Union Strike Analysis
The December 3, 2007 issue of Businessweek didn’t disappoint me in the least bit. There is a section, which I think is fairly new, called Numbers. Honestly, I’m not sure how new it really is, but I enjoy the section each week because it contains some type of data visualization.
The first section I would like to discuss is the simple 3×4 table shown below. It contains the average number of strikes per year in the U.S. with more than 1,000 workers. My question: why not show this in a simple line graph to illustrate the massive decline in strikes from 1950 until 2007? The numbers by themselves do really do this trend any justice.
Let’s take a look at my version, shown below. I created a simple line graph and added the percentage change between the years to further illustrate the extent of change. Also note, I added a small vertical line between 2000’s and 2007 to denote that the x-axis increments changed. The line is subtle, yet draws some attention so as to not fool the reader.
Now, I would like to speak to the actual data. Yes, the number of strikes has declined since the 1950’s, but what has changed in the number of Unions since then? A fundamental question and the answer can’t be found in Businessweek’s illustration. I did a quick search at BLS and found that the number of Unions declined roughly 11% from 1970 until 2003. This decline still doesn’t explain the cliff shown below. However, it does make you think twice about taking all of the factors into account before making a statement and presenting data. I do this constantly when performing any type of analytics and reporting. I always try to think about what could be causing these results… By asking yourself this question, it may help you to at least be prepared when the person sitting across the table asks, what happened to the number of Unions from 1950 until 2007?
Finally, the last section contains a graphic showing the minutes of lost work per employed person from strikes and lockouts in 2006. What I really like about this illustration is that time is universal. Most individuals can quickly and efficiently distinguish the time lost when it’s presented in this manner. Also, I like that James Mehring and Laurel Daunis-Allen (Illustrator) arranged the clocks in descending order.
This illustration also doesn’t show how many Unions there are per country to make the comparison complete. My message here is that I like the creativity and effectiveness!
Time lost to strikes – Minutes of lost work per employed person from strikes and lockouts in 2006 (based on an 8-hour workday).
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