2025 Research on strike trends shows sharp increase in wildcat strikes
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CWAO released the latest Strike Barometer, covering all strikes and workplace-related actions occurring between 1 January and 31 December 2025.
Key features of strikes in 2025:
* There were 117 strikes in 2025. This is far higher than the 87 strikes of 2024, the 85 strikes that took place in 2023, and the 86 strikes that occurred in 2022.
* The 2025 strike total represents a 34% increase over 2024 and is higher than the pre-Covid strike levels of 2018 and 2019 (116 and 102, respectively).
* Wildcat strikes increased dramatically in 2025. In 2025, 77.8 % (91 of the 117 strikes) were wildcat.
* Most strikes were held in the public sector and privatised public services, led mainly by municipal workers, security guards hired through private companies to guard public institutions, bus drivers, health workers, Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers and community health workers.
* The main reason for striking was unpaid wages, followed by striking for permanent jobs. Unusually, strikes for wage increases, historically always the main reason for strikes, were only the third-highest reason for striking in 2025.
* Other major reasons for striking in 2025 were against poor health and safety conditions; against various forms of mismanagement, including nepotism in the workplace, and against retrenchments or dismissals.
* Workers continued to down tools against police harassment, racism, exploitation, corruption, overwork, for union recognition and against austerity measures that resulted in short staffing.
* Significantly, 28 of the wildcat strikes were purely led without the involvement of unions. This is a development that confirms that, increasingly, the ‘precariat’ is at the forefront of worker struggles.
Strike Barometer Data Sources:
Information was collected through union networks, media and desktop research.
We could not rely on government figures because the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has not released its annual Industrial Action Report yet.
In addition, CWAO noticed further problems with the DEL's strike information - the DEL mixes strikes, pickets, secondary action, stayaways/protest, multi-employer strikes and lockouts under the broad rubric of ‘work stoppages’.
A strike is an action undertaken by workers, whereas a lockout is undertaken by an employer.
These are two very different actions and the reason why each is defined discretely in the Labour Relations Act. They cannot be combined and simply referred to as ‘strikes’.
Key features of strikes in 2025:
* There were 117 strikes in 2025. This is far higher than the 87 strikes of 2024, the 85 strikes that took place in 2023, and the 86 strikes that occurred in 2022.
* The 2025 strike total represents a 34% increase over 2024 and is higher than the pre-Covid strike levels of 2018 and 2019 (116 and 102, respectively).
* Wildcat strikes increased dramatically in 2025. In 2025, 77.8 % (91 of the 117 strikes) were wildcat.
* Most strikes were held in the public sector and privatised public services, led mainly by municipal workers, security guards hired through private companies to guard public institutions, bus drivers, health workers, Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers and community health workers.
* The main reason for striking was unpaid wages, followed by striking for permanent jobs. Unusually, strikes for wage increases, historically always the main reason for strikes, were only the third-highest reason for striking in 2025.
* Other major reasons for striking in 2025 were against poor health and safety conditions; against various forms of mismanagement, including nepotism in the workplace, and against retrenchments or dismissals.
* Workers continued to down tools against police harassment, racism, exploitation, corruption, overwork, for union recognition and against austerity measures that resulted in short staffing.
* Significantly, 28 of the wildcat strikes were purely led without the involvement of unions. This is a development that confirms that, increasingly, the ‘precariat’ is at the forefront of worker struggles.
Strike Barometer Data Sources:
Information was collected through union networks, media and desktop research.
We could not rely on government figures because the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has not released its annual Industrial Action Report yet.
In addition, CWAO noticed further problems with the DEL's strike information - the DEL mixes strikes, pickets, secondary action, stayaways/protest, multi-employer strikes and lockouts under the broad rubric of ‘work stoppages’.
A strike is an action undertaken by workers, whereas a lockout is undertaken by an employer.
These are two very different actions and the reason why each is defined discretely in the Labour Relations Act. They cannot be combined and simply referred to as ‘strikes’.