work stoppage

noun

: concerted cessation of work by a group of employees usually more spontaneous and less serious than a strike

Examples of work stoppage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Major League Baseball is hurtling toward a work stoppage next offseason, and everyone is painfully aware of it. —Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025

Those talks resulted in multiple work stoppages, with the postal workers having engaged in rotating strikes since October. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 24 Nov. 2025

However, in that scenario, the players union or the league could announce a work stoppage. —Ben Pickman, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025

The last time around, in 2023, those bargaining sessions cratered into a five-month strike that marked SAG-AFTRA’s first industry-wide work stoppage since 1980. —Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1943, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

work stoppage

noun

: a cessation of work by employees as a job action

Note: Work stoppage is often used to refer to a cessation of work that is less serious and more spontaneous than one referred to as a strike. As used in the Labor Management Relations Act strike refers to “any…concerted stoppage of work by employees…and any concerted slowdown or other concerted interruption of operations by employees.”