# Timeline of strikes in 1981

In 1981, a number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred.

## Background

A labor strike is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. It is usually a response to employee grievances, such as low pay or poor working conditions. Strikes can also occur to demonstrate solidarity with workers in other workplaces or pressure governments to change policies.

## Timeline
### Continuing strikes from 1980

* 1980-81 Bangalore public sector strike
* 1980-81 West Bank teachers strike, by Israeli-employed Palestinian teachers in the West Bank demanding pay raises to match their salaries with the salaries of teachers in Israel.

### January

* 1981 general strike in Bielsko-Biała

### February

* 1981 Athens taxi strike
* 1981 Irish hunger strike
* 1981 Qantas strike, by Qantas staff in Australia.
* 1981 Venice transport strike

### March

* Bydgoszcz events
* 1981 warning strike in Poland

### April

* 1981 Bermuda general strike, the first general strike in Bermudan history.
* 1981 Danish printers' strike, 11-week strike in the printing industry in Denmark.
* 1981 Dannon Yogurt strike, 5-week strike by Danone workers in New York, represented by the Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees.
* 1981 Wagner College strike, 20-day strike by faculty at Wagner College.
* 1981 Writers Guild of America strike

### May

* 1981 Nigerian general strike

### June

* 1981 Birzeit University strike, strike by students at Birzeit University in the West Bank in protest against Israeli forces' harassment of students.
* 1981 Canada Post strike, 42-day strike by Canada Post workers represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers demanding the right to paid maternity leave.
* 1981 Major League Baseball strike
* 1981 Schlitz strike

### July

* 1981 British Columbian lumber strike, by forestry workers in British Columbia, Canada, represented by the International Woodworkers of America; the first province-wide forestry strike since 1959.
* Cape Breton coal strike of 1981
* 1981 Ford Brazil strike
* 1981 Georgia Power strike, by Georgia Power staff in the United States, represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
* 1981 Minnesota public sector strike, 22-day strike.
* 1981 Polish hunger demonstrations

### August

* 1981 Cape Cod Hospital strike, 17-day strike by nurses at Cape Cod Hospital.
* 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike
* 1981 Sierra Leone general strike, the first in the history of Sierra Leone.
* 1981 Stelco strike, 125-day strike by Stelco steelworkers in Canada.

### September

* 1981 Hawaii tugboat strike
* 1981 Philadelphia teachers' strike
* 1981 Swingline strike, month-long strike by Swingline workers in the United States.

### November

* 1981 El Al strike, 12-day strike by El Al staff in Israel.
* 1981 Bolivian tin miners' strike
* 1981 British Leyland strike, month-long strike by British Leyland workers in the United Kingdom over proposals to reduce the amount of break times workers received.
* 1981 Massachusetts bus strike, 42-day strike by transit workers in Massachusetts, represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union.

### December

* December 1981 Gaza general strike, general strike in the Gaza Strip.
* 1981 Golan Heights Druze strike, by members of the Druze community in the Golan Heights protesting the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.
* Milwaukee police strike
* 1981 strike at the Piast Coal Mine in Bieruń