Use of Permanent Strike Replacements

GAO discussed employers' hiring of permanent employees to replace striking workers, focusing on: (1) the trend in the number of strikes; (2) use of permanent strike replacements in 1985 and 1989; and (3) opinions about how often employers hired permanent replacements for strikes occurring between 1985 and 1990 as compared with strikes occurring between 1975 and 1980. GAO noted that: (1) strikes reported to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service declined about 53 percent between 1980 and 1989 compared with 1970 through 1979; (2) employers hired permanent replacements in about 17 percent of the strikes in 1985 and 1989; (3) employers showed little difference in use of replacements in large versus small strikes; and (4) employers and union representatives believed that replacements were hired less often between 1975 and 1980 than between 1985 and 1990.