How often do workers go on strike?

There were 52 labour strikes in 2023. Strikes used to be much more frequent: in 1901 – the first year for which Statistics Netherlands (CBS) has figures on this – there were 122 strikes, and in 1919 there were as many as 649. In recent decades, the number of strikes has been relatively low. Union membership is also declining.

Compared to today, the 1920s saw an especially high number of strikes. But the record year was 1919, with 649 strikes. That year, many workers went on strike to demand better working conditions, such as an eight-hour working day. The number of strikes was also relatively high in the period shortly after the Second World War, partly because of workers’ protests against the war in the Dutch East Indies.

In the past 40 years, there have not been as many strikes. There was a comparatively small number of strikes in 2019 (26), but due to large-scale strikes in education and healthcare a record number of workers were involved. Teachers and healthcare workers went on strike to demand better pay and reduced workloads.

In 2023, there were 52 labour disruptions – the highest number in more than 50 years. The sector with the most strikes was manufacturing. Compared with other sectors, the trade sector also had a high number of strikes.

More working days lost due to strikes in the past

Strikes used to last longer than they do now. The 1920s saw a particularly high number of working days lost, even though there were far fewer workers then. The peak year was 1924, when as many as 3.2 million working days were lost to strikes.

Show datatableWorking days lost due to strikesHide datatableWorking days lost due to strikes

Working days lost due to strikes

Jaartal	Working days lost due to strikes
1901	.
1902	.
1903	.
1904	657.9
1905	123.0
1906	294.6
1907	458.4
1908	102.1
1909	297.1
1910	366.3
1911	441.6
1912	466.7
1913	911.5
1914	393.4
1915	117.6
1916	260.7
1917	544.5
1918	716.1
1919	1056.8
1920	2354.9
1921	1281.8
1922	1223.9
1923	1216.4
1924	3156.0
1925	780.9
1926	281.3
1927	201.5
1928	634.5
1929	889.9
1930	229.3
1931	766.3
1932	1636.4
1933	483.4
1934	90.1
1935	244.0
1936	77.4
1937	32.2
1938	124.8
1939	91.4
1940	43.1
1941	.
1942	.
1943	.
1944	.
1945	161.2
1946	681.6
1947	203.4
1948	131.4
1949	289.4
1950	162.5
1951	66.7
1952	31.2
1953	29.9
1954	59.3
1955	133.0
1956	228.1
1957	7.2
1958	37.3
1959	14.0
1960	526.1
1961	24.7
1962	9.1
1963	37.8
1964	43.9
1965	54.6
1966	12.6
1967	6.2
1968	13.7
1969	21.7
1970	293.5
1971	98.2
1972	137.0
1973	598.1
1974	11.7
1975	0.7
1976	15.7
1977	246.4
1978	5.8
1979	310.0
1980	56.8
1981	24.1
1982	215.4
1983	118.2
1984	29.2
1985	89.4
1986	38.9
1987	58.3
1988	8.9
1989	23.8
1990	206.7
1991	96.4
1992	85.4
1993	44.7
1994	47.4
1995	691.5
1996	7.4
1997	14.6
1998	33.2
1999	75.8
2000	9.4
2001	45.1
2002	245.5
2003	15.0
2004	62.2
2005	41.7
2006	15.8
2007	26.4
2008	120.6
2009	4.6
2010	59.2
2011	22.0
2012	219.4
2013	19.4
2014	40.9
2015	47.6
2016	19.2
2017	306.3
2018	239.1
2019	391.0
2020	211.0
2021	59.3
2022	39.4
2023	142.1

Union membership has declined

Trade unions usually play an important role in strikes, and union membership among workers is falling. In 2023, 15 percent of workers aged 15 to 75 belonged to a union. This is equivalent to nearly 1.3 million people. From the beginning of the 1950s to the end of the 1970s, union membership was between 35 and 40 percent.

Since 1980, union membership has been in decline, apart from a small resurgence in the early 1990s. In recent years, the share of union members decreased most sharply among older workers, but the membership rate among younger workers is also falling. When asked why they do not belong to a union, the main reason given by most workers is that they have never seriously considered joining.

Show datatableDegree of unionisation among workers (% union membership)Hide datatableDegree of unionisation among workers (% union membership)

Degree of unionisation among workers (% union membership)

Jaartal	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers	Unionisation of workers
1955	37	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1956	37	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1957	38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1958	39	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1959	39	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1960	39	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1961	38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1962	39	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1963	39	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1964	38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1965	38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1966	37	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1967	38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1968	38	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1969	37	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1970	36	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
1971	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1972	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1973	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1974	.	37	.	.	.	.	.	.
1975	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1976	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1977	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1978	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1979	.	36	.	.	.	.	.	.
1980	.	34	.	.	.	.	.	.
1981	.	.	33	.	.	.	.	.
1982	.	.	31	.	.	.	.	.
1983	.	.	29	.	.	.	.	.
1984	.	.	28	.	.	.	.	.
1985	.	.	27	.	.	.	.	.
1986	.	.	26	.	.	.	.	.
1987	.	.	.	24	.	.	.	.
1988	.	.	.	24	.	.	.	.
1989	.	.	.	24	.	.	.	.
1990	.	.	.	24	.	.	.	.
1991	.	.	.	24	.	.	.	.
1992	.	.	.	.	27	.	.	.
1993	.	.	.	.	28	.	.	.
1994	.	.	.	.	28	.	.	.
1995	.	.	.	.	28	.	.	.
1996	.	.	.	.	28	.	.	.
1997	.	.	.	.	28	.	.	.
1998	.	.	.	.	27	.	.	.
1999	.	.	.	.	27	.	.	.
2000	.	.	.	.	.	25	.	.
2001	.	.	.	.	.	24	.	.
2002	.	.	.	.	.	24	.	.
2003	.	.	.	.	.	24	.	.
2004	.	.	.	.	.	24	.	.
2005	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
2006	.	.	.	.	.	23	.	.
2007	.	.	.	.	.	22	.	.
2008	.	.	.	.	.	21	.	.
2009	.	.	.	.	.	22	.	.
2010	.	.	.	.	.	21	.	.
2011	.	.	.	.	.	20	.	.
2012	.	.	.	.	.	.	19	.
2013	.	.	.	.	.	.	19	.
2014	.	.	.	.	.	.	19	.
2015	.	.	.	.	.	.	19	.
2016	.	.	.	.	.	.	19	.
2017	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
2018	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	18
2019	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	18
2020	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	18
2021	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	17
2022	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	16
2023	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	15
1) Some year-on-year changes may be due to methodoligical changes. For more information, see the article: 'What are the characteristics of union members?' on cbs.nl