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‘Suicide Shifts,’ 7-Day Weeks Fuel Rare Flare-Up in U.S. Strikes

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  • From Kellogg factories to Hollywood, workers are standing up
  • ‘People want more control over their lives’: union official
Deere & Co. workers strike outside the John Deere Des Moines Works facility in Ankeny, Iowa, on Oct. 15. 
Deere & Co. workers strike outside the John Deere Des Moines Works facility in Ankeny, Iowa, on Oct. 15.  Photographer: Rachel Mummey/Bloomberg

The headline-grabbing labor strife of 2021 is being fought along traditional fronts like pay and benefits. But increasingly, restive workers weary from the Covid-19 pandemic are turning to companies with a newly urgent demand: Give back my free time.

From Hollywood sets to snack factories, and heavy-equipment makers to hospitals, employees are fighting back against what they see as a pernicious encroachment on their personal life -- with work restricting their ability to relax, or just to get a good night’s sleep.