Timeline of strikes in 1979

A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred in 1979.

Background

A labor strike is a work stoppage, caused by the mass refusal of employees to work, usually in response to employee grievances, such as low pay or poor working conditions. Strikes can also take place to demonstrate solidarity with workers in other workplaces or to pressure governments to change policies.

Timeline

Continuing strikes from 1978

• 1978–1980 ABC Paulista strikes, in the ABC Region of Brazil.
• 1978 Inco strike
• 1978-79 Puretex Knitting Company strike, by Puretex Knitting Company workers in Toronto, Canada, against workplace surveillance. ^{[1] [2]}
• 1975-80 Sonacotra rent strike, rent strike by immigrant workers in France. ^[3]
• 1977-79 Wien Air Alaska strike, 22-month strike by Wien Air Alaska pilots. ^[4]
• Winter of Discontent, a period of widespread strikes in the United Kingdom.

January

• 1979 Newport News strike, by shipbuilders at Newport News Shipbuilding. ^[5]

February

• 1979 New Orleans police strike ^[6]

March

• 1979 Christmas Island miners strike ^[7]
• 1979 white South African mineworkers' strike, by the exclusively white Mine Workers' Union in support of apartheid. ^[8]

April

• 1979 Boston University strike
• 1979 NASL strike, 5-day strike by North American Soccer League players. ^[9]
• 1979 New York prison guards' strike, 16-day strike by prison guards in the American state of New York. ^[10]
• 1979 Raymondville Onion Strike ^[11]

May

• 1979 Gary bus strike, 2-week strike by Gary Public Transportation Corporation bus drivers in Gary, Indiana. ^[12]

June

• 1979 British Columbian longshoremen's strike, 10-day strike by longshoremen in British Columbia, Canada. ^[13]
• 1979 The Times of India strike, 9-week strike by The Times of India staff, the longest since 1968. ^[14]

July

• 1979 Seafarer Yachts strike, by workers at Seafarer Yachts in Huntington, New York. ^[15]
• 1979 Temple University Hospital strike, 10-day strike at Temple University Hospital. ^[16]

August

• 1979 Rotterdam port strike, by dock workers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. ^[17]
• 1979 Wetzel County Hospital strike ^[18]
• 1979 World Airways strike, 131-day strike by World Airways workers. ^[19]

September

• 1979 Emery Air Freight strike, 16-day strike by Emery Air Freight drivers and clerical workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. ^[20]
• 1979 Minnesota Orchestra strike, the first in the Minnesota Orchestra history. ^[21]
• 1979 New Zealand general strike ^{[22] [23]}

October

• 1979 Hawaii public sector strike, demanding pay raises. ^[24]

November

• 1979 Cleveland teachers' strike, by teachers in Cleveland, United States, represented by the Cleveland Teachers Union. ^[25]
• 1979–1980 International Harvester strike

December

• 1979 Air Portugal strike, 60-day strike by Air Portugal flight engineers. ^[26]
• 1979 Chicago transit strike, by Chicago Transit Authority workers in the United States, the first since 1922. ^[27]
• 1979 Spanish docks strike ^{[28] [29]}
• 1979 Sweden dentists' strike ^[30]

Commentary

The United States Department of Labor reported that the number of working days lost to work stoppages in the United States in April 1979 was the highest in a single month in nine years. ^[31]

References

1. Godden, Mason (18 January 2021). "Contesting Big Brother: Legal Mobilization against Workplace Surveillance in the Puretex Knitting Company Strike, 1978–1979". Labour/Le Travail. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
2. Dedieu, Jean-Philippe (1979). "Madeleine Parent discusses Puretex strike". CBC Radio Archives. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
3. Dedieu, Jean-Philippe; Mbodj-Pouye, Aissatou (28 September 2015). "The first collective protest of black African migrants in postcolonial France (1960–1975): a struggle for housing and rights" . Ethnic and Racial Studies . 39 (6): 958–975. doi:10.1080/01419870.2015.1081964 . Retrieved 4 October 2024.
4. "Alaska Pilot Strike Ends". The New York Times. 4 March 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
5. Lessig, Hugh (25 March 2018). "Steelworkers mark 40 years at shipyard, recall 1979 strike". AP News. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
6. Montoya, Maria C. (2 August 2009). "A police strike 30 years ago stopped Carnival parades, but the pageantry of the masked balls prevailed". The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate . Retrieved 4 October 2024.
7. "The 1979 strike of the Union of Christmas Island Workers". Australian Trade Union Institute. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
8. Burns, John F. (15 March 1979). "South Africa Strike Ebbs". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
9. Yannis, Alex (19 April 1979). "Players End Strike In Soccer". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
10. "New York Prison Guards End Their 16-Day Strike". The New York Times. 5 May 1979. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
11. "Onion Strike (1979)". Omeka. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
12. "Gary, Ind., Bus Strike Ends". The New York Times. 16 May 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
13. "Canadian Dockers Vote to End Strike". The New York Times. 15 June 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
14. "Strike to End at Indian Paper". The New York Times. 22 August 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
15. Mitchell, Ellen (14 October 1979). "Boatworks Strike Drifts Alone". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
16. "Temple U. Hospital Strike Ends". The New York Times. 14 July 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
17. "Dutch Seek to End Dock Walkout By 7,000 Workers in Rotterdam". The New York Times. 1 September 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
18. "Bitter Hospital Strike Divides a Town in West Virginia Hospital Strike Is 'Different'". The New York Times. 2 December 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
19. "World Airways Strike Ends". The New York Times. 13 December 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
20. "Strike Ends at Emery Airfreight". The New York Times. 29 September 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
21. "Musicians Strike Minnesota Orchestra". The New York Times. 27 September 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
22. Boraman, Toby (10 April 2023). "Strikes, protests and collective action: how fighting a cost-of-living crisis wasn't always about tightening your own belt". The Conversation. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
23. Derby, Mark (11 March 2010). "Story: Strikes and labour disputes - The decline of the arbitration system". Te Ara. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
24. "Hawaii's Striking Public Workers Due Back Today". The New York Times. 3 December 1979. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
25. "Teachers in Cleveland Reject Pay Proposals; Long Strike Continues". The New York Times. 28 December 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
26. "Portuguese Air Strike Ended". The New York Times. 21 December 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
27. Sheppard Jr., Nathaniel (18 December 1979). "Chicago Transit Workers Strike, Affecting a Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
28. "Dock Workers in Spain Protest Plan to Transfer Control of Ports". The New York Times. 28 December 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
29. Harman, Mike (22 July 2007). "Workers of the world tonight: international dockers struggles of the 1980s". LibCom. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
30. "3,000 Dentists Strike in Sweden". The New York Times. 4 December 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
31. "April Strike Loss Highest in 9 Years". The New York Times. 30 May 1979. Retrieved 3 October 2024.