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

This work began in October and was supposed to run through December, but within days there was already work stoppage, per emails reviewed by Deadline. —Katie Campione, Deadline, 4 Mar. 2025

In Rock Springs, white miners asked their Chinese colleagues to join them in work stoppages, but the Chinese workers demurred. —Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

The spokesperson also accused Halperin of insubordination, citing a Politico report according to which Halperin had told staff last week that the agency's work stoppage did not apply to pending cases. —Douglas Gillison, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025

Along with the league going through a work stoppage and a pandemic, Vlasic had his share of injuries, including one that kept him out of the first half of this season, and was a healthy scratch over 20 times last season. —Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 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.”