Full text of Major Work Stoppages : 1992 : USDL 93-36 : 1992
The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
TEXT Table 1. Table 2. Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947-92 Work stoppages involving 5,000 workers or more beginning in 1992 Technical information: Michael Cimini (202) 606-6275 Media contact: (202) 606-5902 MAJOR WORK STOPPAGES: USDL 93-36 FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE Wednesday, Feb. 3, 1993 1992 In 1992, the number of major work stoppages and amount of idleness were at the lowest levels recorded in the 45-year-old series, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Thirty-five major stoppages began during the year, resulting in 4.0 million days of idleness, or about 1 out of every 10,000 available work days. Another measure of work stoppage activity, workers involved (364,000), included 230,000 workers in a 2-day national railroad stoppage. The measure was, nonetheless, among the lowest recorded in the series, continuing the pattern that has generally prevailed for the last several years. (See table 1.) The series, which dates back to 1947, covers strikes and lockouts involving 1,000 workers or more and lasting at least one shift. Of the 35 major work stoppages beginning in 1992, 29 were in the private sector--including 12 in manufacturing and five each in construction and services. In the public sector, five stoppages involved local government employees, and one involved state government workers. Five of the public sector disputes were in education. Several industries had significant numbers of workers covered by major collective bargaining settlements that were successfully negotiated in 1992 without a work stoppage: Communications (472,000 workers); mining (54,000 workers); and finance, insurance, and real estate (44,000 workers). Industries with the largest number of workers idled during the year due to work stoppages were transportation (243,000), transportation equipment manufacturing (37,000), and construction (14,000). The largest stoppage that began in 1992, in terms of number of workers and number of workdays idle, involved the nation's major rail freight carriers and the International Association of Machinists and idled 230,000 railroad workers, resulting in 460,000 days of idleness. On the second day of the stoppage, Congress enacted back-to-work legislation mandating a settlement of the dispute. Other large stoppages beginning in 1992 involved General Motors and the Automobile Workers (45,100 workers and 217,600 days of idleness), the Detroit Board of Education and the Teachers (AFT) (10,500 workers and 199,500 days of idleness), and USAir and the Machinists (8,300 workers and 41,500 days of idleness). (See table 2.) The largest stoppage carried over from 1991 involved 12,600 workers represented by the Automobile Workers at Caterpillar. It began in November 1991 and ended in April 1992. The longest stoppage beginning in 1992 involved the Teamsters and the Pittsburgh Press. The job action resulted in the shutdown of the Press and its intracity rival, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, idling 1,400 newspaper workers. The stoppage began on May 18 and ended on November 29, 1992. The longest stoppage in effect during the year involved 1,600 tugboat and barge crew members represented by the International Longshoremen's Association and employed by companies in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The stoppage began February 15, 1988, and continued into 1993. -------------------------------------------------------The term "major work stoppage" includes worker | initiated strikes, as well as lockouts of workers by | their employers, involving 1,000 workers or more. The | Bureau does not attempt to distinguish between strikes | and lockouts in its statistics. Annual data are | reported in this news release after the end of each | year. Monthly work stoppage data appear in the BLS | periodicals, Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and | Working Conditions. | -------------------------------------------------------Table 1. Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947-92 __________________________________________________________________________ | | | Stoppages 1/ | Days idle 1/ ___________________|_________________________ | | | | Year | | Workers | | Percent of |Number | involved | Number | estimated | | | | | | | | | | |(thousands)|(thousands)| working | | | | time 2/ __________________________________________________________________________ | | | | 1947.......................| 270 | 1,629 | 25,720 | (3) 1948.......................| 245 | 1,435 | 26,127 | 0.22 1949 ......................| 262 | 2,537 | 43,420 | .38 | | | | 1950 ......................| 424 | 1,698 | 30,390 | .26 1951.......................| 415 | 1,462 | 15,070 | .12 1952 ......................| 470 | 2,746 | 48,820 | .38 1953 ......................| 437 | 1,623 | 18,130 | .14 1954 ......................| 265 | 1,075 | 16,630 | .13 1955 ......................| 363 | 2,055 | 21,180 | .16 1956.......................| 287 | 1,370 | 26,840 | .20 1957.......................| 279 | 887 | 10,340 | .07 1958 ......................| 332 | 1,587 | 17,900 | .13 1959 ......................| 245 | 1,381 | 60,850 | .43 | | | | 1960 ......................| 222 | 896 | 13,260 | .09 1961.......................| 195 | 1,031 | 10,140 | .07 1962.......................| 211 | 793 | 11,760 | .08 1963.......................| 181 | 512 | 10,020 | .07 1964.......................| 246 | 1,183 | 16,220 | .11 1965.......................| 268 | 999 | 15,140 | .10 1966.......................| 321 | 1,300 | 16,000 | .10 1967.......................| 381 | 2,192 | 31,320 | .18 1968.......................| 392 | 1,855 | 35,367 | .20 1969.......................| 412 | 1,576 | 29,397 | .16 | | | | 1970.......................| 381 | 2,468 | 52,761 | .29 1971.......................| 298 | 2,516 | 35,538 | .19 1972.......................| 250 | 975 | 16,764 | .09 1973.......................| 317 | 1,400 | 16,260 | .08 1974.......................| 424 | 1,796 | 31,809 | .16 1975.......................| 235 | 965 | 17,563 | .09 1976.......................| 231 | 1,519 | 23,962 | .12 1977.......................| 298 | 1,212 | 21,258 | .10 1978.......................| 219 | 1,006 | 23,774 | .11 1979.......................| 235 | 1,021 | 20,409 | .09 | | | | 1980.......................| 187 | 795 | 20,844 | .09 1981.......................| 145 | 729 | 16,908 | .07 1982.......................| 96 | 656 | 9,061 | .04 1983.......................| 81 | 909 | 17,461 | .08 1984.......................| 62 | 376 | 8,499 | .04 1985.......................| 1986.......................| 1987.......................| 1988.......................| 54 69 46 40 | | | | 324 533 174 118 | | | | 7,079 11,861 4,481 4,381 | | | | .03 .05 .02 .02 1989.......................| 1990.......................| 1991.......................| 1992.......................| 51 44 40 35 | | | | 452 185 392 364 | | | | 16,996 5,926 4,584 3,989 | | | | .07 .02 .02 .01 __________________________________________________________________________ 1/ The number of stoppages and 2/ Total working time is workers relate to stoppages that for all employees, except began in the year. Days of those in private households, idleness include all stoppages in forestry, and fisheries. effect. Workers are counted more 3/ Not available. than once if they are involved in more than one stoppage during the year. Table 2. Work stoppages involving 5,000 workers or more beginning in 1992 ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | | Workers | Estimated Employer, location, and union |Began |Ended | involved 1/ | days idle 1/ | | | | in 1992 1/ ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Kroger Co. | 4/13 | 6/19 | 7,800 | 388,200 Michigan | | | | Food and Commercial Workers | | | | | | | | Railroad industry ...................| 6/24 | 6/25 | 230,000 | 460,000 Interstate | | | | Various unions | | | | | | | | General Motors ......................| 8/27 | 9/5 | 45,100 | 217,600 Lordstown, OH | | | | Automobile Workers | | | | | | | | Board of Education ..................| 8/31 | 9/26 | 10,500 | 199,500 Detroit, Michigan Teachers (AFT) | | | | | | | | | | | | General Motors ......................| 9/25 | 9/28 | 7,200 | 14,400 Lansing, Michigan | | | | Automobile Workers | | | | | | | | USAir ...............................| 10/5 | 10/10| 8,300 | 41,500 Interstate | | | | Machinists | | | | ___________________________________________________________________________ 1/ Workers and days idle are rounded to the nearest 100.