Labor-Management Relations: Strikes and the Use of Permanent Strike Replacements in the 1970s and 1980s
Abstract
The number of strikes in the United States during the 1980s was about one-half what it was during the 1970s. More specifically strikes declined about 53 percent in the 1980s compared with the 1970s. We estimate that, in strikes reported to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in 1985 and 1989, employers announced they would hire permanent replacements in about one-third of the strikes in both years and hired them in about 17 percent of all strikes in each year. We generally found little difference in the use of permanent replacements by employers in large versus small strikes. Many employers and union representatives involved in strikes in 1985 and 1989 believe permanent strike replacements were hired more frequently in the late 1980s than they were in the late 1970s. We estimate that if we had interviewed all employers and union representatives, 33 percent of the employers and 13 percent of the union representatives would have said they had no basis to provide an opinion.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA267415
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office