26 Biggest Worker Strikes in U.S. History

U.S. labor history stretches back to 1768 when New York tailors protested a cut in wages; the first union formed in 1794 among shoemakers in Philadelphia. As times changed, work stoppages in larger industries grew, sometimes pitting strikers against law enforcement and even the military. Their efforts weren’t always successful, but they frequently made gains that translated to other industries and influenced laws. The latest strike by workers at the University of California may be the largest at any academic institution in history.

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Workers Involved: 14,000

Union members working without a contract since 1991 walked out in June 1994 for 17 months in a dispute over overtime pay, job security, and the ability to organize on company grounds. They ended up returning to work under a less appealing contract after the company hired new scab workers to keep operations going.

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Workers Involved: 15,000

Wool and silk workers in and near Passaic, New Jersey, staged a strike following a 10% wage cut. The protests were punctuated with violence against the strikers from police who used clubs, tear gas, and high-pressure cold water to disrupt gatherings. One by one, mills came to terms with the strikers — then broke those agreements when the strike ended, firing and rehiring them at lower wages as membership in the United Textile Workers dwindled.

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Workers Involved: 16,800

Coal miners in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia disrupted the operations of some of the nation’s biggest coal producers during a monthlong strike after the expiration of an agreement between the United Mine Workers of America and the Bituminous Operators Association. An extension was negotiated and things appeared to go back to normal, but when further talks stalled, the union began a series of “strategic, selective” strikes to turn up the heat. The disputes weren’t settled until later in the year.

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Workers Involved: 23,000

Workers shut down 300 silk mills and dye houses for nearly five months in Paterson, New Jersey, in an effort to control a change in the rate of production that would have cut jobs. Though the strikers were able to overcome differences of nationality, craft, and gender, and “nonviolently overcame a police offensive against them,” they were unable to extend the strike to other locations, according to pbs.org, which featured the event in an episode of “American Experience.”

Workers Involved: 33,000

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers won a boost in hourly wages as well as an immediate bonus after a 69-day strike at Boeing plants in Kansas and Oregon — the second-longest work stoppage at that time involving the world’s largest airline manufacturer.

Workers Involved: 35,000

Unhappy with wages and hiring practices, workers in major ports along the West Coast staged a strike that lasted for 83 days and saw its share of violence — especially in San Francisco, where efforts to break the strike by force resulted in dozens of casualties. In a show of solidarity, Teamsters and other unions staged their own brief work stoppages. Eventually, the strikers reached their goals through arbitration.

Workers Involved: 48,000

Unionized academic workers throughout the University of California's 10 campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab walked off the job Nov. 14 to demand better pay and benefits in what the union's leaders are calling the largest academic strike in history. The striking employees, including teaching assistants, researchers, tutors, and fellows, perform the majority of teaching and research in the UC system. They are seeking a minimum salary of $54,000 and better child care benefits to afford rising living expenses. Some professors expressed solidarity with the striking academic workers and may cancel classes during the walkout.

Workers Involved: 67,300

Supermarket companies were able to get workers to pay more for their health care benefits after a strike against one company turned into a lockout by two others.

Workers Involved: 71,000

International Brotherhood of Teamsters leaders and representatives from 22 trucking companies reached an agreement that ended a three-week strike in April — the longest strike in the union’s history. Both sides won concessions, the New York Times reported, but the union was especially happy to block a move to employ more low-paying part-time workers as well as improvements to pension and health plans.

Workers Involved: 135,000

When the American Association of Advertising Agencies tried to change how members of the Screen Actors’ Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists were paid for their work on network television — switching to a one-time payment from the established residuals system — actors conducted a six-month strike that blocked the change.

Workers Involved: 136,000

A strike originating with a group of 3,000 brake workers shut down General Motors for 18 days in the spring of 1996 to “insist that G.M. live up to past promises to continue producing most of its brakes in Dayton,” according to The New York Times. “We didn’t want to shake up the nation,” Warren M. Cooper told the paper, “We just wanted to shake up the people in [the factory].”

Workers Involved: 147,000

United Mine Workers of America members in eastern Pennsylvania left their jobs in May, seeking better pay and working conditions. As the strike dragged on, banker and industrialist J.P. Morgan eventually helped broker a deal that gave the miners a 10% raise — about half of what they wanted.

Workers Involved: 152,200

United Auto Workers members staged a 54-day strike in the summer that cost General Motors more than $2 billion in profits. Strikes at plants in Flint, Michigan, idled production at 30 assembly plants and 100 parts plants. In the end, GM agreed to keep several factories open and invest $180 million in one of them, while employees agreed to changes in work rules.

Workers Involved: 174,000

After months of negotiations, workers represented by the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America went on strike at several large electrical manufacturing companies including General Electric, Westinghouse, and the General Motors electrical division. Their struggle to get higher wages took 42 days to reach an agreement.

Workers Involved: 180,000 to 185,000

Workers across the country represented by the Teamsters union walked off their jobs in the biggest work stoppage of the 1990s. They were looking for a change in how some jobs were organized, higher wages, and more security for their pension plan. “With public support high, the strikers’ demands were met” and a five-year agreement signed, according to Investopedia.

Workers Involved: 200,000

Railroad workers from Texas to Illinois walked off their jobs in March to protest unsafe working conditions, long hours, and lackluster pay. The strike against the Union Pacific and the Missouri Pacific railroads was punctuated by violence between pro-labor crowds and railroad security forces. It ended six months later after the railroads brought in scabs.

Workers Involved: 200,000

A third of the country’s bituminous coal miners went on strike April 1 after the expiration of an agreement between the United Mine Workers and mine operators. With prices of coal low, operators wanted to cut wages. As the strike went on, it was marked with violence in company towns; in one, a county judge granted an injunction to coal operators that forbade striking miners from gathering at a church and singing hymns, even as strikebreakers went to and from the mine.

Workers Involved: 210,000

Tens of thousands of letter carriers in 30 cities walked off the job in March to protest poor wages and long hours. It was the first action against the federal government during a time collective bargaining was banned. President Richard Nixon declared a national emergency and called in the National Guard, but eventually, the workers got the largest pay raise in postal history, according to the National Postal Museum.

Workers Involved: 225,000

United Auto Workers union requested a 30% wage hike from General Motors after agreeing to put aside negotiations during World War II. When negotiations stalled, workers staged a nationwide strike that lasted 113 days. “The settlement — including improvements in wages, health benefits, and pensions — was considered a landmark,” according to The New York Times.

Workers Involved: 250,000 to 260,000

Thirty people died in Chicago when federal soldiers were ordered to enforce an anti-strike injunction against workers for the Pullman luxury rail-car service. Due to the depressed national economy, the company had cut workers’ wages by nearly 25% — without lowering costs to live in the town the company owned. President Grover Cleveland’s controversial handling of the strike led eventually to the establishment of Labor Day as a workers’ holiday in July, at the end of the strike.

Workers Involved: 350,000

Workers centered in Pittsburgh’s United States Steel plants shut down almost half of the country’s steel production during five months to protest long hours, low wages, and poor working conditions. The company used “scare tactics to turn public sentiment away from the strikers, linking them to communism and immigration problems,” according to Investopedia. The strategy worked, and removed union representation from the industry for the next 15 years.

Workers Involved: 300,000

At the height of the United Auto Workers’ influence, more than 300,000 union members staged a work stoppage at General Motors in a strike that lasted 67 days and “shook the nation’s economy,” according to The New York Times. Workers were able to negotiate better wages and the right to retire after 30 years on the job.

Workers Involved: 400,000

Nearly a half-million miners left work in the spring and stayed out until December in an effort to win a health plan for workers and retirees. “President Truman attempted to reach a settlement with the union but his efforts were rebuffed,” Investopedia says. “In response, he fined the workers $3.5 million and forced them to accept a deal, which put an end to the strike.” Further negotiations secured better pay and safety improvements for workers.

Workers Involved: 400,000

A cut in workers’ wages sparked a protest that led to the deaths of 10 people around the country at the hands of the National Guard and private security forces. Railroad companies replaced 75% of the workers with nonunion scabs, and those who weren’t replaced returned to work — with a smaller pay cut — after a federal judge banned strike-related activities.

Workers Involved: 400,000

Textile workers across the Eastern Seaboard went on strike for about 20 days to protest long hours and low wages. But their effort failed “due to little popular support and a surplus of textiles in the South,” according to Investopedia. Many of the workers involved in the strike also lost their jobs.

Workers Involved: 500,000

In what remains the largest event of its kind, a half-million steelworkers represented by the United Steelworkers of America successfully struck across the country between July and November for higher wages.