The Bureau of Labor Services released its annual report today documenting the number of labor strikes and disruptions in the previous year. They found that last year marked the third fewest number of strikes in an annual period since 1947.
The year began, though, with a large number of workers on strike:
There were 27,000 workers involved in major work stoppages that began in 2020. The education and health services industry supersector accounted for over 75 percent of idled workers. Within these sectors, 21,700 workers were idled for 26 cumulative days. In 2017, 25,300 workers were idled and the information sector accounted for the majority of idled workers at 15,000 workers. In 2009, 12,500 workers were idled with almost half of the idled workers coming from one stoppage in the transportation and warehousing sector.
Overall, though, last year had eight major work stoppages, defined by 1,000 or more workers on strike. The lowest annual total was five in 2009, the year after the 2008 stock market crash and real estate meltdown. Last year of course unemployment exploded to even higher levels than it did in that economic slowdown and today the real unemployment level remains around 11-12%.
