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

But these workers walked off the job entirely on Tuesday when its union, the Professional Association of Maritime and Inland Pilots (BVL), joined multiple other unions in a national work stoppage that also grounded most airplanes at the country’s two main airports. —Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 15 Oct. 2025

The strike was part of separate negotiations from the major work stoppage planned Tuesday. —Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 14 Oct. 2025

In July, the NHL and its Players’ Association ratified a new CBA that will extend the harmony between the sides to 16 seasons, which would be by far the longest stretch without a work stoppage in the tenure of league commissioner Gary Bettman. —Rob Rossi, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025

One instance occurred in 1999, when men at Sing Sing and elsewhere were planning a work stoppage for the first day of the New Year, in part to protest New York’s increasingly harsh parole policies. —Jennifer Gonnerman, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 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.”