February 12, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Work stoppages in 2008

Major work stoppages idled 72,000 workers for nearly two million workdays in 2008. The number of workers idled declined by more than half compared with 2007 when there were 189,000 workers idled for 1.3 million workdays.

[Chart data—TXT]

In 2008, the largest work stoppage in total days idle and number of workers was between the Boeing Company and the International Association of Machinists Districts 24, 70, and 751 with 27,000 workers accounting for 1,053,000 lost workdays.

The longest work stoppage that began in 2008 was between American Axle & Manufacturing, Incorporated and the United Auto Workers International Union Locals 235, 262, 424, 846, and 2093, which was 63 days. Another long stoppage, between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America West and East, was in effect in 2008 (having begun in November of 2007 and ending in February 2008) and lasted 68 days.

These data are from the BLS Work Stoppages Program. Learn more about work stoppages from "Major Work Stoppages in 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0150. Major work stoppages are defined as strikes or lockouts that idle 1,000 or more workers and last at least one shift.