While most employers treat any strike as “major,” the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) labels only work stoppages involving 1,000 or more employees as major. The BLS just released the major work stoppage data for 2011. The data, which includes both strikes and lockouts, revealed the five-year highs totals in number of major strikes and numbers of workers involved and a four-year high in the number of idle days involved.

The number of major work stoppages increased 72.7 percent and idle days increased 338 percent from their 2010 levels. This data is further confirmation that organized labor is increasingly militant following the improvement in the economy from the depths and 2008-2009 recession and union friendly administration in Washington, D.C.