List of strikes

Agitated workers face the factory owner in The Strike, painted by Robert Koehler in 1886

The following is a list of specific strikes (workers refusing to work, seeking to change their conditions in a particular industry or an individual workplace, or striking in solidarity with those in another particular workplace) and general strikes (widespread refusal of workers to work in an organized political campaign on a broader national or international level).

Chronological list of strikes[]

Seventeenth century[]

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Eighteenth century[]

Nineteenth century[]

1800–1849[]

1850–1899[]

Frick's letter describing the plans and munitions that will be on the barges when the Pinkerton guards and County Sheriffs arrive to confront the strikers in the 1892 Homestead.

Twentieth century[]

1900s[]

1910s[]

Bodies immediately after the Lena massacre of striking goldfield workers in 1912

1920s[]

1930s[]

1940s[]

1950s[]

1960s[]

1970s[]

1980s[]

1990s[]

Twenty-first century[]

2000s[]

2010s[]

Arizona teachers' strike, 26 April 2018

General strike in Catalonia, 21 February 2019

2020s[]

Protestors during the 2021 Warrior Met Coal strike

Michigan graduate students strike, 11 September 2020

Chronological list of general strikes[]

Date	Name	Place	Country
1820	Radical War	Central Belt, Scotland	United Kingdom	Influenced by Radical demands for reform, especially among Scottish weavers
1835	Philadelphia general strike of 1835	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	United States	Successful strike for a ten-hour work day and better wages
1842	General Strike of 1842	England and Wales	United Kingdom	Chartist general strike against low wages originating from coal miners in Staffordshire before spreading to multiple industries in the Midlands as well as coal mines across the country.
1855	1855 Catalan general strike	Catalonia	Spain
1877	St. Louis general strike of 1877	St. Louis, Missouri	United States	Organized by the Knights of Labor and the Workingmen's Party during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 for a child labor ban and an eight-hour day; ended with a suppression by the municipal government and the National Guard
1877	Scranton general strike	Scranton, Pennsylvania	United States	Organized during the Great Railroad Strike; ended with riots, the imposition of martial law by the Pennsylvania Militia, and the strikers returning to work without concessions.
1886	Walloon jacquerie of 1886	Wallonia	Belgium
1892	New Orleans general strike of 1892	New Orleans, Louisiana	United States	Successful strike for a 10-hour day and overtime pay; notable for the participation of both white and black strikers
1893	Belgian general strike of 1893	Mons	Belgium	Strike by the Belgian Labour Party to pressure Prime Minister Auguste Beernaert's Catholic Party government to introduce universal male suffrage
1901	[40]	Ybor City, Tampa, Florida	United States
1904	1904 Italian general strike	nationwide	Italy
1909	Swedish General Strike	nationwide	Sweden	Unsuccessful general strike called by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
1910	Philadelphia general strike of 1910	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	United States	Amalgamated Transit Union strike of Philadelphia Transportation Company trolley workers which expanded into a citywide American Federation of Labor general strike, eventually leading to wage increases
1912	Brisbane general strike of 1912	Brisbane, Queensland	Australia	Caused when Australian Tramway Employees Union members were dismissed for wearing union badges; ended with Queensland Police Service attacks on labor marchers in Market Square leading to a public outcry and the strengthening of the Australian labour movement
1917	1917–1919 Brazil strike movement	Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul	Brazil	Series of general strikes leading to an attempted anarchist uprising against the First Brazilian Republic.
1918	Vancouver general strike	Vancouver, British Columbia	Canada	General strike caused by the arrest of Albert "Ginger" Goodwin, discontent over high living costs and low wages during World War I, and the October Revolution; ended with police attacks on union offices
1919	Seattle General Strike	Seattle, Washington	United States	Industrial Workers of the World strike caused when the Emergency Fleet Corporation denied shipbuilders' demands for higher wages and intended to start a socialist revolution; contributed to the First Red Scare
1919	Winnipeg general strike	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Canada	General strike ending with repression by the North-West Mounted Police but leading to the growth of the Canadian democratic socialist and labor movements.
1920	Berlin general strike	Berlin	Germany	General strike encouraged by the government to resist an attempted overthrow of the Weimar Republic
1920	Ruhr uprising	Ruhr	Germany	General strike in support of the Social Democratic government before expanding into a mass labor uprising to establish a "dictatorship of the proletariat"; suppressed by the Freikorps and the Reichswehr
1920	Italian anti-Fascist general strike	Rome	Italy	Unsuccessful general strike intended to prevent a seizure of power by Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party
1922	Guayaquil general strike	Guayaquil	Ecuador
1926	United Kingdom general strike of 1926	nationwide	United Kingdom	10-day general strike by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress to prevent wage reductions and worsened conditions for coal miners; ended without concessions or violence.
1933		nationwide, initially in Havana	Cuba	The strike would originally begin as a strike for bus drivers in Havana and would later grow to other sectors and spread throughout the country. The strike led to the resignation of President Gerardo Machado.[41]
1933	[42]	Quito, Riobamba	Ecuador
1934	San Francisco general strike of 1934	San Francisco, California	United States	83-day general strike in support of the International Longshoremen's Association during the Great Depression; the success of the strike contributed to the growth of industrial unionism under the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
1936	1936 Syrian general strike	nationwide	Syria
1936	Palestinian general strike	nationwide	Mandatory Palestine	General strike coordinated by the Arab Higher Committee against Jewish settlement in Palestine; eventually led to the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine.
1942	Luxembourgish general strike of 1942	nationwide	Luxembourg	Campaign of passive resistance against the Nazi occupation during World War II.
1946	Oakland general strike of 1946	Oakland, California	United States	Part of the 1945-46 strike wave in the United States during the U.S. demobilization after World War II and the abolition of National War Labor Board restrictions, which contributed to the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act restricting union activities and strike actions.
1950	General strike against Leopold III of Belgium	nationwide	Belgium	Originated over opposition to King Leopold III of Belgium being returned to throne after his refusal to leave Belgium with the government-in-exile during the Nazi occupation; ended with his agreement to abdicate and allow his son Baudouin to take the throne
1953	Uprising of 1953	nationwide	East Germany	Originated as strike by East Berlin construction workers against Sovietization work quotas before expanding to a broad revolt against the Soviet-sponsored Socialist Unity Party's rule; repressed by the Soviet Army and the Kasernierte Volkspolizei
1956	General strike of 1956	nationwide	Finland	Successful Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions general strike for higher wages
1960–61	Belgian general strike of 1960–61	Wallonia	Belgium	General Labour Federation of Belgium general strike against Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens's austerity policies, especially the Unitary Law; contributed to the growth of the Walloon Movement
1968	French general strike of May 1968	nationwide	France	Student protests which escalated into a nationwide general strike which halted the French economy and continued with wildcat strikes after the Grenelle agreements granted higher wages, leading to fears of a revolution against Charles de Gaulle; ended with Gaullist counter-demonstrations and a vote of confidence from the National Assembly.
1973	Uruguay general strike of 1973	nationwide	Uruguay	Unsuccessful general strike against the 1973 Uruguayan coup d'état, leading the civic-military dictatorship to ban trade unions.
1974	Ulster Workers' Council strike	Northern Ireland	United Kingdom	Successful Ulster loyalist general strike against the Sunningdale Agreement between Great Britain and Ireland, which would have attempted to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict by establishing a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and revived Council of Ireland
1988	Spanish general strike of 1988	nationwide	Spain	Workers' Commissions and Unión General de Trabajadores strike against the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party's policies under Prime Minister Felipe González
1990	[43]	nationwide	Morocco
1992	April 1992 general strike in Nepal	nationwide	Nepal
1998	1998 Puerto Rican general strike	nationwide	United States ( Puerto Rico)	41-day general strike against the privatization of the Puerto Rico Telephone Company, accompanied by some violence and sabotage.
2002–03	Venezuelan general strike of 2002–03	nationwide	Venezuela	General strike against President Hugo Chávez including a large contingent of PDVSA workers.
2006	2006 democracy movement in Nepal	nationwide	Nepal
2007	2007 Guinea general strike	nationwide	Guinea	Successful general strike forcing President Lansana Conté to resign.
2008	2008 Egyptian general strike	nationwide	Egypt	General strike including large contingent of textile workers during the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
2011	2011 Oakland general strike	Oakland, California	United States	Part of the Occupy Oakland demonstrations
2016	Indian general strike of 2016	nationwide	India	24-hour general strike against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic policies
2017	2017 Brazilian general strike	nationwide	Brazil	General strike against President Michel Temer's labor reform policies during the Brazilian economic crisis.
2017	2017 Catalan general strike	Catalonia	Spain	General strike in support of the Catalan independence movement, accompanied by police repression by the Spanish government.
2018	2018 Jordanian general strike	nationwide	Jordan	Anti-austerity general strike
2018–19	School strike for climate	America, Europe, Australia, and others.	Various	International movement of students skipping classes to support renewable energy and climate change mitigation
2020	2020 United States essential workers general strike	nationwide	United States	General strike involving essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
2020	Strike for Black Lives	nationwide	United States	Mass walkout in support of the George Floyd protests
2020	2020 Indian general strike	nationwide	India	Preceded the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest
2021		nationwide	Greece	24-hour general strike against a bill in the Hellenic Parliament that would give employers more power in regards to their employees.[44]

See also[]

• List of miners' strikes
• Murder of workers in labor disputes in the United States
• Streetcar strikes in the United States
• Strikes during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Timeline of Labor unions in the United States

Sources[]

Labor conflict in the United States, An encyclopedia. edited by Ronald Filippelli, assisted by Carol Reilly – Garland Publishing New York & London 1990 (ISBN 0-8240-7968-X)

External links[]

• Chronology of general strikes
• List of labor events in U.S. history
• Recent strikes and other labour news
• Strike! Famous Worker Uprisings – slideshow by Life magazine
• The Long War at Staley