Purser Discusses the Impact of Short-Duration Strikes in Bloomberg Law Article

February 28, 2023

Bloomberg

Gretchen Purser

Sociology Department

Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry

Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict & Collaboration

Labor

United States

Bloomberg

Gretchen Purser

Workers are increasingly using a different tactic to pressure employers and grab headlines: walking out for one day, and clocking in the next morning. One-day strikes nearly doubled in 2022 compared with the previous year, according to a report released last week by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

The so-called “fixed-duration” strike was popularized over the last decade by the Fight For $15 movement that pressed McDonald’s and other companies to raise their minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. The strategy has spread to workers in other sectors, such as health care and retail chains.

Short-duration strikes can be a powerful tool because they immediately raise awareness of workers’ demands, says Gretchen Purser, associate professor of sociology.

“They capture the attention of management in a much more dramatic way than other forms of action and negotiation,” Purser says. “They’re showing the capacity for the workers to take collective action.”

Read more in the Bloomberg Law article, “Punching In: DOL Sets Goal to Get ‘Good Jobs’ to the South.”