U.S. labor strikes up 52% in 2022 as worker activism rises

ITHACA, N.Y. – Strike numbers rose in 2022, reflecting a trend of more U.S. work stoppages in recent years by workers and activists in the labor movement, according to a report published Feb. 21 by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

According to the Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker, a comprehensive database of work stoppages, there were 424 work stoppages in 2022, including 417 strikes and seven lockouts, up from 279 in 2021.

Due to funding cuts by the Reagan administration in the early-1980s, official data on strikes reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics only record work stoppages of 1,000 workers or more. As a result, the vast majority of strike activity is not captured in the data, leaving practitioners, policymakers and scholars misinformed about the true level of workplace conflict.

“It is imperative to have reliable data on strike activity, by union and nonunion workers in stoppages of all sizes, to keep journalists, policymakers, activists and scholars informed about labor activism and unrest across the United States,” said Johnnie Kallas, project director of the Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker.

“In addition to documenting whether a strike occurred, our tracker and annual reports provide detailed information on a number of variables pertaining to each action, such as industry, size, duration and worker demands,” said Kallas.

Additional 2022 report findings include:

• 224,000 workers were involved in work stoppages (up from 140,000 in 2021, a 60% increase).

• Workers in the accommodation and food services industry organized more work stoppages in 2022 (144) than any other industry, accounting for more than one-third of all events. However, these work stoppages involved about 7,000 workers or 3% of the total workers involved in work stoppages in 2022.

• The majority (131, or 91%) of work stoppages in the accommodation and food services industry were led by Starbucks workers organizing with the Starbucks Workers United campaign or by fast food workers organizing with the Fight for $15 campaign. 

• The majority of all workers involved in work stoppages came from the educational services industry (135,380, or 60%), including 48,000 graduate students and postdoctoral workers in the University of California system. The number also reflects continued activism by K-12 educators and higher education workers. 

• Many work stoppages in 2022 – 46% – lasted one day or less, and two-thirds lasted fewer than five days.

Despite some increased activity, the number of work stoppages and workers involved is still lower than the most recent comprehensive Bureau of Labor Statistics data from the 1970s. According to Kallas, more research would help make historical comparisons that account for the challenges facing striking workers and the labor movement.  

Strike data are generated from existing work stoppage databases, news articles, social media posts and other public sources, and verified by the Cornell-ILR Labor Action research team. 

The project can be followed on Twitter @ILRLaborAction. 

Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews.

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