Reports are compiled from news reports and direct contacts with labor or management representatives. Work stoppages are strikes or lockouts. A lockout is a temporary withholding or denial of employment during a labor dispute to enforce terms of employment upon a group of employees. Days of idleness are the aggregate number of work days lost as a result of a work stoppage. It is calculated by multiplying the number of workers involved in the stoppage by the number of days the stoppage is in effect.
Aggregate figures are the result of summing all products thus obtained.
Number of workers includes all workers made idle for one shift or longer in establishments directly involved in a stoppage. It includes those who initiate the strike as well as others in the establishment who honor picket lines or are idled because the plant is closed down. Other branches or plants of the struck employer may also be affected, and workers so idled are counted. Percent of estimated working time lost is calculated by dividing the days of idleness for the period by the available work days for the period. The available work days for the period is computed by multiplying the average employment for the period by the number of days typically worked by most employed workers during that period.