The number of U.S. work stoppages decreased by 23.8% in 2024, compared to 2023, and the approximate number of workers decreased by 45.5%, according to a report published Feb. 19 by the ILR School and the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations.

Credit: Caitlin Cook/Cornell University

Researchers said the decline in strike numbers is overwhelmingly due to a drop in the number of one-day strikes, primarily due to fewer strikes by Starbucks Workers United in 2024 as compared to the previous two years.

Last year’s 359 work stoppages – 356 strikes and three lockouts – involved approximately 293,500 workers, resulting in 5.32 million strike days. The number of work stoppages in 2024 exceeded 2021 levels, but was lower than ’22 or ’23. 

Strike report authors are Johnnie Kallas, Ph.D. ’23, who launched the Labor Action Tracker in 2021 and is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations, and Deepa Kylasam Iyer, a doctoral student in the field of global labor and work.

“Since strike activity in the U.S. is still far below levels seen in the 1970s, major strikes by just a couple of unions can have a big impact on the total numbers,” said Eli Friedman, professor of global labor and work in the ILR School. “In past years, strikes by screen actors and writers, auto workers and graduate-student workers accounted for a significant share of total strikers, and there were fewer of those large-scale events in 2024.”

Key findings in the 2024 report:

• The five largest strikes of 2024 involved approximately 152,000 union members at Boeing, California State University, University of California, University of California Health and the United States Maritime Alliance;
• Better pay, improved health and safety, and increased staffing were workers’ top demands in 2022-24;
• As in 2023, accommodation and food services accounted for the largest share (23.6%) of work stoppages by any industry;
• Unlike in 2023, most striking workers came from educational services (32.7%), and manufacturing recorded the highest share (40%) of strike days;
• There was a slight increase in the percentage of work stoppages organized by nonunionized workers (24.8%) as compared to 2023;
• The West accounted for more work stoppages (40.69%) and workers involved in stoppages (66.84%) than any other region in the U.S.;
• The number of work stoppages, workers involved and strike days in 2024 did not reach 2023 levels but exceeded those of 2021;
• The number of work stoppages in 2024 stayed relatively consistent over the year, but increased between August and September;
• About 60% of all strikes in 2024 lasted fewer than five days; and
• Nearly 18% of all striking workers were on the picket line for more than a month.

“While the number of work stoppages and workers involved in stoppages decreased from 2023 to 2024, workers and their organizations continued organizing strikes to make considerable gains in wages and working conditions,” Kallas said. “It remains to be seen what kind of impact the policies implemented by the new presidential administration will have on strike rates in 2025.”

The tracker provides a comprehensive picture of nationwide workplace conflict, and is available to policymakers, practitioners, scholars and the public. It counts all work stoppages, regardless of size.

The tracker fills a data void: Stoppages of fewer than 1,000 workers aren’t included in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics database. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration cut funding for counting smaller stoppages.

Tracker data is collected from public sources, including existing work stoppage databases, news stories and social media posts.

Mary Catt is director of communications for the ILR School.