U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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Profiles of Significant Collective Bargaining Disputes of 2010

by Elizabeth A. Ashack

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Originally Posted: February 23, 2011

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles data on work stoppages--strikes or lockouts--involving 1,000 or more

workers and lasting at least one full shift. These data have been published uninterrupted since 1947, with monthly data

available since 1993. This article presents the most recent labor statistics available on major work stoppages and discusses

the collective bargaining issues surrounding three significant work stoppages that occurred in the United States in 2010.

Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association Bargaining With Laborers International Union Of North America

District Council Of Chicago, The International Union Of Operating Engineers Local 150, And The Chicago

Regional Council Of Carpenters; Location: Chicago Area, Illinois

A nearly 3-week work stoppage that began on July 1, 2010, and ended on July 19, 2010, brought hundreds of construction

projects to a standstill in the Chicago area. Fifteen-thousand members of the Laborers International Union of North America

District Council of Chicago (LIUNA), the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 (IUOE), and the Chicago

Regional Council of Carpenters walked off the job, accumulating 180,000 days of idleness over the course of the strike,

making it the largest work stoppage in the United States in 2010 in terms of lost work days and the number of employees

involved.1

Members of the laborers union and operating engineers had been working without a contract since May 31, 2010,2 and

wanted a 15.9-percent wage increase3 over 3 years to offset the rising cost of health care. The Mid-America Regional

Bargaining Association, which represents the construction companies, offered a 3.25-percent hike over 3 years.4 “Union

representatives said their only option was to hit the picket lines. They forced our hand, said Ed Maher, spokesman for the

International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 to the Chicago Tribune. Were simply not going to get jerked around

when were worried about maintaining health care for more than 23,000 members.”5

The work stoppage came to an end the night of July 19, 2010, after 9 hours of bargaining.6 Negotiations resulted in an

agreement that gave union workers a 9.75-percent increase in wages and benefits over the next 3 years. “We went into

negotiations looking to cover the cost to maintain health care. What we came out of negotiations with was an agreement that

will allow us to do that,” said Maher.

The Allina Health System/United Hospital, Childrens Hospitals And Clinics, Fairview Health Services,

HealthEast Care System, Mercy Hospital, North Memorial Hospital, Park Nicollete Methodist Hospital, And

Other Hospitals Bargaining With The Minnesota Nurses Association; Location: Minneapolis-St. Paul,

Minnesota

The National Nurses United (NNU) union was formed in late 2009, when the California Nurses Association/National Nurses

Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association merged.7 NNU now claims 155,000

members--which makes it the largest nurses union in the country.8 NNU has tapped into concerns of registered nurses

worried about losing jobs at a time when hospitals and health care organizations are under enormous pressure to cut costs.

NNU helped organize strikes or threatened them at hospitals in California, Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota

during 2010.9 NNUs biggest work stoppage took place on June 10, 2010, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, when 12,000 nurses in

the Minnesota Nurses Association, from 14 area hospitals, staged a 1-day work stoppage, accumulating 12,000 days of

idleness.10

Key issues in the collective bargaining contract impasse included the hospitals desire to cut contributions to the nurses

pension fund by a third, and nurses demand to improve patient-staffing ratios--a signature issue for the NNU.11 Nurses

have complained for two decades that there are not enough nurses in hospitals to provide high-quality care.12 Studies show
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a correlation between higher levels of nurse staffing and better patient outcomes, but there are no national standards for

specific ratios. Only the State of California mandated nurse-patient ratios back in 2004.

Talks broke off June 4, 2010, after Federal mediators failed to broker a deal.13 A longer strike in July was averted with a lastminute 3-year contract that preserved pension and health benefits but failed to meet the unions demands for strict nursepatient ratios. Instead, the hospitals agreed to examine staffing in existing committee systems; the union is pushing for

legislation to set ratios.14 Additionally, the nurses agreed not to go out on strike over the term of the new 3-year contract. The

new contract went into effect upon ratification and remains in place until May 31, 2013, with the nurses receiving a 3-percent

pay raise over 3 years.15

New York Shipping Association And The International Longshoremens Association; Location: New York City

Area, New Jersey And New York

Dockworkers shut down the Port of New York and New Jersey container facilities September 28 and 29, 2010, as thousands

of longshore workers refused to cross informational picket lines set up by protesting Philadelphia-area dockworkers regarding

the labor dispute at their home port of Camden, New Jersey.16 The two-day Port of New York and New Jersey wildcat work

stoppage involved an estimated 4,500 members of the International Longshoremens Association (ILA), accruing a total of

9,000 days of idleness.17

The picket lines were set up by a Philadelphia-based ILA local 1291, 200 of whose members stand to lose their jobs when

Florida-based Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. moves its business from the Port of Camden to a port in Gloucester City, New

Jersey--a port that employs non-ILA workers at lower wages.18 The ILA members protested the companys decision to take

its business to the Gloucester City Marine Terminal, even though the union met Del Montes demand for $5 million in wage

cuts and other labor-cost savings.19 Earlier in September, the ILA launched a boycott of Del Monte products, and later in that

month the union asked AFL-CIO officials to initiate a nationwide boycott of the companys products by all AFL-CIO

members.

The dockworkers agreed to return to work the evening of September 29, 2010, just as their employers were preparing to ask

a Federal judge to order the ILA to pay $1 million per day in penalties.20 Port employers had argued that the longshore

workers refusal to work was illegal because their collective bargaining agreement contained a no-strike clause. Indeed, a

strike had not shut down the ports around New York City since 1977, said James Devine, the president and chief executive of

Global Container Terminals USA, which operates container ports on Staten Island and in Bayonne, New Jersey. On the first

day of the strike, it is estimated that ILA-represented dockworkers at the Port of New York and New Jersey idled 12 ships at a

cost of $50,000 each per day, said New York Shipping Association (NYSA) spokeswoman Beverly Fedorko, whose

association manages the port.21 Labor and industry officials said it was difficult to calculate the total cost of the work

stoppage, although it is bound to be significant in terms of lost revenues and wages.

Table 1. Major Work Stoppages of 2010

Organizations involved, location, and sector Industry

code(1)

Beginning

date

Ending

date

Number of

lost work

days(2)

Number of

workers(3)

Days

idle(4)

Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA,

Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied

Professionals (State Government)

622110 3-31-10 4-28-10 21 1,500 31,500

Footnotes:

(1) Industry codes are from the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

(2) The duration of the strike, based on a 5-day work week (Monday through Friday) excluding Federal holidays.

(3) The BLS rounds figures to the nearest 100. Companies and unions may have rounded the figures before providing BLS the data.

(4) The days of idleness calculation shows the cumulative impact of lost workdays. It is computed by multiplying the number of workers idled

during the period by the number of work days lost, based on a 5-day work week (Monday through Friday) excluding Federal holidays.
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Organizations involved, location, and sector Industry

code(1)

Beginning

date

Ending

date

Number of

lost work

days(2)

Number of

workers(3)

Days

idle(4)

North Penn School District, Montgomery County,

PA, North Penn Education Association (Local

Government)

611110 4-19-10 4-26-10 6 1,100 6,600

Capistrano Unified School District, San Juan

Capistrano area, CA, Capistrano Unified

Educators Association (Local Government)

611110 4-22-10 4-26-10 3 1,800 5,400

Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, CA,

Oakland Education Association (Local

Government)

611110 4-29-10 4-29-10 1 2,500 2,500

The Boeing Company, Long Beach, CA, United

Auto Workers Local 148 (Private Industry) 336411 5-11-10 6-4-10 18 1,700 30,600

Allina Health System/United Hospital, Children's

Hospitals and Clinics, Fairview Health Services,

HealthEast Care System, Mercy Hospital, North

Memorial Hospital, Park Nicollete Methodist

Hospital, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Minnesota

Nurses Association (Private Industry)

622110 6-10-10 6-10-10 1 12,000 12,000

Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors

Association of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, Sheet

Metal Workers' International Association Local 18

(Private Industry)

238220 6-14-10 6-25-10 10 1,800 18,000

Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association,

Chicago area, IL, Laborers International Union of

North America District Council of Chicago,

International Union of Operating Engineers,

Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters (Private

Industry)

237310 7-1-10 7-19-10 12 15,000 180,000

New York Shipping Association, New York City

area, NJ, NY, International Longshoremen's

Association (Private Industry)

488310 9-28-10 9-29-10 2 4,500 9,000

Hilton Hotels Hawaiian Village Beach Resort &

Spa, Honolulu, HI, UNITE HERE Local 5 (Private

Industry)

721110 10-14-10 10-18-10 3 1,500 4,500

HCA Corporation, Riverside Community Hospital

and West Hills Hospital and Medical Center,

Riverside and West Hills, CA, Service Employees

International Union Local 121RN (Private

Industry)

622110 12-23-10 12-28-10 2 1,100 2,200

Footnotes:

(1) Industry codes are from the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

(2) The duration of the strike, based on a 5-day work week (Monday through Friday) excluding Federal holidays.

(3) The BLS rounds figures to the nearest 100. Companies and unions may have rounded the figures before providing BLS the data.

(4) The days of idleness calculation shows the cumulative impact of lost workdays. It is computed by multiplying the number of workers idled

during the period by the number of work days lost, based on a 5-day work week (Monday through Friday) excluding Federal holidays.

Sources Of Information

Data from the BLS Work Stoppages Program are obtained from public sources--for example, reports from the Federal

Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), State Labor offices, BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) Strike Reports,22

the Internet, and media sources. One or both parties involved in the work stoppage (employer or the union) are contacted to
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verify the duration and number of workers idled in the stoppage. For current data tables and additional information, see the 

Work Stoppages Program page on the BLS Web site, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/wsp.

Elizabeth A. Ashack

Economist, Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning, Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 691-5178; E-mail: Ashack.Elizabeth@bls.gov. Notes

1 The days of idleness calculation shows the cumulative impact of lost workdays. It is computed by multiplying the number of workers idled

during the period by the number of workdays lost, based on a 5-day work week (Monday through Friday), excluding Federal holidays. For more

information, see the BLS Work Stoppages Program monthly report, July 2010, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/wsp/ws072010.htm.

2 Marni Pyke, “Strike could halt Ike work, other local projects,” Daily Herald, June 29, 2010, on the Internet at http://saxo.dailyherald.com/

article/20100630/News/306309901/ (accessed February 15, 2011).

3 Duaa Eldeib and Jon Hilkevitch, “2nd unions OK expected in construction strike tentative deal,” Chicago Breaking News Center (online),

July 20, 2010, on the Internet at chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/07/2nd-unions-ok-expected-in-construction-strike-tentative-deal.html?

utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed% (accessed February 15, 2011).

4 Jenel Nels, “Striking Unions, Contractors Still at Odds,” NBC Chicago.Com, July 7, 2010, on the Internet at http://www.nbcchicago.com/

news/business/Construction-Strike-Talks-Resume-97927854.html (accessed February 15, 2011).

5 Nels, “Striking Unions, Contractors Still at Odds.”

6 See Eldeib and Hilkevitch, “2nd unions OK expected in construction strike tentative deal.”

7 See National Nurses United website, on the Internet at http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/pages/about (accessed February 15, 2011).

8 Lena H.Sun, “Growing National Nurses United union steps up strikes in aggressive new strategy,” The Washington Post, November 20,

2010, available on the Internet at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/20/AR2010112003592.html (accessed

February 15, 2011).

9 Sun, “Growing National Nurses United union steps up strikes in aggressive new strategy.”

10 For more information, see the BLS Work Stoppages Program monthly report, June 2010, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/wsp/

ws062010.htm.

11 “Minneapolis-area nurses strike for a day,” United Press International.com, on the Internet at http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/

2010/06/10/Minneapolis-area-nurses-strike-for-a-day/UPI-48941276192064/.

12 Sun, “Growing National Nurses United union steps up strikes in aggressive new strategy.”

13 See “Minneapolis-area nurses strike for a day.”

14 Sun, “Growing National Nurses United union steps up strikes in aggressive new strategy.”

15 Joe Carlson, “Minnesota Nurses Accept Contract, Avert Strike” Modern Healthcare.Com, July 7, 2010, available on the Internet at http://

www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100707/NEWS/307079985 (accessed February 15, 2011).

16 Lorraine McCarthy, “Picketing: Dock Workers Honor Informational Picket, Shut Down New York, New Jersey Port,” Daily Labor Report:

News Archive, September 29, 2010, 187 DLR A-15, The Bureau of National Affairs, on the Internet at http://www.BNA.com (accessed

February 15, 2011).

17 For more information, see the BLS Work Stoppages Program monthly report, September 2010, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/wsp/

ws092010.htm.

18 Steve Strunsky, “Daylong shutdown at N.J. ports due to protesting dockworkers could prove costly,” The Star-Ledger, September 29, 2010,

on the Internet at http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/print.html?entry=/2010/09/union_dockworkers_shut_down_nj (accessed February

15, 2011).

19 See McCarthy, “Picketing: Dock Workers Honor Informational Picket.”

20 Patrick McGeehan, “After 2 Days, Dockworkers Agree to End Strike,” New York Times (online), September 29, 2010, on the Internet at

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30strike.html (accessed February 15, 2011).

21 See McCarthy, “Picketing: Dock Workers Honor Informational Picket.”

22 See CES Strike Report, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesstrk.htm.
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