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Work Stoppages

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: