workers involved, and days idle varied greatly across 1940’s, influenced by the World War II, post war economic adjustment, and evolving labor conditions and legislation.

Number of work stoppages

The Work Stoppages program tracks both the number of stoppages that began in a given month or year as well as the number of stoppages in effect. Stoppages beginning in a month or year are new stoppages that began during the time frame while those in effect count any stoppage observed during the time frame. Specifically, this includes stoppages that began in a previous month or year and continued into the time period being considered. The following chart displays the total number of work stoppages beginning and in effect each year from 1940 to 1949. The lowest number of work stoppages beginning occurred in 1940, while the lowest number of stoppages in effect was in 1942. During 1946, the first post war year, there were over 8,700 work stoppages in effect.

Number of workers involved in work stoppages

The major work stoppages program provides quantitative information about workers involved in a work stoppage beginning in a period and in effect. The period can be a year or a month, like in the following chart. Chart 2 shows the monthly distribution of the number of workers involved in a stoppage beginning and in effect from 1940-1949. It is apparent, as in the previous chart, that 1946 was not an average year even by the 40’s metrics. It was the first postwar year. Most work stoppages in chart 1 are not major work stoppages as they do not involve a minimum of 1,000 workers to be considered “major”.

Breaking down the workers’ involvement in stoppages further by categories demonstrates this vividly. Chart 3 groups stoppages by number of workers involved, such as “6 and under 20 workers”, or “10,000 and over workers”. Throughout the decade only a fraction of all work stoppages involved over 1,000 workers. Each year of the 1940-1949 decade, the most frequent number of workers involved in work stoppages was between 20 to 100. In 1946 alone, there were almost 1,800 such stoppages.

Days idle

The Days idle (or man-days idle) is a measurement that quantifies the impact of work stoppages, such as strikes and walkouts, on a labor force. It reflects the total worker days lost by multiplying the number of workers involved and number of days impacted. The spike in work stoppages metrics around 1946 can be attributed to a transition of the economy from wartime to peacetime. In fact, the increase happened right after VJ-Day. Here are Charts 4 and 5 to visualize the dynamics.

This major economic shift, together with pent up labor demands, inflation, and the strength of unions, created a perfect storm for widespread labor unrest. Here is the same measurement for 40’s decade retrospective.

Some of the largest strikes in U.S. history happened in 1946, and many of these stoppages lasted for extended periods. For example:

• Steelworkers strike: Approximately 750,000 steelworkers went on strike for about 25 days.

• Coal Mine strike: Involved over 400,000 workers approximately and lasted for 59 days.

• Railroad Workers strike: More than quarter million worker were involved in the stoppage, disrupting transportation and logistics across the United States for several weeks.

Duration of stoppages

The length of time, or duration, that a work stoppage lasted helps in understanding the impact a work stoppage may have on those involved. Duration is expressed in calendar days and includes nonworking days, like holidays and weekends. A stoppage lasting 3 months would be recorded as 90 days rather than the 60-70 workdays that would typically take place across 3 months. Chart 6 displays the number of stoppages by duration each year and Table 2 contains the annual average duration of work stoppages.