36 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000

FEHMIDA SLEEMI

Work Stoppages in 1999 ork Stoppages in 1999

Last year was a relatively peaceful one on the collective

bargaining front. Over four-fifths of the year’s work

stoppage idleness stemmed from three disputes involving

one major union.

All measures of major work stoppages1 in 1999 were at or below the lowest levels recorded

in the 53-year series. Seventeen stoppages beginning in 1999 idled 73,000

workers, and both new disputes and

those carried over from earlier periods

resulted in the loss of 2 million workdays, or 1 out of every 10,000 available

workdays.2 Comparable figures for

1998 were 34 stoppages, 387,000 workers idled, 5.1 million workdays of idleness, and the loss of 2 out of every

10,000 available workdays. (See table

1 and charts 1 through 3.)

Sectors and industries affected

by major work stoppages beginning in 1999

Of the 17 major work stoppages beginning in 1999, 12 were in the private sector, and the remainder occurred in State

and local government:

Number of—

Stoppages Workers Days idle

Total ............. 17 72,600 961,000

 Private ...... 12 46,500 859,600

 Public ........ 5 26,100 101,400

In the private sector, 7 stoppages

occurred in goods-producing industries, accounting for 782,500 days of

idleness; 5 were in service-producing

industries, adding another 77,100 days

of idleness.3 Industries that experienced the most days of idleness during the year due to work stoppages

were primary metals (760,800 days) and

Fehmida Sleemi is an economist in the

Division of Compensation Data Analysis

and Planning, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 691-6282

E-mail: Sleemi_F@bls.gov

transportation equipment manufacturing (720,500 days).

Disputes accounting for a significant amount of idleness

Over four-fifths of the work stoppage

idleness (1.6 million days) in 1999

stemmed from three disputes in effect

during the year, all of which involved

members of the United Steelworkers.

The first dispute was at Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation and resulted in 750,000 days of idleness; the

second was at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company

(622,500 days of idleness); and the third

was at Continental General Tire Company (252,000 days of idleness).

Newsworthy major work stoppages beginning in 19994

Of the 17 stoppages beginning in 1999,

three were large enough to attract considerable media attention: The Newport

News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company-United Steelworkers dispute; the

Bruno’s-United Food and Commercial

Workers stoppage; and the Atlantic

City casino hotels-Hotel Employees

and Restaurant Employees dispute.

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry

Dock Company and United Steel- Dock Company and United Steelworkers. workers. About 8,000 members of the

United Steelworkers Local 8888 walked

off their jobs at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company on

April 5, 1999, after rejecting the company’s final contract offer. This was
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000 37

Work Stoppages ork Stoppages

Chart 1. Number of major work stoppages, 1947-99

0

100

200

300

400

500

1947 1952 1957 1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997

Year

Work stoppages

Chart 2. Workers Involved in major work stoppages, 1947-99

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

1947 1952 1957 1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997

Year

Workers involved

(thousands)

Chart 3. Days of idleness from major work stoppages, 1947-99

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

1947 1952 1957 1962 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997

Year

Days of idleness

(thousands)

CHART 1. Number of major work stoppages, 1947-99

CHART 2. Workers involved in major work stoppages, 1947-99

CHART 3. Days of idleness from major work stoppages, 1947-99

Workers involved

(thousands)

Days of idleness

(thousands)

Year

Year

Year

Work Stoppages ork Stoppages
38 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000

the first strike against the Virginiabased shipyard in 20 years.

Newport News designs, constructs,

repairs, overhauls, and refuels nuclearpowered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy. The company

is one of the largest nongovernmentowned shipyards in the United States,

and the only one capable of building

the Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft

carriers. It also is one of only two shipyards capable of building nuclear-powered submarines.

Negotiations for a new contract began in January 1999, approximately 3

months before the expiration of the

then-current contract. According to

the union, the company initially proposed a 50-month contract with 3-percent wage increases in both the first 17

months and last 16 months of the contract, plus a 3-percent lump-sum payment for the intervening period. The

union asked for a 3-year agreement with

wage increases of $3 per hour in the

first year of the contract, $1 per hour in

the second year, and $2 per hour in the

third year.

As day-to-day negotiations progressed into February, a new issue

emerged and became one of the focal

points of contract talks. General Dynamics Corporation, a major defense

contractor, made a $1.4 billion unsolicited offer to buy Newport News. As a

result, the union demanded a successorship clause that would require any

company acquiring the shipyard to assume the union contract or bargain with

the union for a new contract. Early in

March, the AFL-CIO asked Secretary

of Defense William Cohen to recommend that the acquisition not take

place, on the grounds that it would create a virtual monopoly in the production and repair of nuclear submarines

and aircraft carriers, and result in the

loss of thousands of jobs.

On March 30, the company made a

final offer to the union that called for

wage increases of up to 14 percent

($2.50 an hour on average) over a 47-

month contract term, a $25 million increase in medical contributions, and an

increase in the monthly pension benefit equal to $4 per year of credited service. Union members overwhelmingly

rejected the proposal during three mass

meetings on April 1, 1999, and voted to

strike at the expiration of the contract.

The major reason for the rejection reportedly was the company’s reluctance

to restore wage and benefit cuts that

workers had agreed to in 1995 to help

the financially strapped company to

become more competitive, and, beyond

this restoration, to bring wages and

pensions up to industry standards.

The union had been seeking a $3.95-

an-hour wage increase over the term of

the contract, plus raises in pension

benefits that would provide $900 (up

from the existing $506) per month for

employees retiring at age 62 with 30

years of service.

On April 14, the Secretary of Defense announced that the Pentagon

opposed General Dynamics’ bid for

Newport News. This news prompted

AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney to

urge the shipyard to return to the bargaining table.

Meanwhile, the company continued

operations during the strike. It also

conducted a publicity campaign in

which it provided the financial details

of its offer to the union through a variety of communications, including fullpage advertisements in local newspapers. The company also provided

comparisons of wages and benefits

with other companies in the shipbuilding industry.

In early May, Newport News informed union members in a letter that it

was implementing its final wage offer.

On May 12, the union informed its members that the company’s action was illegal because the parties were not legally at an impasse. Nine days later,

the union filed unfair labor practice

charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the company

had unilaterally implemented portions

of its final offer in the absence of a legal impasse, made unlawful threats to

members of the bargaining unit in order to implement portions of its offer,

and attempted to bribe members to

abandon the union’s bargaining position by directly communicating with

them about the implementation and

impact of the imposed terms. In addition, the President of the United Steelworkers filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA), alleging

nuclear safety hazards at the shipyard.

OSHA began an inspection of the shipyard on May 19.

On May 24, the Federal Mediation

and Conciliation Service called a meeting in Hampton, VA—the first face-toface session since the walkout began.

At this 1-day session, the union made

a counteroffer to which the company

did not respond. Federal mediators

then conducted separate meetings with

the parties—on May 25-26 with the

company, and on May 26-27 and June

5 with the union.

On July 7, the parties resumed negotiations with the help of Federal mediators, and conducted nearly roundthe-clock bargaining. On July 23,

Newport News announced a tentative

settlement with Local 8888. The new

58-month agreement was ratified by

union members on July 30, 1999. Hailed

as both fair and competitive by the

company,5

 the settlement brought to an

end one of the longest and largest labor disputes in the shipbuilding industry. It reportedly called for:

• Hourly wage increases averaging $1.14 in the first year and 59

cents, 74 cents, and 64 cents in

the second, third, and fourth

year of the contract, respectively.

• An increase in the monthly pension benefit from $506 to $900

over the term of the agreement

for employees retiring at age 62

with 30 years of service.

• Sharing of health care premium

cost increases between workers

and Newport News, but with a 9-

percent cap on employees’ premium cost increases in both the

second and third years and an

11-percent cap in the fourth and

fifth years, if the parties are unable to reach an agreement under

a reopening clause in the third

year.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000 39

Work Stoppages ork Stoppages

• A successorship clause prohibiting the company from selling

the shipyard unless the buyer

recognizes the union and assumes

the terms of the existing collective bargaining agreement.

• A new provision imposing tougher restrictions on subcontracting

bargaining-unit work if it would

result in the layoff of bargainingunit workers.

Bruno’s Incorporated and United

Food and Commercial Food and Commercial Workers.

Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1657 went on strike

at Bruno’s stores throughout Alabama

on September 26, 1999—the first strike

at the company in nearly 40 years. The

local represented 7,100 workers at the

three units of the company, operating

under the banners of Food World, Food

Fair, and Bruno’s Food and Pharmacy.

Bruno’s is the largest supermarket chain

in Alabama.

The negotiations took place at a time

when Bruno’s was in the process of

emerging from bankruptcy. Union

members feared that, after the company

emerged from bankruptcy, Bruno’s

might be sold by its holding company

and members might lose their jobs.

Thus, the union demanded a successorship clause that would protect its

members from job loss, and preserve

their seniority rights in the event of a

sale.6

Workers were hopeful that the company would accept their proposal because they believed that their sacrifices

had helped to rebuild the company during lean times.7 During the late 1990s,

when the company was facing financial problems, employees agreed to

forgo regular pay increases and other

benefits. When Bruno’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 1998,

employees of Food Fair and Bruno’s

Food and Pharmacy continued working under terms of the contracts that

had expired that month. Later, employees of Food World also continued working under terms of a contract that had

expired in September 1998.

However, in September 1999, when

the company made its final contract

offer, it did not include a substantial

job protection provision for employees.

According to the union, the final offer

also called for cuts in pay and health

benefits. In a vote on September 25,

1999, workers rejected the company’s

last and final offer and went on strike

the next day.

On September 27, the union sent a

letter to the company demanding the

continued funding of all workers’ health

care benefits. This came after the company indicated that it would not fund

strikers’ health insurance. The union

contended that the company was morally obligated to continue to pay for

employees’ health insurance benefits.

During the strike, Bruno’s continued its operations by reducing store

hours, using a smaller workforce that

included some management and corporate headquarters staff members.

The union claimed that operations at

many stores were significantly reduced,

but the company said its operations

were not seriously affected.

On September 30, when the company allegedly withheld paychecks

previously earned by strikers, the union

said it would file unfair labor practice

charges. The union claimed that the

company refused to give paychecks to

strikers unless they participated in a

one-on-one meeting with store managers, which the union claimed violated

employees’ rights under Federal labor

law.

On October 1, a Federal mediator

called both parties to the bargaining

table for a full day session. The talks

resumed the next morning and continued throughout the night and into the

early morning hours of October 3. The

long session resulted in a tentative

agreement, and the union agreed to remove its picket lines before the ratification vote. In meetings on October 4

and 5, union members approved the

terms of three separate but parallel contracts.

Terms of the new 4-year contracts

included job-security language assuring workers that, in the event of a sale,

they will continue to be represented by

the union and will be covered by the

terms of the existing collective bargaining agreements. In addition, the settlement required the company to continue

to pay the full cost of employees’ health

care and pension benefits.

The contracts called for hourly wage

increases of $1 over the term of the

agreement for Food World employees,

and 80 cents for Food Fair and Bruno’s

Food and Pharmacy employees. New

contracts also provided 2 consecutive

days off per workweek. For Food World

employees, the agreement called for a

$1-per-hour premium for working on

Sundays. Previously, these workers received time-and-a-half pay for Sunday

work.

Atlantic City casino hotels and Hotel Atlantic City casino hotels and Hotel

Employees and Restaurant Employ- Employees and Restaurant Employees. Local 54 of the Hotel Employees

and Restaurant Employees union represents maids, bartenders, waiters, food

service, and other nongaming employees at 12 major casino hotels in Atlantic City. In their latest round of bargaining, 12,000 employees went on

strike at 9 of the 12 casino hotels on

September 15, 1999. The casino hotels

involved in the dispute were: Bally’s

Park Palace, Caesars Atlantic City, the

Grand, Merv Griffin’s Resort, Sands

Hotel and Casino, Tropicana Casino

Resort, Trump Castle, Trump Plaza, and

the Trump Taj Mahal. Earlier, the union

had reached tentative settlements with

the other three casino hotels—the

Claridge, Showboat, and Harrah’s.

Negotiators had reached agreement

on economic issues and work rules

before the strike. The final issue on

the table was the union’s demand for

new contract language that would prevent hotels from leasing space in their

facilities (a form of subcontracting) to

those outside food service operators

who refuse to abide by the terms of the

union contract. The hotels objected to

the proposal on the grounds that it

would drive away some of the wellknown restaurant chains that attract

large numbers of patrons.

On September 16, 1999, 2 days into

the strike, a tentative agreement was

reached, and voting was scheduled for

September 21, 1999. The workers were
40 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000

asked to report to work on September

18. The timing of the stoppage

prompted the speedy resolution of the

dispute; it took place in the midst of

the Miss America Pageant. Although

the Pageant was being held at the Atlantic City Convention Center, which

was undisturbed by the strike, Pageant

week was a very big event for hotel

and casino business, so both sides felt

pressure to quickly reach a settlement.

The 5-year agreement contained

wage and benefit improvements, but

did not provide the ban on employer

subcontracting that the union had

sought. The casino hotels retained the

right to lease space in their facilities to

outside operators without the requirement to employ union members. However, the union secured contract language that guaranteed other jobs with

the same pay and benefits for employees losing their jobs because of subcontracting.

Large major work stoppages

Large major work stoppages (those

idling 5,000 workers or more) are important because they often indicate the

severity of strike activity during the

year. Of the 17 work stoppages beginning in the year, there were 6 that idled

5,000 workers or more. (See table 2.)

These large stoppages kept 56,000

workers off their jobs and accounted

for 872,000 days (44 percent) of idleness. The tabulation at the bottom of

this page provides historical comparisons on work stoppages involving

5,000 or more workers for the period

1990-99.

Even though no single stoppage

was large enough to dominate the labor dispute scene in 1999, there were

three stoppages that each idled more

than 10,000 workers. One was the previously mentioned Atlantic City casino

hotels-Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees dispute. The other two

stoppages involved teachers in the

States of Washington and Michigan.

It was the strike by Detroit teachers in

Michigan that attracted the most media attention.

Detroit School District and the Detroit Detroit School District and the Detroit

Federation of Teachers. About 11,000

employees of the city’s school district

were idled on August 30, 1999, after

teachers rejected a 10-day extension of

their old contract. The employees were

represented by the Detroit Federation

of Teachers and included 8,000 teachers and 3,000 support employees such

as social workers, counselors, and

speech pathologists.

Teachers were unhappy with proposals for a longer school day and

school year, the introduction of merit

pay, and other reforms proposed by the

district’s new chief executive, who succeeded the school district’s superintendent after the State legislature voted in

March of 1999 to replace Detroit’s

elected school board with one appointed by the mayor. After taking office, the chief executive promised to

make changes in the school district’s

educational system, which reportedly

was beset by mismanagement, low student test scores, and low student attendance and graduation rates.8

The previous contract between the

Teachers and the school district expired June 30, and was extended to allow for further negotiations. Teachers,

upset by proposals coming out of the

negotiations, decided to go on strike

rather than agree to a further extension.

The issues involved in the dispute were

as follows:

Class size. Long before the strike,

teachers contended that class sizes

were becoming too large and that

smaller classes were needed to enforce

discipline and higher standards. The

district and the union representatives

had tentatively agreed to study the

possibility of reducing class size during the year, but teachers felt that it

was time for action.

Merit pay. The district wanted to create a system of bonuses for teachers in

schools that met the district’s testscore improvement goals, and to close

schools in which performance was

poor. Teachers opposed the idea because they thought that the criteria

were unclear and that ratings might not

be objective. Teachers also feared that

the system would penalize good teachers at poorly performing schools and

that teachers might be held accountable for the test scores of students they

really never had a chance to educate,

due to the high rate of student turnover in the district each year.9

Sick leave. Detroit teachers accrue 15

sick days per year, and some veteran

teachers accumulate hundreds of sick

leave days that they use as they approach retirement. The district proposed that any teacher taking more

than 8 sick days in any year without a

valid excuse would be denied a raise

that year. Teachers pointed out that

banked sick days protected them in

case of a catastrophic illness and that

they had a right to use them later in

their careers. They also viewed the

proposal as a rollback of hard-won benefits from past years.

Salary. Teachers demanded that their

salaries be brought up to the median

for the tricounty area. The district counNumber of—

Year Stoppages Workers

(thousands)

Days idle

(thousands)

Historical comparisons of work stoppages involving 5,000 or more workers

1990 ........................................................ 13 147 3,183

1991 ........................................................ 8 337 1,246

1992 ........................................................ 6 310 1,321

1993 ........................................................ 11 141 2,736

1994 ........................................................ 12 254 3,566

1995 ........................................................ 9 146 2,055

1996 ........................................................ 9 215 3,144

1997 ........................................................ 11 298 3,014

1998 ........................................................ 8 338 4,174

1999 ........................................................ 6 56 872
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000 41

Work Stoppages ork Stoppages

tered the union’s request for a 2-percent raise each year with a proposal for

a 1.75-percent raise in the first year and

a 2-percent raise in both the second

and third years.

Salary steps. Teachers were unhappy

that they had only 10 salary steps, because they can reach a wage ceiling

long before retirement. To remedy this

problem and give teachers an incentive to improve their skills, the district

proposed adding four new steps. A

step would be awarded every 4 years

to teachers who meet attendance and

performance standards, continue their

education, or earn certification through

the National Board of Professional

Teaching Standards. Teachers questioned the need for board certification,

and those with master’s degrees questioned the need for more college work.

The teachers’ strike came a day before the classes were to start for a new

school year. Teachers refused to come

back to work without a contract. All

classes for more than 180,000 students

were cancelled throughout the district.

Although the strike was in defiance of

a 1994 Michigan law that bars teacher

strikes and penalizes them 1 day’s pay

for each day on strike, the school district did not invoke the law.

The parties bargained throughout

the strike. The school board and the

union agreed upon several issues on

September 5. On the next day, they arrived at noon to start a final closeddoor session, and reached a tentative

agreement on September 7. On September 8, the teachers voted overwhelmingly to return to work, and

classes resumed on September 9.

The 3-year agreement included

raises averaging 4 percent a year for

teachers at the top of the pay scale

(about 70 percent of teachers), and 2

percent a year for others. The agreement also called for a compromise on

sick leave and on smaller class sizes

for 44 elementary schools starting in

the 2000-01 school year. The pact left

the issue of merit pay unresolved. The

union continued to object to merit pay

as unfair, but the school district contended that it could be imposed without the union’s approval. In addition,

the settlement granted the school district contract language increasing

teachers’ accountability for students’

performance.

Duration of major work stoppages

The average length of major work stoppages beginning in 1999 was about 16

days, compared with 26 days in 1998

and 20 days in 1997. Disputes were

concentrated in the 1- to 2-day and 7-

to 14-day ranges. (See chart 4.) About

70 percent of stoppages lasted for 2

weeks or less, and 18 percent extended

more than 21 days. The longest stoppage beginning in the year was the previously mentioned Newport NewsUnited Steelworkers dispute, which

lasted 117 days.

The longest stoppage in effect during the year was at Kaiser Aluminum;

the strike began in October 1998 and

continued into 2000. The second longest stoppage in effect was at Continental General Tire Company.

Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical

Corp. and the Steelworkers. On October 1, 1998, almost 3,000 members of

the Steelworkers struck Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. after the union

rejected the company’s final contract

offer. According to the union, terms of

that contract would have:

• Eliminated at least 400 jobs.

• Gutted many supplemental and

local agreements.

• Resulted in the contracting out

of more bargaining unit work.

• Provided for inadequate increases

in pensions and wages.

• Capped the company’s contributions to retirees’ health insurance

at the 1999 level, thus lowering

retirees’ pension benefits.

• Locked the union into a 5-year

deal at a time when it had very

little trust in the company.

In addition, the union alleged that

the company committed several unfair

labor practices by refusing to provide

critical information that it needed to

negotiate; making the contract offer

contingent on workers not striking;

proposing to take pension service away

from workers who might strike; and refusing to bargain over mandatory bargaining issues.

After intermittent bargaining in October and November, the union floated

a comprehensive settlement offer to

end the strike on December 1. Contract talks adjourned so that the company could review the union’s proposal.





















CHART 4. Duration of work stoppages beginning in 1999

7-14 days

29%

3-6 days

12%

1-2 days

29%

Over 21 days

18%

15-21 days

12%
42 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000

On December 17, the company countered with its own comprehensive

settlement proposal, but then contract

talks stalled. On January 13, 1999, the

union offered to unconditionally return

to work. In response, Kaiser locked

out the strikers 1 day later. The company said that the action was taken to

support its bargaining position.

Intermittent contract talks were held

during the rest of 1999. Both of the

parties floated proposals to resolve

several areas of disagreement, but they

were still far apart on key issues by the

end of the year. Given the acrimonious

nature of the parties’ bargaining history, this was not unexpected.

Continental General Tire Company

and the Steelworkers. On September

21, 1998, 1,400 members of Local 850 of

the Steelworkers union walked off their

jobs in Charlotte, NC, when negotiations with Continental General Tire

Company failed to yield a new agreement. Continental General Tire, a division of Germany’s Continental AG, also

has U.S. tire manufacturing plants in

Mayfield, KY; Mount Vernon, IL; and

Bryan, OH. According to the union,

key issues in the dispute were guaranteed hourly wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments, pension contributions, and work schedule changes. At

the time of the strike, the parties were

far apart on these issues.

During the 1995 contract talks, employees agreed to concessions that

eliminated raises and cost-of-living

adjustments for the life of the contract

to help the company to become more

profitable. Since that time, the company had become more profitable; during the 1998 negotiations, workers

were expecting to have wages, costof-living adjustments, and pensions

brought up to industry standards.

According to the union, the company’s final offer on these negotiating

points was significantly below the level

at other major tire manufacturers. In

addition, the company wanted concessions on work schedules, mandatory

overtime, vacation scheduling, health

insurance, drug testing, and seniority.

There were no negotiations until

December, when contract talks reconvened with the help of a Federal mediator. Contract talks continued sporadically into mid-January of 1999. On

January 18, Continental made its best

and final offer, which, according to the

company, would have provided employees with more than $35 million in

increased wages and benefits. The

union submitted a counterproposal on

February 3, demanding a $59 million

increase in wages and benefits, and

modified it to $47 million on February

11. The company rejected the union

proposal on February 12, calling it unreasonable and excessive, and said the

parties had reached an impasse in negotiations.

During the strike, Continental continued operations first by using supervisory personnel and then by hiring

replacement workers beginning in November 1998. Two months after the

strike began, Continental indicated that

it would make the replacement workers

permanent. Along with the original

strike issues, the union was now concerned with the problem of permanent

strike replacements.

After 113 days on the picket lines,

the union launched a corporate campaign against Continental. It took steps

to put pressure on the parent corporation (Continental AG) by organizing

protests at the German consulate, persuading workers to stage a sympathy

strike at a Continental plant in South

Africa, and hiring a financial consultant to convince the company that continuing the strike was a financial mistake.

Meanwhile, the union filed unfair

labor practice charges against Continental with the National Labor Relations

Board (NLRB), alleging, among other

things, that the company had withheld

information that the union needed for

negotiations and had threatened to discontinue investing capital at the facility. In turn, the company filed charges

against the union, alleging multiple acts

of violence and illegal behavior on the

picket lines.

On June 30, 1999, the NLRB issued

an unfair labor practice complaint

against Continental. In the complaint,

the Board found that the strike was

caused and/or prolonged by the company’s unfair labor practices. The

Board also held that the company failed

to provide information necessary for

bargaining, and that it engaged in unlawful surveillance of striking workers.

Charges pending against the union,

including multiple acts of violence and

illegal behavior on the picket lines,

eventually were resolved through a

settlement agreement between the parties.

Although no formal negotiations

took place after talks collapsed in February, a number of sessions were held

among a small group of high officials

from both management and the union.

Exploratory meetings took place on an

ongoing basis during the summer, but

talks intensified after the company

made a proposal on July 15. In several

sessions during late August and early

September, the parties were able to hammer out their differences and work out

the details of a tentative settlement.

On September 19, 1999, the rankand-file overwhelmingly approved the

tentative agreement. In exchange for

contract improvements, the union

agreed to withdraw unfair labor practice charges against the company that

were scheduled for a hearing on September 30. The company also agreed

to drop its legal actions against the

union.

The new 61⁄2-year agreement provided:

• General wage increases of 75 cents

per hour over the term of the contract.

• Cost-of-living adjustments that

could add up to $2.97 per hour

over the term of the contract.

• Increases in the pension multiplier over the term of the contract,

from less than $30 per month per

year of service to a minimum of

$41.

• Improved incentive pay provisions.

• Preservation of several benefits

and contract protections, includ-
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000 43

Work Stoppages ork Stoppages

ing health insurance coverage,

bidding rights, seniority, voluntary overtime, light duty pay, and

protection against random drug

testing.

• Special economic benefits for employees who opt to retire early.

• Rehiring within 180 days of all

strikers who want to return to

work—at their prestrike jobs or

similar positions. In addition,

workers would be paid 80 percent

of their average weekly earnings

until they are recalled.

Conclusion

Although 1999 was a year with low

strike activity, a number of major disputes during that time attracted significant media attention, either because

the disputes were sufficiently large or

because the protagonists brought the

disputes to the public’s attention

through mass rallies, publicity campaigns, or legal actions. It is unclear

whether these disputes will have any

lasting effects on collective bargaining or whether they will simply be footnotes in the bargaining histories of

these parties.

1

 Major work stoppages are those involving 1,000 or more workers and lasting a full

shift or longer. They include worker-initiated strikes as well as lockouts by employers.

A strike is defined as a temporary stoppage

of work by a group of workers (not necessarily members of a union) to express a grievance or enforce a demand. A lockout is a

temporary withholding or denial of employment during a labor dispute by employers to

enforce terms of employment upon a group

of employees. Because of the complexity

of disputes, the Bureau does not attempt to

distinguish between strikes and lockouts in

its statistics; both are included in the term

“work stoppages.” For more information,

see “Major Work Stoppages Technical

Note,” in this issue of Compensation and

Working Conditions, p. 78. 2

 The idleness figures include all stoppages in effect during the year—those beginning in the year and those carried over

from a previous year. Four work stoppages

began before 1999 and continued into the

year; they kept 7,800 workers off their jobs

and accounted for slightly more than 1 million days of idleness. 3

 Four additional disputes in the private

sector began before 1999 and carried into

the year. They accounted for slightly more

than 1 million days of idleness in goods-producing industries and 32,000 days of idleness

in service-producing industries. 4

 Descriptions of these disputes and others

in the text are based largely on secondary

sources. 5

 Michelle Amber, “Steelworkers, Newport News Shipbuilding Reach Agreement on

58-Month Contract,” Daily Labor Report, no.

142, July 26, 1999, p. AA-1.

6

 “Bruno’s Employees Rebuild Company

Out of Bankruptcy: Workers prepare for

Strike,” United Food and Commercial Workers’ press release, Sept. 21, 1999, on the

Internet at http://www.ufcw.org/press/

viewrelease.cfm?id=66 (visited Aug. 1,

2000). 7

 Ibid.

8

 Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki, “With strike

over, all sides ready to resume reform,” Detroit Free Press, Sept. 19, 1999, on the

Internet at http://www.freep.com/news/education/qstrike9.htm (visited July 26, 2000). 9

 Tracy Van Moorlehem, Mario G. Ortiz,

and Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki, “Strike a study in

division: Hard-fought issues include class size,

merit pay system, salary, sick leave,” Detroit

Free Press, Sept. 1, 1999, on the Internet at

http://www.freep.com/news/education/

qstrike1.htm (visited July 26, 2000).
44 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000

TABLE 1. Work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more, 1947-99

Period

Number of stoppages1 Days idle1

Beginning

in

period

Workers

involved

(thousands)

Number

(thousands)

Percent of

estimated

working time2

1947 ................................................ 270 1,629 25,720 3 ( )

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

1949 ................................................ 262 2,537 34,420 .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

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

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

1 The number of stoppages and workers relate to all

stoppages that began in the year. Days idle includes all

stoppages in effect. Workers are counted more than once

if they are involved in more than one stoppage during the

year.

2 Agricultural and government employees are included

in the calculation of estimated working time; private

households, forestry, and fishery employees are excluded.

3 Data not available.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Fall 2000 45

Work Stoppages ork Stoppages

TABLE 2. Work stoppages involving 5,000 workers or more, beginning in 1999

Organization, location, and union

Beginning

date

Ending

date

Number of

workers1

Estimated days of

 idleness in 19991

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock

Company

Newport News, VA

Steelworkers ......................................................... 4/5/99 7/30/99 8,000 622,500

State of Washington (teachers)

Washington

Washington Education Association (NEA) ........... 4/14/99 4/23/99 11,000 25,600

Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc.

Pascagoula, MS

Pascagoula Metal Trades Council ........................ 5/16/99 6/4/99 7,000 98,000

Board of Education, City of Detroit

Detroit, MI

Detroit Federation of Teachers (AFT) ................... 8/30/99 9/7/99 11,000 66,000

Atlantic City casino hotels

Atlantic City, NJ

Hotel Employees and Restaurant

Employees .......................................................... 9/15/99 9/16/99 12,000 24,000

Bruno’s Incorporated

Alabama

United Food and Commercial Workers ................ 9/26/99 10/2/99 7,100 35,500

1 The number of workers involved and days of idleness are rounded to the nearest 100.