US Labor Strikes Increased Almost 50% Between 2021 and 2022
The Facts
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Wednesday, nearly 50% more US workers were involved in strikes in 2022 than in the previous year — 120.6K up from 80.7K in 2021.
2022 saw 26 individual work stoppages, a rise from 17 in 2021 and 10 held in 2020. A rise in the number of striking workers comes amid the tightest labor market since 1969, with last year recording a four-fold increase in the 27K people who stopped working during the lockdown of 2020.
The Spin
Narrative A
Approval ratings of labor unions are at their highest among Americans for almost six decades. As stoppages become more common — and it becomes clearer that engaging in collective activity gains workers more leverage to improve their conditions and pay — labor organization will only spread and power will become more equitably distributed between employers and employees.
Narrative B
While there has been a rise in stoppages following the pandemic, the levels seen today are nowhere near the scale of the 1960s and '70s. The strikes may also be short-lived, as SCOTUS appears poised to open the door for businesses to sue workers over any strike that causes economic damage to the employer in Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters. The significance of this trend should not be overstated just yet.
