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Internet Address:  http://stats.bls.gov                         Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998




MAJOR WORK STOPPAGES, 1997

	The number of major work stoppages dropped to a record low in 1997, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.  Other measures of work stoppage activity were low by historical standards, although the number of workers idled by stoppages increased from a year ago. 

Twenty-nine major work stoppages began during 1997, idling 339,000 workers and resulting in about 4.5 million days of idleness (about 1 out of every 10,000 available work days).  Comparable figures for 1996 were 37 stoppages, 273,000 workers idled, and 4.9 million days of idleness.  (See table 1 and charts 1-3.)  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 29 major work stoppages beginning in 1997, 26 were in the private sector, and the remainder occurred in state and local government.  In the private sector, 14 stoppages were in manufacturing industries, including 7 at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. and 3 at tire manufacturers.  Of the remaining 12 stoppages in the private sector, 5 occurred at Kaiser Permanente and 4 at various construction sites. 

	Industries with the most days of idleness during the year due to work stoppages were air courier services (2 million days), transportation equipment manufacturing (905,000 days), primary metals (803,000 days), rubber and miscellaneous plastics products (250,000 days), and health care services (136,000 days).

	The 1997 stoppage involving the most workers was between United Parcel Service and the Teamsters representing 180,000 employees, most of whom were out for 15 days.  (See table 2.) 

	Over three-fourths of the year's work stoppage idleness (3.4 million days) stemmed from four disputes.  The first was the previously mentioned United Parcel Service-Teamsters dispute (over 2 million days of idleness).  The second was between Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corp. and the United Steelworkers (744,000 days of idleness).  The last two involved members of the United Automobile Workers at General Motors Corp. (360,000 days of idleness) and Chrysler Corp. (307,000 days of idleness). 

	The average length of work stoppages beginning in 1997 was about 20 days.  A majority of the work stoppages lasted for 2 weeks or less, and only 10 percent extended for 60 or more days.  Work stoppages were concentrated in the 2-3 day and 15-29 day ranges.  (See chart 4.)  The longest stoppage beginning in the year was at CF&I Steel Co., where 1,000 workers represented by the United Steelworkers were out for 89 days.  The second longest stoppage beginning in the year was at General Motors Corp. in Pontiac, Mich., where 5,900 workers represented by the United Automobile Workers were idle for 88 days.  The longest stoppage in effect in 1997 was at the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, where 2,500 workers represented by various unions were out for 558 days; this stoppage began in 1995 and continued into 1997.


   The term "major work stoppage" includes worker-initiated strikes, as well as lockouts of workers by their employers, involving 1,000 workers or more.  BLS does not attempt to distinguish between strikes and lockouts in its statistics.


Table 1.  Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947-97
__________________________________________________________________________
                            |                   |
                            |   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 ......................|   54  |     324   |    7,079  |      .03
 1986 ......................|   69  |     533   |   11,861  |      .05
 1987 ......................|   46  |     174   |    4,481  |      .02
 1988 ......................|   40  |     118   |    4,381  |      .02
 1989 ......................|   51  |     452   |   16,996  |      .07
                            |       |           |           |
 1990 ......................|   44  |     185   |    5,926  |      .02
 1991 ......................|   40  |     392   |    4,584  |      .02
 1992 ......................|   35  |     364   |    3,989  |      .01
 1993 ......................|   35  |     182   |    3,981  |      .01
 1994 ......................|   45  |     322   |    5,020  |      .02
                            |       |           |           |
 1995 ......................|   31  |     192   |    5,771  |      .02
 1996 ......................|   37  |     273   |    4,889  |      .02
 1997 ......................|   29  |     339   |    4,497  |      .01
__________________________________________________________________________
    1/ The number of stoppages and                2/ 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 1997

                                    |             |             |     Workers    |   Estimated days 
  Employer, location, and union     |    Began    |    Ended    |    involved1   |    idle in 19971
                                    |             |             |                |
Chrysler Corp.                      |   4/10/97   |    5/9/97   |     15,1002    |       306,800
  Interstate                        |             |             |                |
  Automobile Workers                |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
Kaiser Permanente                   |   4/16/97   |   4/16/97   |     17,000     |        17,000
  Northern California               |             |             |                |
  California Nurses Association     |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.        |   4/20/97   |    5/8/97   |     12,000     |       168,000
  Interstate                        |             |             |                |
  Steelworkers                      |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
General Motors Corp.                |   4/23/97   |   7/19/97   |      5,900     |       359,900
  Pontiac, MI                       |             |             |                |
  Automobile Workers                |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
General Motors Corp., Delphi        |   5/13/97   |   5/14/97   |      8,000     |        16,000
 Packard Electric Division          |             |             |                |
  Warren, OH                        |             |             |                |
  Electrical Workers (IUE)          |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
Kaiser Permanente                   |   7/17/97   |   7/18/97   |     10,500     |        21,000
  Northern California               |             |             |                |
  California Nurses Association     |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
General Motors Corp.                |   7/23/97   |   7/27/97   |     14,1003    |        25,200
  Michigan                          |             |             |                |
  Automobile Workers                |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc.           |   7/28/97   |   7/30/97   |      6,200     |        18,600
  Southeast Massachusetts           |             |             |                |
   and Rhode Island                 |             |             |                |
  Food and Commercial Workers       |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
United Parcel Service               |    8/4/97   |   8/21/974  |    180,000     |     2,032,500
  Interstate                        |             |             |                |
  Teamsters                         |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
Kaiser Permanente                   |    9/8/97   |    9/9/97   |     20,300     |        40,600
  Northern California               |             |             |                |
  California Nurses Association     |             |             |                |
                                    |             |             |                |
Kaiser Permanente                   |  11/10/97   |  11/10/97   |      8,900     |         8,900
  Northern California               |             |             |                |
  California Nurses Association     |             |             |                |

1 Workers and days idle are rounded to the nearest 100.
2 Excludes workers in Canada and Mexico.
3 Excludes workers in Canada.
4 All workers went back to work on August 19, 1997, with the exception of members of two locals in Chicago.