On Aug 31, 2007, at 10:39 AM, Bradley Bauerly wrote:
> I had some data on the strikes of the 1970's on file so here is
> some numbers. I can get anyone the file if they like, the graph is
> much more striking than pure numbers.
>
> Work stoppages, workers involved, average duration, and person-days
> idle: 1881-1998
You can get the full history, through July 2007, at:
<http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=ws>.
The Java can sometimes be a little flaky, but this one seems to work ok.
Here's a decade summary of the number of days lost to work stoppages (which includes lockouts as well as strikes) as a percent of total work time:
1950s 0.20% 1960s 0.12% 1970s 0.13% 1980s 0.05% 1990s 0.02% 2000s 0.01%
In July 2007, there was no measurable strike activity at all. So far for 2007, there have been a few strikes, but the average lost work time is 0.00% of the total. Since the monthly numbers began in 1981, there have been just four months with zero strike activity: 4/98, 2/03, 5/07, and 7/07. It's looking like 2007 will be the second- lowest year in history, behind 2003.
Doug