When clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reached an impasse in talks with management over job security last week, they took what has become something of a rare step — they went on strike.
Once a mainstay of the labor arsenal, strikes have largely fallen off since the early 1980s. So a recent spate of high-profile work stoppages, including by Chicago teachers, non-unionized Walmart workers and New York City fast-food employees, has some experts wondering if we're seeing a resurgence of the tactic.
Thomas Kochan, co-director of the Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thinks years of pent-up frustration over stagnant wages and diminishing benefits has finally hit the boiling point.
Labor Actions
Work stoppages have fallen off precipitously since the early 1980s, according to data from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Number of work stoppages involving 1,000 or more employees, 1961-2011