ANALYSIS: Why the Big UAW strike at GM Isn’t as Big as You Think

With seating for 49,000 workers, the United Auto Workers’ latest strike at General Motors is big. But compared to the huge numbers that unions representing government workers have been putting on the picket line lately, the strike at the Detroit-based automaker only rates as a mid-size.

The nationwide strike, which started Sept. 16 following the expiration date of the UAW’s current contract, is the largest private-sector strike in the U.S. since 2007—which was the last time the auto workers struck GM.

But on Bloomberg Law’s list of the 2018–19 strikes that have idled the most workers, the UAW-GM strike doesn’t ...