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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Work Stoppages > Publications > Factsheets

Work Stoppages: 1950-1959

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.

Before we take a look at the work stoppages of the 1950s, let’s consider the economy as a whole. During this time period, the economy grew by 37%, and purchasing power rose by 30%. Unemployment remained relatively low throughout the 50s and the prevalence of unions grew across the country. There were some notable work stoppages that took place during this time period. One of which was the Kohler strike that began in 1954 and would last for around 11 years. Another notable stoppage was the 1959 Steel Strike. This stoppage involved 519,000 workers and was one of the largest stoppages in American history.

Number of work stoppages

As mentioned previously, the work stoppages program changed the scope of included stoppages from “all work stoppages” (those with at least 6 workers involved), to “major work stoppages” (those with 1,000 or more workers involved) in 1982. Across the 1950s, the lowest number of all work stoppages was recorded in 1954 with 3,468 stoppages recorded. 1959 saw the lowest number of major work stoppages with 245 stoppages recorded that met the criteria. The following chart displays the total number of work stoppages beginning each year from 1950-1959 for each criteria of work stoppage.

Chart 1 data table

Chart 1. Number of work stoppages beginning each year 1950-1959
Year	All work stoppages	Major work stoppages
1950	4,843	424
1951	4,737	415
1952	5,117	470
1953	5,091	437
1954	3,468	265
1955	4,320	363
1956	3,825	287
1957	3,673	279
1958	3,694	332
1959	3,708	245
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program

Number of workers involved

While there is a specific threshold for capturing work stoppages, the specific number of workers for each stoppage is also recorded. It can be consistently seen that the majority of work stoppages in the US involve fewer than 250 workers. While some stoppages can involve over 10,000 workers, these are a small portion of the total number of stoppages that occur. 1952 had 35 recorded stoppages involving 10,000 or more workers, which was the most of any year across the 1950s. Chart 2 breaks out stoppages for a few ranges based on the number of workers involved.

Chart 2 data table

Chart 2. Number of work stoppages by number of workers involved, 1950-1959
Year	10,000 or more	1,000-9,999	500-999	250-499	<250
1950	22	402	950	576	3469
1951	19	396	433	589	3715
1952	35	435	411	691	4015
1953	28	409	402	645	4044
1954	18	247	235	358	2875
1955	26	337	304	481	3535
1956	12	275	254	468	3103
1957	13	266	254	417	3002
1958	21	311	234	371	3089
1959	20	225	252	380	3076
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program

Duration of stoppages

In addition to the number of workers involved, the duration of each stoppage is also published. The duration of a stoppage is recorded as the number of calendar days the stoppage lasted. Chart 3 provides the total number of stoppages with durations of various ranges of days. The data is the sum of all stoppages between 1950-1959, except for stoppages beginning in 1952 as the duration data was not available.

Chart 3 data table

Chart 3. Number of stoppages beginning by length of stoppage, 1950-1959
Days	Stoppages
1	4,660
2-3	6,103
4-6	5,470
7-14	7,936
15-29	5,989
30-59	4,270
60-89	1,526
90+	1,424
Note: Historic data for stoppage length was not available for 1952. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program

Days of Idleness

The Work Stoppages program publishes “days of idleness” which captures the total number of man-days lost due to stoppages. This is calculated by combining the number of workers involved and the number of calendar days the stoppage lasted. Chart 4 shows the number of days idled each year from 1950-1959. The days of idleness spiked in both 1952 and 1959 without corresponding spikes in the number of total stoppages those years. In both cases, this is due in large part to the US Steel Strikes that occurred in those years. In 1952, the Steel Strike involved 560,000 workers participating and lasted 59 days. The 1959 Steel Strike involved 519,000 workers in a stoppage lasting 116 days.

Chart 4 data table

Chart 4. Days of idleness by year, 1950-1959
Year	Days of idleness
1950	38,800
1951	22,900
1952	59,100
1953	28,300
1954	22,600
1955	28,200
1956	33,100
1957	16,500
1958	23,900
1959	69,000
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program

Work stoppages by month

Work stoppages data is published monthly. Up until now, we have only considered what year a stoppage begins in, but next we will organize the data by the month the stoppage began in. In chart 5, the number of stoppages for each month have been added together for the 1950-1959 time period showing that stoppages seem to peak in the warmer months.

Chart 5 data table

Chart 5. Number of work stoppages by month, 1950-1959
Month	Stoppages
January	2,831
February	2,651
March	3,166
April	4,015
May	4,581
June	4,339
July	4,325
August	4,493
September	4,152
October	3,884
November	2,538
December	1,501
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program

Work stoppages by number of establishments

Most of the work stoppages during the 1950s involve just a single establishment, however some stoppages are nationwide and can include over 100 establishments. The 1959 Steel Strike alone spanned across more than 57 Metropolitan Statistical Areas and involved over 470 establishments with participating workers. Chart 6 displays the number of stoppages by the number of establishments involved throughout the 50s. The data in the chart is the sum of all stoppages between 1950-1959, except for stoppages beginning in 1951 as the data by establishment was not available.

Chart 6 data table

Chart 6. Number of work stoppages by establishments involved, 1950-1959
Establishments	Stoppages
1	28,502
2-5	4,721
6-10	1,535
11+	2,846
Note: Historic data for establishments involved was not available for 1951. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program

Work Stoppages Resources

For more information on the Work Stoppages program see the Questions and Answers page. Detailed data on work stoppages from 1950 to 1959 are available in the historical bulletins: