Media note: You can view and download a full copy of the report here.
Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. – The number of striking workers, particularly in private-sector industries, more than doubled from 2022 to 2023, according to the third Labor Action Tracker Annual Report, which presents key findings from work stoppage data.
“The increase in strike activity is the biggest labor relations development of 2023,” said Alexander Colvin, professor of conflict resolution and dean of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).
“The rising numbers show the impact of a series of major strikes involving large numbers of workers who walked off the job for significant periods of time. The strike has always been at the core of labor bargaining power. This rise in strike action after many years of diminished activity indicates a union resurgence that is shifting the balance of power back toward labor,” Colvin said.
Among the key findings in the 2023 data, the labor action tracker documented:
- The number of workers involved in work stoppages increased by ~141% (224,000 to 539,000).
- The number of work stoppages increased by ~9% (433 to 470) between 2022 and 2023. This included 466 strikes and 4 lockouts, involving approximately 539,000 workers and 24,874,522 strike days.
- High-profile strikes such as the SAG-AFTRA strike, the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions strike, the LA Unified School District strike, and the UAW Stand-Up Strike accounted for approximately 350,100 of the 539,000 workers.
- The number of work stoppages involving demands for a first contract more than doubled from 36 in 2022 to 74 in 2023.
- Like 2022, workers in the accommodation and food service organized the highest number of work stoppages of any industry (~33%), but only accounted for ~6% of the total number of workers on strike.
“Labor activism continued to rise in 2023, with more strikes and workers on strike than any year since we began the project in 2021,” said Johnnie Kallas, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, who founded the Labor Action Tracker in 2021.
“The last time roughly this many workers went on strike was in 2018 and 2019, fueled by educator strikes. But this year, large strikes were much more dispersed this past year throughout numerous private sector industries,” Kallas said.
Due to funding cuts by the Reagan administration in the early-1980s, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has only documented work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers that last at least an entire shift. By only recording large work stoppages, official data sources exclude the vast majority of strike activity, posing issues for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars in determining the extent of workplace conflict across the country.
The Labor Action Tracker is a comprehensive database of strikes across the United States. You can also follow the Labor Action Tracker and view monthly reports of strike activity on X (formerly Twitter) by searching @ILRLaborAction.
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