Year |
Company |
Number of Members Affected |
Duration of Strike |
Notes |
1955 |
Southern Bell Telephone Co. |
50,000 |
72 days |
Strike was in answer to management's effort to prohibit workers from striking. |
1968 |
AT&T |
200,000 |
18 days |
Wage increases to compensate for cost of living, and medical benefits won |
1971 |
Bell System |
400,000 |
1 week |
Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) won for workers |
1983 |
Bell System |
600,000 |
22 days |
Last contract with the Bell System before its breakup. Bell System sought givebacks. The contract resulted in Wage increases, employment security, pension, and health improvements. |
1986 |
AT&T |
175,000 |
25 days |
COLA clause suspended in contract - former Bell System contracts vary substantially from the AT&T contract. |
1989 |
AT&T |
175,000 |
n/a |
Child and elder care benefits added to contract. COLA clause removed from contract |
1989 |
NYNEX |
175,000 |
17 weeks |
Strike was due to major health care cuts by NYNEX |
1998 |
US West |
34,000 |
15 day |
Strike was due to mandatory overtime demands and forced pay-for-performance plan. Overtime caps were won. [7] |
2000 |
Verizon |
80,000 |
3 weeks |
Strike was due to mandatory overtime demands. Provisions for stress were won. |
2011 |
Verizon |
45,000 |
13 days |
Strike was due to major wage and health care cuts by Verizon, a forced pay-for-performance plan and movement-of-work job security provisions. Contract extended. |
2012 |
AT&T |
20,000 |
2 Days |
AT&T West; California, Nevada, and AT&T East; Connecticut - Unfair labor practice strike during contract negotiations. [8] |