Is Industrial Unrest Reviving in Canada? Strike Duration in the Early Twenty-First Century

Les donnees canadiennes a long terme sur la frequence, la duree et l'ampleur des greves laissent entendre que la greve est un acte en voie de disparition. Cependant, le debut du 21e siecle va a l'encontre du point de vue de ces previsions. Depuis 2001, la duree moyenne d'une greve est plus longue, et n'est pas anticyclique. Ce document explique cette anomalie en utilisant l'argument que les employeurs tentent de reduire les gains salariaux des decennies precedentes en raison de la hausse de la dette publique et de la menace d'un marche de moins en moins entrave. Ces conditions motivent apparemment certains travailleurs a subir de tres longs arrets de travail, sans tenir compte de l'etape du cycle economique, dans le but de proteger leurs droits. Canadian data on strike frequency, duration, and volume imply that the strike is withering away. Some research also suggests that strike duration is countercyclical. However, the early twenty-first century was anomalous from the viewpoint of these expectations. After 2001, mean strike duration increased and was not countercyclical. This paper explains the anomaly by arguing that employers are seeking to scale back the wage gains of previous decades in the face of mounting public debt and the whip of an increasingly unfettered market. These conditions apparently motivate some workers to endure protracted work stoppages, irrespective of the phase of the business cycle, in an effort to protect their rights.