Work stoppages, once a mainstay of the labor arsenal, have fallen off precipitously since the early 1980s. Over the same period, perhaps not by coincidence, corporate profits have mostly risen even as inflation-adjusted wages have remained stagnant.
Hence, a recent spate of high-profile strikes, including by Chicago teachers, non-unionized Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) workers and New York City fast-food employees, has some experts wondering if we're seeing a resurgence of the tactic.
Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics & Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
A look at some of the major worker walkouts in 2012:
Related
(Anchored container ships and with other vessels sit offshore near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during a strike by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit in Los Angeles, California December 2, 2012.) Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn
1. “Container cliff”: East Coast faces “devastating” port strike:
A potential strike by thousands of dock workers from Boston to Houston threatens to cripple U.S. commerce as early as this weekend.
At issue is a labor dispute between the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents dock workers, and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents port operators and shipping companies.
In a last-ditch effort to avert a strike, both sides agreed to meet one more time before the expiration of their contract extension at midnight Saturday. No date or place for the meeting was announced. If the sides fail to extend the negotiations or reach an agreement, 14,500 workers at the 15 ports -- including the 4,000 dockworkers in New York and New Jersey -- could walk off the job on Dec. 30. The last time there was an East Coast longshoremen's strike was back in 1977.
The New York-New Jersey port, which handled cargo valued at $208 billion last year, is the largest port on the East Coast and is the second-largest to handle manufactured goods from China.
The other ports that would be affected by a strike are Boston; Delaware River; Baltimore; Hampton Roads, Va.; Wilmington, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Savannah, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Port Everglades, Fla.; Miami; Tampa, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans and Houston.
Any supply chain disruption at the ports would immediately affect every importer and exporter – potentially disrupting or delaying spring and summer retail merchandise – that uses the facilities.
Business groups and state officials warn it could cost billions, citing estimates that a 10-day port lockout in 2002 cost $1 billion a day -- and caused a major backlog in shipments.
The key sticking point is container royalties, which are payments to union workers based on cargo weight. Port operators and shipping companies want to cap the royalties at last year's levels to stay competitive. They believe the royalties have become a huge expense unrelated to their original purpose and amount to a bonus averaging $15,500 a year for East Coast workers already earning more than $50 an hour. The longshoremen's union says the payments are an important supplemental wage, not a bonus.
The strike would come on the heels of a separate labor action that temporarily shut down ports on the West Coast. Earlier this month, striking harbor clerks reached a tentative deal with management at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach after an eight-day labor clash.
The strike cost Southern California an estimated $8 billion, including lost wages and the value of cargo rerouted to other ports.
Hence, a recent spate of high-profile strikes, including by Chicago teachers, non-unionized Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) workers and New York City fast-food employees, has some experts wondering if we're seeing a resurgence of the tactic.
Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics & Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
A look at some of the major worker walkouts in 2012:
Related
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(Anchored container ships and with other vessels sit offshore near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during a strike by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit in Los Angeles, California December 2, 2012.) Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn
1. “Container cliff”: East Coast faces “devastating” port strike:
A potential strike by thousands of dock workers from Boston to Houston threatens to cripple U.S. commerce as early as this weekend.
At issue is a labor dispute between the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents dock workers, and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents port operators and shipping companies.
In a last-ditch effort to avert a strike, both sides agreed to meet one more time before the expiration of their contract extension at midnight Saturday. No date or place for the meeting was announced. If the sides fail to extend the negotiations or reach an agreement, 14,500 workers at the 15 ports -- including the 4,000 dockworkers in New York and New Jersey -- could walk off the job on Dec. 30. The last time there was an East Coast longshoremen's strike was back in 1977.
The New York-New Jersey port, which handled cargo valued at $208 billion last year, is the largest port on the East Coast and is the second-largest to handle manufactured goods from China.
The other ports that would be affected by a strike are Boston; Delaware River; Baltimore; Hampton Roads, Va.; Wilmington, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Savannah, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Port Everglades, Fla.; Miami; Tampa, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans and Houston.
Any supply chain disruption at the ports would immediately affect every importer and exporter – potentially disrupting or delaying spring and summer retail merchandise – that uses the facilities.
Business groups and state officials warn it could cost billions, citing estimates that a 10-day port lockout in 2002 cost $1 billion a day -- and caused a major backlog in shipments.
The key sticking point is container royalties, which are payments to union workers based on cargo weight. Port operators and shipping companies want to cap the royalties at last year's levels to stay competitive. They believe the royalties have become a huge expense unrelated to their original purpose and amount to a bonus averaging $15,500 a year for East Coast workers already earning more than $50 an hour. The longshoremen's union says the payments are an important supplemental wage, not a bonus.
The strike would come on the heels of a separate labor action that temporarily shut down ports on the West Coast. Earlier this month, striking harbor clerks reached a tentative deal with management at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach after an eight-day labor clash.
The strike cost Southern California an estimated $8 billion, including lost wages and the value of cargo rerouted to other ports.
Response
The article from above talks about a recent strike. From a Business man's point of view, like Carnegie, Strikes can be a scary thing. They cost a lot and often end in sided compromise. With Carnegie, he won. In example of, the Homestead strike. Carnegie ended up forcing them to come back to work for him, at half their original wages (that were low already). In the case from above, it ended up costing the business a lot of money because it was a shipping company. No matter what time period you are in, a strike will end up hurting one of the parties badly.