Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

Information: (202) 691-6127 cbainfo@bls.gov USDL 05-598 

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 For Release: 10:00 A.M. EDT 

Internet Address: http://www.bls.gov/cba Friday, April 8, 2005 

MAJOR WORK STOPPAGES IN 2004 

The number of workers idled because of lockouts and strikes in 2004 rose from the prior 

year while the number of days of idleness fell. As a result, the percent of estimated working time 

lost remained roughly the same as in 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor 

Statistics reported. These figures were still low by historical standards. 

Seventeen major work stoppages began during 2004 and one major work stoppage 

continued from 2003, idling 170,700 workers and resulting in 3.3 million workdays of idleness. 

Comparable figures for 2003 were 14 stoppages, 129,200 workers idled, and 4.1 million workdays 

of idleness. (See Tables 1 & 3 and Charts A-C.) The major work stoppages series, which dates 

back to 1947, covers strikes and lockouts involving 1,000 or more employees and lasting at least 

one shift. For work stoppages that span two different calendar years, only those days of idleness in 

calendar year 2004 are counted. Detailed work stoppage statistics are available at 

(http://www.bls.gov/cba/). 

 Of the 17 major work stoppages beginning in 2004, 14 were in private industry and three 

were in State and local governments. In private industry, the largest number of stoppages occurred 

among the service providing industries (seven) and among the manufacturing sector of the goods 

producing industries (three). Of the stoppages occurring in the service providing industries, four 

were in the health care and social assistance sector and three were in the accommodation and food 

service sector. In State and local governments, two stoppages were in the transportation and 

warehousing sector and one was in the health care and social assistance sector. 

 Four work stoppages, three beginning in 2004 and one that began in 2003, accounted for 83 

percent of all workers idled in 2004. The largest was between SBC Communications, Inc. and the 

Communications Workers of America (CWA), with 102,000 workers idled. The second largest, 

the stoppage that began in 2003 and continued into 2004, was between Albertsons, Ralphs Grocery 

Company, Vons and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), with 61,300 workers 

idled. The third largest was a stoppage between the Home Health Care Agencies in New York 

City and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which idled 19,000 workers. The 

fourth largest was a stoppage between the Hotel and Casino Employers in Atlantic City and 

UNITE HERE, which idled 10,000 workers. These four work stoppages cited above were 

responsible for 85 percent of the days of idleness in 2004. (See Table 2.) 

 

United States 

Department News of Labor 
2

 The industries with the most days of idleness during the year due to work stoppages were 

retail trade (2,447,900 days) and other services (747,700 days). 

 The average length of a work stoppage beginning in 2004 was 14.6 days; 83 percent of all 

work stoppages lasted 30 days or less. (See Table A.) The longest work stoppage was a dispute 

between the Automobile Dealers Association in St. Louis, MO, with the International Association 

of Machinists (IAM) and the International Brother of Teamsters (IBT) lasting 52 days. The 

dispute between Albertsons, Ralphs Grocery Company, Vons and the United Food and 

Commercial Workers (UFCW) lasted 39 days in 2004 and 56 days in 2003, for a combined 95-day 

work stoppage (this work stoppage is represented in Table A for 2003 because it was initiated in 

2003). There were two major work stoppages still in effect on December 31, 2004: a work 

stoppage between Ormet and United Steel Workers of America (USWA) and a work stoppage 

between Jersey Central Power and Light and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 

(IBEW). 

 Table A. Duration of work stoppages beginning in 2004, 2003, and 2002 

 2004 2003 2002 

Duration Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 

1-2 days 3 18 1 7 2 11 

3-10 days 6 35 6 43 4 21 

11-20 days 3 18 1 7 4 21 

21-30 days 2 12 2 14 3 16 

31-40 days 2 12 1 7 2 11 

41-50 days 0 0 1 7 3 16 

> 50 days 1 6 2 14 1 5 

Note: Percent totals may not add to 100 because of rounding. The 2003 and 2002 numbers represent the 

total duration of all work stoppages initiated during these respective years. The 2004 numbers represent 

work stoppages initiated in 2004; at the time of this news release, there are two work stoppages still 

ongoing in 2005. 

 The term “major work stoppage” includes both worker-initiated strikes and employerinitiated lockouts that involve 1,000 workers or more. BLS does not distinguish between 

strikes and lockouts in its statistics. 

 Information on work stoppages is obtained from reports from the Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service, State labor market information offices, and from media sources such 

as The Daily Labor Report and the Wall Street Journal. One or both parties involved in the 

work stoppage (employer or union) is contacted to verify the duration of and the number of 

workers idled by the stoppage. 
3

Table 1. Work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers, 1947-2004

Period

Number of

work

stoppages

beginning

in

period

Numbers of

workers

involved

(thousands)1

Days idle2

Number

(thousands)

Percent of

estimated

working time3

2004 ............................................................ 17 171 3,344 .01

2003 ............................................................ 14 129 4,091 .01

2002 ............................................................ 19 46 660 4 ( )

2001 ............................................................ 29 99 1,151 4 ( )

2000 ............................................................ 39 394 20,419 .06

1999 ............................................................ 17 73 1,996 .01

1998 ............................................................ 34 387 5,116 .02

1997 ............................................................ 29 339 4,497 .01

1996 ............................................................ 37 273 4,889 .02

1995 ............................................................ 31 192 5,771 .02

1994 ............................................................ 45 322 5,021 .02

1993 ............................................................ 35 182 3,981 .01

1992 ............................................................ 35 364 3,989 .01

1991 ............................................................ 40 392 4,584 .02

1990 ............................................................ 44 185 5,926 .02

1989 ............................................................ 51 452 16,996 .07

1988 ............................................................ 40 118 4,381 .02

1987 ............................................................ 46 174 4,481 .02

1986 ............................................................ 69 533 11,861 .05

1985 ............................................................ 54 324 7,079 .03

1984 ............................................................ 62 376 8,499 .04

1983 ............................................................ 81 909 17,461 .08

1982 ............................................................ 96 656 9,061 .04

1981 ............................................................ 145 729 16,908 .07

1980 ............................................................ 187 795 20,844 .09

1979 ............................................................ 235 1,021 20,409 .09

1978 ............................................................ 219 1,006 23,774 .11

1977 ............................................................ 298 1,212 21,258 .10

1976 ............................................................ 231 1,519 23,962 .12

1975 ............................................................ 235 965 17,563 .09

1974 ............................................................ 424 1,796 31,809 .16

1973 ............................................................ 317 1,400 16,260 .08

1972 ............................................................ 250 975 16,764 .09

1971 ............................................................ 298 2,516 35,538 .19

1970 ............................................................ 381 2,468 52,761 .29

1969 ............................................................ 412 1,576 29,397 .16

1968 ............................................................ 392 1,855 35,367 .20

1967 ............................................................ 381 2,192 31,320 .18

1966 ............................................................ 321 1,300 16,000 .10

1965 ............................................................ 268 999 15,140 .10

1964 ............................................................ 246 1,183 16,220 .11

1963 ............................................................ 181 512 10,020 .07

1962 ............................................................ 211 793 11,760 .08

1961 ............................................................ 195 1,031 10,140 .07

1960 ............................................................ 222 896 13,260 .09

1959 ............................................................ 245 1,381 60,850 .43

1958 ............................................................ 332 1,587 17,900 .13

1957 ............................................................ 279 887 10,340 .07

1956 ............................................................ 287 1,370 26,840 .20

1955 ............................................................ 363 2,055 21,180 .16

See footnotes at end of table.
4

Table 1. Work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers, 1947-2004 — Continued

Period

Number of

work

stoppages

beginning

in

period

Numbers of

workers

involved

(thousands)1

Days idle2

Number

(thousands)

Percent of

estimated

working time3

1954 ............................................................ 265 1,075 16,630 .13

1953 ............................................................ 437 1,623 18,130 .14

1952 ............................................................ 470 2,746 48,820 .38

1951 ............................................................ 415 1,462 15,070 .12

1950 ............................................................ 424 1,698 30,390 .26

1949 ............................................................ 262 2,537 43,420 .38

1948 ............................................................ 245 1,435 26,127 .22

1947 ............................................................ 270 1,629 25,720 5 ( )

1 Number of workers involved includes only those

workers who participated in work stoppages that began 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. 

2 Days idle includes all stopages 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. 3 Agricultural and government employees are included

in the calculation of estimated working time; private

households, forestry, and fishery employees are excluded. 4 Less than .005. 

5 Data not available. 

Note: "Number of workers involved" in Table 1 reflects a

tabulation of workers involved in a work stoppage that

began in a specific year. "Number of workers involved" in

Table 3 reflects a tabulation of all workers involved in a

work stoppage in that year without making the distinction of

when the work stoppage was initiated. 
5

Table 2. Work stoppages involving 5,000 or more workers beginning in 2004

Organizations involved

 and location1

Industry

code2

Beginning

date

Ending

date

Number of

workers3 Days idle

American Axle and Manufacturing, Inc

 MI and NY

 United Auto Workers (UAW) ...................... 334350 2/26/04 2/26/04 6,700 6,700

SBC Communications, Inc.

 Nationwide

 Communications Workers

 of America (CWA) ...................................... 517110 5/21/04 5/24/04 102,000 204,000

Home Health Care Agencies

 New York, NY

 Service Employees

 International Union (SEIU) ......................... 621610 6/7/04 6/9/04 19,000 57,000

City of New York

 New York, NY

 American Federation of State, County,

 and Municipal Employees (AFSME) .......... 664410 6/9/04 6/11/04 7,000 21,000

Hotel and Casino Employees

 Atlantic City, NJ

 UNITE HERE ............................................. 721120 10/1/04 11/3/04 10,000 230,000

Sutter Health

 San Francisco, CA

 Service Employees

 International Union (SEIU) ......................... 622110 12/6/04 12/10/04 7,000 35,000

1 Labor organizations are affiliated with the AFL-CIO except where noted as Independent (Ind.). 2 Industry code is from the 2002 NAICS (North American Industry Classification System). 3 The number of workers involved is rounded to the nearest 100.
6

Table 3. Work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers, detailed monthly data, 2004, 2003, and 2002

Period

Number of

work

stoppages

beginning

in

period

Number of

work

stoppages in

effect during

period1

Numbers of

workers

involved

(thousands)2

Days idle

(thousands)3

2004:

January ..................................................... 0 1 61 1204

February ................................................... 1 2 67 1147

March ........................................................ 1 1 2 44

April .......................................................... 0 1 2 26

May ........................................................... 2 2 103 204

June .......................................................... 3 4 29 94

July ........................................................... 0 1 2 3

August ...................................................... 2 2 4 53

September ................................................ 2 3 7 57

October ..................................................... 1 3 16 300

November ................................................. 2 4 17 115

December ................................................. 3 4 11 98

Annual ....................................................... 17 4 ( ) 320 3344

2003:

January ..................................................... 1 2 19 49

February ................................................... 0 0 0 0

March ........................................................ 2 2 4 19

April .......................................................... 1 1 4 40

May ........................................................... 1 1 1 8

June .......................................................... 1 1 4 16

July ........................................................... 0 1 4 12

August ...................................................... 3 3 8 36

September ................................................ 0 2 3 51

October ..................................................... 5 5 82 1169

November ................................................. 0 3 77 1219

December ................................................. 0 2 71 1473

Annual ...................................................... 14 4 ( ) 277 4091

2002:

January ..................................................... 0 1 1 21

February ................................................... 1 2 3 9

March ........................................................ 1 1 3 44

April .......................................................... 2 3 7 81

May ........................................................... 3 5 9 138

June .......................................................... 1 3 5 36

July ........................................................... 3 4 8 54

August ...................................................... 1 3 6 51

September ................................................ 3 3 14 40

October ..................................................... 1 3 14 133

November ................................................. 2 2 4 24

December ................................................. 1 1 1 29

Annual ...................................................... 19 4 ( ) 75 660

1 Includes stoppages that began in prior months and

are still active. 

2 Includes ongoing work stoppages. Numbers are

rounded to the nearest thousand. 

3 Days idle includes all stoppages ongoing during the

reference period. 4 This column includes all work stoppages ongoing

during the month. If a work stoppage continues longer than

one month, it will be counted in each of the months. 

Note: "Number of workers involved" in Table 1 reflects a

tabulation of workers involved in a work stoppage that

began in a specific year. "Number of workers involved" in

Table 3 reflects a tabulation of all workers involved in a

work stoppage in that year without making the distinction of

when the work stoppage was initiated. 
7

Chart A. Number of major work stoppages, 1947-2004

Number of work stoppages

0

500

1 ,0 0 0

1 ,5 0 0

2 ,0 0 0

2 ,5 0 0

3 ,0 0 0

47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92 95 98 01 04

Chart B. Number of workers involved in major work stoppages, 1947-2004

0

1 0 ,0 0 0

2 0 ,0 0 0

3 0 ,0 0 0

4 0 ,0 0 0

5 0 ,0 0 0

6 0 ,0 0 0

7 0 ,0 0 0

47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92 95 98 01 04

Chart C. Number of days of idleness from major work stoppages, 1947-2004

Days of idleness

(thousands)

Number of workers

(thousands)

0

100

200

300

400

500

47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89 92 95 98 01 04