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MAJOR STRIKE ACTIVITY INCREASED BY 280% IN 2023  
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Margaret Poydock, Jennifer Sherer
February 21, 2024
Economic Policy Institute
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_ Many workers still need policies that protect their right to strike
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Striking workers listening to a speech by US President Joe Biden in
Michigan in September 2023, White House

 

Last year saw a resurgence in collective action among workers. More
than 16.2 million workers were represented by unions in 2023, an
increase of 191,000 from 2022. Workers filed petitions for union
elections in record numbers and captured significant wage gains
through work stoppages and contract negotiations. Further, organizing
efforts continued in a variety of sectors—including health care,
nonprofits, higher education, museums, retail, and manufacturing
(Shierholz et al. 2024).

Strikes were among the more prominent forms of collective action in
2023. A strike is when workers withhold their labor from their
employer during a labor dispute. By withholding their labor—labor
that employers depend on to produce goods and provide
services—workers can counteract existing power imbalances between
themselves and their employer. Strikes provide critical leverage to
workers when they bargain with employers over fair pay and working
conditions, when employers violate labor law, or when employers refuse
to voluntarily recognize unions.1
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Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that
458,900 workers were involved in “major work stoppages” in 2023.
The number of workers involved in major work stoppages increased by
280% in 2023, returning to levels last seen prior to the COVID-19
pandemic. These strikes included workers across the country—from
auto workers to Hollywood writers and actors, nurses, and public
school teachers.

A common theme among strikes in 2023 was a demand for higher pay amid
the inflationary shocks stemming from pandemic re-opening, global
crises, record profits for many corporations, and stratospheric CEO
pay. Related motivations for striking included decades of stagnant
wages, eroded health care and retirement benefits, long work hours,
and unsafe working conditions (Bivens et al. 2023; Dickler 2023). It
should be no surprise that workers are taking collective action to
improve their pay and working conditions—but we should be asking why
it is happening now. The U.S. economy has churned out unequal income
growth and stagnant wages for the last several decades. Research shows
that unions and collective bargaining are key tools in combating
income inequality and improving the pay, benefits, and working
conditions for both union and nonunion workers (Bivens et al. 2023).
However, the continued rise in collective action is not likely to
increase unionization substantially unless meaningful policy change is
enacted to ensure all workers have the right to form unions, bargain
collectively, and strike.

In this brief, we highlight work stoppages that occurred in 2023 and
discuss what policies are needed to strengthen the right to strike in
the United States.

MAJOR WORK STOPPAGES DATA

The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines “major work stoppages” as
those involving at least 1,000 workers and lasting one full work shift
between Monday–Friday, excluding federal holidays. BLS data show
that 458,900 workers were involved in 33 major work stoppages that
began and ended in 2023 (BLS 2024c). This is an increase of over 280%
from the number of workers involved in major worker stoppages in 2022,
which was 120,600. Further, it is on par with the increase seen in
pre-pandemic levels during 2018 and 2019, as shown in FIGURE A.

Roughly 75% of major work stoppages in 2023 (25 of them) took place in
the private sector, with over half (14) occurring in a health care
setting. State government accounted for five major work stoppages,
with the majority of those involving public colleges and universities.
Local government accounted for three major work stoppages, which
involved public elementary schools.

EXAMPLES OF MAJOR WORK STOPPAGES IN 2023

The work stoppages data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics include a
breakdown of the organizations at which major work stoppages occurred.
The data, combined with an EPI review of publicly available sources,
suggest a range of strike activity in 2023. Recurring themes of major
stoppages occurring in 2023 include workers citing decades of stagnant
real (inflation-adjusted) wages; erosion of health insurance or
retirement benefits; long work hours; and dangerous or stressful
working conditions as motivations for seeking significant improvements
to wages, benefits, and working conditions. The following are examples
of major work stoppages covered by the BLS data.

_United Auto Workers “Stand Up” strike_

On September 15, 2023, more than 12,000 workers went on strike at
General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis after their contract expired. The
workers—represented by the United Auto Workers—went on strike to
secure better pay and benefits after previous concessions in contracts
following the Great Recession. Between 2013 and 2023, the three
automakers had seen their profits rise by $250 billion, while the UAW
members had not seen a cost-of-living adjustment since 2009 (Hersh
2023).

During the work stoppage, the UAW operated under a “Stand Up
Strike” strategy. Instead of having all 150,000 members go on strike
at the same time, they selected specific worksites to strike with
additional worksites at the ready to “stand up” and join the
strike as negotiations continued with the three automakers (UAW 2024).
Overall, approximately 53,000 workers participated in the work
stoppage. The work stoppages marked the first time the UAW had gone on
strike at all three automakers at the same time.

The strike concluded after two months once the United Auto Workers and
General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis reached agreements that included
raises of at least 33% for all workers, the elimination of a two-tier
wage system, the re-opening of a previously shuttered Stellantis
plant, a commitment to a just transition with electric vehicles, and
annual bonuses for retirees (UAW 2023). Further, nonunion workers have
seen spillover effects of the UAW gains. For example, Toyota, Honda,
Hyundai, and Tesla raised wages for their U.S. workers (none of whom
are unionized) shortly after the UAW reached a tentative agreement
with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis (Brooks 2023; Kolodny 2024).

_Kaiser Permanente health care workers strike_

In October 2023, more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente health care
workers represented by a coalition of multiple unions engaged in the
largest recorded health care strike in U.S. history (Isidore and
Delouya 2023). The three-day strike included nurses, medical
technicians, and support staff at hundreds of Kaiser facilities in
seven states and the District of Columbia, with the largest groups of
Kaiser workers on strike in California (Reuters 2023).

Like many health care strikes in recent years, the Kaiser workers’
strike drew attention to union proposals to address lagging pay and an
ongoing staffing crisis. Following the three-day strike, workers
achieved a tentative agreement with Kaiser that included 21%
across-the-board pay increases over four years; additional bonus and
performance sharing pay; and new training, education, and hiring
initiatives to increase staffing levels. The resulting agreement,
ratified by over 98% of members in November 2023, also set a new
minimum wage for Kaiser health care workers of $23 (increasing to $25
by 2026) in California and $21 (increasing to $23 by 2026) in all
other states covered by the contract (Coalition of Kaiser Permanente
Unions 2023).

_University of Michigan graduate employees strike_

In March 2023, approximately 2,200 workers at the University of
Michigan went on strike. The workers, represented by the Graduate
Employees’ Organization (GEO) Local 3550, include graduate student
instructors and graduate student assistants across three campuses. The
workers voted to go on strike to improve their pay and benefits and
gain harassment protections and safer working conditions (P. Lucas
2023).

The strike was contentious, resulting in both the GEO and the
University of Michigan filing unfair labor practices charges against
one another. The charges were ultimately settled between the two
parties (Anderson 2023).

The five-month strike concluded when the Graduate Employees’
Organization and the University of Michigan agreed to a new three-year
contract that included major pay increases across the three campuses,
harassment protections, paid childbirth leave, health insurance
coverage for gender affirming care, and a $1,000 signing bonus
(Bruckner 2023; Mackay 2023). The strike was the longest major work
stoppage in 2023 and the longest strike in the history of the union
and university (Bruckner 2023). The University of Michigan strike is
an example of the growing wave of labor actions among graduate student
workers in recent years (Bivens et al. 2023).

_Starbucks Workers United ‘Red Cup Day’ strikes_

On November 16, 2023, more than 5,000 Starbucks workers went on strike
in protest of the company’s refusal to bargain in good faith to
reach a first contract. The one-day strike was organized to coincide
with Starbucks’ “Red Cup Day” promotion, which historically is
one of the company’s busiest days. The 2023 Red Cup Day strike was
Starbucks Workers United’s largest work stoppage to date, involving
more than 5,000 workers across 200 stores (Durbin 2023).

Since December 2021, workers in 43 states, at 391 of Starbucks’s
U.S.-based company-owned stores, have voted to unionize (More Perfect
Union 2024). For more than two years, Starbucks has refused to bargain
in good faith and has not reached a first contract with any of its
unionized stores. During that time, the National Labor Relations Board
officials have issued 105 complaints alleging the company violated
labor law, including a nationwide case charging Starbucks with illegal
failure to bargain with unionized workers in stores across the country
(Saxena 2023). Shortly after the 2023 Red Cup Day strike, Starbucks
announced that it wanted to resume talks with Starbucks Workers United
to reach a first contract in 2024 (A. Lucas 2023).

WORK STOPPAGES THAT DO NOT APPEAR IN THE BLS DATA

The Bureau of Labor Statistics data on work stoppages, while useful,
have a major limitation: They only include information on work
stoppages (both strikes and lockouts), involving 1,000 or more workers
and lasting one full work shift between Monday–Friday, excluding
federal holidays. An enormous amount of information is missed by
restricting the data in this way. According to BLS data on firm size,
nearly three-fifths (58%) of private-sector workers are employed by
firms with fewer than 1,000 employees (BLS 2024b). Yet any strike
activity by these workers would not be captured in the Bureau of Labor
Statistics work stoppages data. For example, a six-week strike
involving 750 Temple University graduate student workers was not
captured in the 2023 data, because it did not meet the size
limitations of the BLS (AP 2023).

These size and duration limits mean that the Bureau of Labor
Statistics data are not capturing many workers who walked off the job
in 2023 to demand fair pay and safe working conditions. While the BLS
data show 33 major work stoppages occurred in 2023, Cornell’s ILR
Labor Action Tracker shows 470 work stoppages—466 strikes and 4
lockouts—occurring in 2023 (Ritchie, Kallas, Iyer 2024).

CONCLUSION: FEDERAL AND STATE ACTION IS NEEDED TO ENSURE THE RIGHT TO
STRIKE

The 2023 BLS data on major work stoppages show that over 450,000
workers exercised the right to strike to pursue pay increases, better
benefits, and safer working conditions. However, the fact remains that
current labor law does not adequately protect workers’ fundamental
right to strike. The following are federal policies that would
strengthen workers’ right to join unions and bargain collectively.

* The Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act
includes critical reforms that would strengthen private-sector
workers’ right to strike. The PRO Act would expand the scope for
strikes by eliminating the prohibition on secondary strikes and
allowing the use of intermittent strikes. It would also strengthen
workers’ ability to strike by prohibiting employers from permanently
replacing striking workers.

* The Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act
would prevent employers from cutting off health coverage of workers
and family members in retaliation against striking workers.

* The Food Secure Strikers Act would allow striking workers to
qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

* Congress should also pursue policies that extend a fully protected
right to strike to railway, airline, public-sector, agricultural, and
domestic workers. None of these workers has the fundamental right to
strike under current federal law.

Exclusions of public-sector, domestic, and agricultural workers from
coverage under federal labor law mean that the basic union rights of
millions of workers in these occupations remain left up to states. To
address a significant portion of these exclusions, Congress should, as
a first step, pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act,
establishing a minimum standard of collective bargaining rights that
all states and localities must provide for public employees.

In the absence of congressional action, states should ensure
collective bargaining rights and protect the right to strike for all
public-sector, agricultural, and domestic workers. Right now, only a
dozen states grant limited rights to strike to some public-sector
workers. States should also join New York and New Jersey in making
striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits (Perez 2024).

Note

1. 
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further explanation on the types and limitations of strikes, see
Bivens et al. 2023.

REFERENCES

Anderson, Miles. 2023. “UMich and GEO Reach Settlement on Unfair
Labor Practices and Lawsuit
[[link removed]].” _Michigan
Daily_, June 8, 2023.

Associated Press (AP). 2023. “Temple Graduate Students Ratify New
Pact, End 6-Week Strike.
[[link removed]]”
March 13, 2023.

Bivens, Josh, Celine McNicholas, Margaret Poydock, Jennifer Sherer,
and Monica Leon. 2023. _What to Know About This Summer’s Strike
Activity:_ _What’s Spurring the Rise in Labor Actions?_
[[link removed]] Economic
Policy Institute, August 2023.

Brooks, Khristopher J. 2023. “Hyundai, Honda and Toyota Have All
Raised Worker Pay Since UAW Strike Ended
[[link removed]].”
CBS News, November 13, 2023.

Bruckner, Meredith. 2023. “University of Michigan Grad Student
Employees Ratify New Deal After Historic Strike
[[link removed]].”
CBS News, August 25, 2023.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 2024a. “Annual Work Stoppages
Involving 1,000 or More Workers, 1947–Present
[[link removed]]” (table). Major
Work Stoppages [[link removed]].
Accessed on February 16, 2024.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 2024b. “Table F. Distribution of
Private Sector Employment by Firm Size Class: 1993/Q1 Through 2023/Q1,
Not Seasonally Adjusted [[link removed]]”
(table). National Business Employment Dynamics Data by Firm Size
Class [[link removed]]. Accessed on February
7, 2024.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 2024c. “Work Stoppages Summary
[[link removed]]” (press release).
February 21, 2024.

Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. 2023. “98.5% Yes Vote
Ratifies 2023 National Agreement
[[link removed]].” November 9, 2023.

Dickler, Jessica. 2023. “Why So Many Workers Are Striking in 2023:
‘Strikes Can Often Be Contagious,’ Says Expert
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CNBC, October 9, 2023.

Durbin, Dee-Ann. 2023. “Thousands of Starbucks Workers Go on a
One-Day Strike on One of Chain’s Busiest Days.
[[link removed]]”
Associated Press, November 16, 2023.

Hersh, Adam. 2023. “UAW-Automakers Negotiations Pit Falling Wages
Against Skyrocketing CEO Pay
[[link removed]].” _Working
Economics Blog_ (Economic Policy Institute), September 12, 2023.

Isidore, Chris, and Samantha Delouya. 2023. “Union Workers Reach a
Tentative Deal with Kaiser Permanente After the Largest-Ever US Health
Care Strike
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CNN, October 13, 2023.

Kolodny, Lora. 2024. “Tesla Raising Factory Worker Pay in U.S.
Following UAW Victories in Detroit
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CNBC, January 11, 2024.

Lucas, Amelia. 2023. “Starbucks Tells Union It Wants to Resume
Contract Talks in January
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CNBC, December 8, 2023.

Lucas, Peter. 2023. “Graduate Workers at the University of Michigan
Have Been on Strike for over a Month
[[link removed]].” _Jacobin_,
May 14, 2023.

Mackay, Hannah. 2023. “Striking UM Grad Student Instructors Begin
Voting to Ratify New 3-Year Deal
[[link removed]].” _Detroit
Free Press_, August 22, 2023.

More Perfect Union. 2024. “Map: Where Are Starbucks Workers
Unionizing?
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(web page). Last updated February 14, 2024.

Perez, Daniel. 2024. “Extending Unemployment Insurance to Striking
Workers Would Cost Little and Encourage Fair Negotiations
[[link removed]].” _Working
Economics Blog_ (Economic Policy Institute), January 29, 2024.

Reuters. 2023. “Kaiser Healthcare Workers Ratify New Contract
[[link removed]].”
November 9, 2023.

Ritchie, Kathryn, Johnnie Kallas, and Deepa Kylasam Iyer.
2024. _Labor Action Tracker: Annual Report 2023_
[[link removed]]. ILR
School, Cornell University and School of Labor and Employment
Relations, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, February 2024.

Saxena, Jaya. 2023. “Starbucks Workers United’s Red Cup Rebellion,
Explained
[[link removed]].”
Eater, November 14, 2023.

Shierholz, Heidi, Celine McNicholas, Margaret Poydock, and Jennifer
Sherer. 2024. _Workers Want Unions, but the Latest Data Point to
Obstacles in Their Path_
[[link removed]]. Economic
Policy Institute, January 2024.

United Auto Workers (UAW). 2023. “UAW Members Ratify Historic
Contracts at Ford, GM, and Stellantis
[[link removed]]”
(press release). November 20, 2023.

United Auto Workers (UAW). 2024. “Stand Up Strike Frequently Asked
Questions [[link removed]]” (web page). Accessed on
February 7, 2024.

_MARGARET POYDOCK joined EPI in 2016. As a senior policy analyst, she
works on issues of unions, labor standards, and strikes. She also
helps manage EPI’s legislative and policy initiatives to build a
more just economy. Previously, Poydock was EPI’s communications
assistant where she provided support for the media relations,
publications, and web departments._

_JENNIFER SHERER is director of the Economic Analysis and Research
Network (EARN) State Worker Power Initiative. Her work focuses on
expanding the ability of working people to achieve racial, gender, and
economic justice through organizing, collective bargaining, and public
policies that promote worker voice._

_Prior to joining EPI in 2021, Sherer served as director of the
University of Iowa Labor Center, leading statewide worker outreach,
education, and leadership development programming in close partnership
with labor unions and community organizations. As director, she
coordinated interdisciplinary research and engagement; taught on a
range of worker rights, gender and racial justice, and labor policy
subjects; and led initiatives to extend labor education to new
audiences. Her published work includes articles on wage theft,
public-sector collective bargaining, women’s labor education, and
working-class voters. While at the Labor Center, Sherer also directed
the Iowa Labor History Oral Project, helped found the Center for
Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, co-coordinated the Midwest School for
Women Workers, and served on the boards of the Labor and Working Class
History Association and Labor Studies Journal._

_Sherer first became active in the labor movement over 20 years ago as
a local union officer, a project staff organizer for the United
Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE), and a leader of student
anti-sweatshop campaigns while earning her PhD. She has since served
as a local labor council delegate, volunteered in dozens of issue
campaigns, and walked many picket lines. She is a board member of
Common Good Iowa (formerly the Iowa Policy Project)._

_ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think
tank created in 1986 to include the needs of low- and middle-income
workers in economic policy discussions. EPI believes every working
person deserves a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, and
retirement security. To achieve this goal, EPI conducts research and
analysis on the economic status of working America. EPI proposes
public policies that protect and improve the economic conditions of
low- and middle-income workers and assesses policies with respect to
how they affect those workers._

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