Bureau of Labor Statistics > Work Stoppages > Publications > Factsheets

Work Stoppages: 2000–2009

The Work Stoppages Program provides monthly and annual data on major work stoppages in the US. Major work stoppages are defined as any stoppage that involves 1,000 or more workers and lasts for at least one full work shift.

Before evaluating the data, it is important to consider the landscape of the U.S. economy in the 2000s. The “dot-com bubble” recession of 2001, and the financial crisis of 2008. When evaluating and analyzing these data, one should remember that the employment composition of the U.S. workforce looked different from how it looks now.

Number of work stoppages

The work stoppages program tracks the number of work stoppages beginning (new stoppages that started within the period, such as a month or year), and work stoppages in effect (stoppages observed in a particular period). Specifically, the in effect estimate includes stoppages that began in a previous period and continued into the period of interest. The following chart displays the total number of work stoppages beginning and in effect annually from 2000–2009.

Chart 1 data table

Table 1. Number of work stoppages by year, 2000–2009.
Year	Beginning in a year	In effect in a year
2000	39	40
2001	29	30
2002	19	20
2003	14	15
2004	17	18
2005	22	24
2006	20	23
2007	21	23
2008	15	16
2009	5	5
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

Notice the difference between the columns for the same year. For all but 2009, the number of work stoppages in effect in the year is larger than the number beginning in the year. For example, in the year 2000 there were 39 work stoppages beginning, and 40 in effect. Thus, one work stoppage started prior to the year 2000, but continued during this year. In contrast, the year 2009 is not only the record year for the lowest number of work stoppages (5 work stoppages), but also the year when the number of beginning and in effect work stoppages were the same.

The Work Stoppages Program provides detailed information relating to each work stoppage in the Detailed Monthly Listing, 1993–Present, which allows data users to analyze work stoppages by year, state, ownership, industry, union, dates started and ended, and organizations involved.

During the 2000–2009 decade, there were 201 major work stoppages beginning in the year. There were 152 work stoppages, or about 76 percent of all major work stoppages, in the private industry during this period. Thirty-six work stoppages (around 18 percent) occurred at the local government level, and around 6 percent at the state government level.

Chart 2 data table

Table 2. Number of work stoppages by ownership, 2000–2009
Ownership	Number	Percent
Local government	36	18%
Private industry	152	76%
State government	13	6%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

Number of workers involved in work stoppages

Another metric used by WSP is the number of workers involved in work stoppages in the period. This metric also has beginning and in effect measurements.

Chart 3 data table

Table 3. Number of workers (in thousand) in the period, 2000–2009
Year	Beginning in a year	In effect in a year
2000	393.7	396.7
2001	99.1	101.8
2002	45.9	46.9
2003	129.2	130.5
2004	170.7	232
2005	99.6	102.1
2006	70.1	76.6
2007	189.2	192.9
2008	72.2	82.7
2009	12.5	12.5
Footnotes: (1) Number of workers involved includes only those workers who participated in work stoppages in the calendar year. Workers are counted more than once if they are involved in more than one stoppage during the reference period. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. Starting 1981 the numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

When analyzing the work stoppages data, it can be helpful to look at the distribution of number of workers involved in work stoppages by ownership. For example, the majority of workers involved in major work stoppages in 2000–2009 decade was concentrated in private industry.

Chart 4 data table

Table 4. Number of workers (in thousand) in the period, 2000–2009
Ownership	Number of workers involved
Local government	245,700
Private industry	966,700
State government	72,200
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

Cumulative days of idleness in work stoppages

An additional way to evaluate work stoppages is by calculating the cumulative days of idleness from a work stoppage. Days idled in period A is calculated by multiplying the sum of workdays lost due to a work stoppage by number of workers involved in this work stoppage in period A. Days of idleness are published by the Work Stoppages Program both as a number in thousands, and as a percentage of total working time. Days idle include all stoppages in effect during the reference period. For work stoppages that are still ongoing at the end of the calendar year, only those days of idleness in the calendar year are counted. One can judge a work stoppage’s magnitude by looking at this measurement. For example, Chart 5 demonstrates the cumulative days idle by industry. The professional, scientific, and technical services industry had the largest number of days of idleness during the 2000s decade.

Chart 5 data table

Table 5. Cumulative days of idleness by industry, 2000–2009
Industry	Days of idleness
Accommodation and food services	398,700
Administrative and waste services	270,400
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	6,000
Construction	458,000
Educational services	586,500
Finance and insurance	51,600
Health care and social assistance	542,600
Information	1,873,000
Manufacturing	6,100,800
Mining	143,700
Professional, scientific, and technical services	17,280,000
Public Administration	381,100
Real estate and rental and leasing	21,000
Retail trade	6,243,400
Transportation and warehousing	2,187,900
Utilities	245,600
Wholesale trade	116,900
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

One could also examine an individual work stoppage by cumulative days idled. Chart 6 shows the largest work stoppages by cumulative days idled during the 2000s. The dispute involving the Association of National Advertisers; American Association of Advertising Agencies was the largest with 17,280,000 days idled.

Chart 6 data table

Table 6. The largest work stoppages by cumulative days of idleness, 2000–2009
Organizations involved	Days of idleness
Association of National Advertisers; American Association of Advertising Agencies	17,280,000
Albertsons, Ralphs, and Vons Markets	5,718,100
Northwest Airlines Corporation	1,183,800
The Boeing Company	1,053,000
Verizon Communications	955,000
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

Manufacturing sector stoppages

There were 48 work stoppages in the manufacturing industry, or around a quarter of all work stoppages in the 2000s. The number of workers involved in work stoppages in the manufacturing industry was 279,100. These work stoppages resulted in over 6 million days of idleness. There were only 2 one-day work stoppages in manufacturing during this period.

Chart 7 data table

Table 7. Organizations involved in work stoppages by days of idleness, 2000–2009
Organizations involved	Days of idleness
The Boeing Company (2008)	1,053,000
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (2006)	718,200
AK Steel Corp. (2006)	556,200
Ormet (2004)	522,600
Boeing Company (2000)	459,000
Boeing Company (2005)	366,000
American Axel and Manufacturing, Inc. (2008)	226,800
Bath Iron Works (2000)	182,400
General Motors Corporation (2007)	148,000
International Truck and Engine Corporation (2007)	133,200
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work Stoppages Program.

In the manufacturing industry, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) unions participated in over 62.5 percent of work stoppages in 2000–2009. The IAM union workers were involved in 18 work stoppages, while the UAW workers were involved in 12. The organizations involved in work stoppages repeated as well. For example, the Boeing Company was involved in 5 work stoppages over the decade, Lockheed Martin Corporation was involved in 4, and General Motors Company in 3.

Chart 8 data table

Table 8. Unions involved in work stoppages by days of idleness in manufacturing industry, 2000–2009
Union	Number of work stoppages
International Association of Machinists	18
United Automobile Workers	12
Other unions	11
United Steelworkers	4
International Brotherhood of Teamsters	3
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. To retrieve Work stoppages data, see the WSP database, as well as the Detailed Monthly Tables.