Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991 TAG: 9102080098
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Strikes and lockouts have been declining in recent years. In 1990 the number was down from 51 stoppages in 1989, the Labor Department said. A decade ago, there were about 200 strikes a year.
It was the next-to-lowest number of work stoppages since the government began tracking labor-management disputes in 1947. The high was in 1952, when there were 470 worker-initiated strikes or employer lockouts of workers; the low was the 40 that occurred in 1988.
Labor leaders attribute the dramatic decline in part to union reluctance to strike because of a growing trend by employers to replace union workers if they walk out.
Unions probably are afraid to strike because of the law permitting companies to replace workers, said Gerald Meadows, president of Roanoke Central Labor Council. Organized labor has been seeking repeal of this law in Congress, he said, and Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, is supporting them.
In Western Virginia, a major dispute - the United Mine Workers strike against Pittston Coal Group - was settled on Feb. 19, 1990, after 10 1/2 months of picketing.
The year's other major labor action, a strike by Greyhound bus drivers, also affected workers in the Roanoke Valley. That strike, which involved 9,400 drivers and mechanics at its peak, will complete its first year on March 2. The company has filed for reorganization and replaced the striking drivers, and many former Greyhound workers have found other jobs.
One major reason for the trend toward fewer work actions is that unions are trying other methods such as stockholder campaigns, pickets and one-day sitdowns instead of immediately responding with a strike.
"While we'll never give up the right to strike, the reality is that it's our ultimate weapon but it's not our only weapon," said Steve Rosenthal of the Communications Workers of America.
The 45 strikes and lockouts that occurred last year involved 202,000 workers and 6.6 million idle work days, the Labor Department said.
The government tracks strikes and lockouts involving 1,000 workers or more, when the stoppage lasted at least one shift. The government does not break down the number of strikes and lockouts when tallying the count.
The 1990 stoppages with the most workers involved were by General Motors employees represented by the United Auto Workers and teachers in West Virginia and Oklahoma.
The longest stoppage was by tugboat and barge crew members represented by the International Longshoremen's Association and employed by companies in the port of New York and New Jersey. That job action began in February 1988 and continued through 1991.
by CNB