2011 labor disputes and strikes

The 2011 NBA lockout was the fourth lockout in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Team owners began the work stoppage upon expiration of the 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The 161-day lockout began on July 1, 2011 and ended on December 8, 2011. It delayed the start of the 2011–12 regular season from November 1 to December 25, and it reduced the regular season from 82 to 66 games. The previous lockout in 1998–99 had shortened the season to 50 games. During the lockout, teams could not trade, sign or contact players. Also, players could not access NBA team facilities, trainers, or staffs.

The 2011 National Football League Player lockout was a work stoppage imposed by the owners of the NFL's 32 teams that lasted from March 12, 2011, to July 25, 2011. When the owners and the NFL players, represented by the National Football League Players Association, could not come to a consensus on a new collective bargaining agreement, the owners locked out the players from team facilities and shut down league operations. The major issues disputed were the salary cap, players' safety and health benefits, revenue sharing and television contracts, transparency of financial information, rookie salaries, season length, and free agency guidelines. During the 18-week, 4-day period, there was no free agency and training camp, and players were restricted from seeing team doctors, entering or working out at team facilities, or communicating with coaches. The end of the lockout coincided with the formation of a new collective bargaining agreement prior to the start of the 2011 regular season.

The Zhanaozen massacre took place in Kazakhstan's western Mangystau Region over the weekend of 16–17 December 2011. At least 14 protestors were killed by police in the oil town of Zhanaozen as they clashed with police on the country's Independence Day, with unrest spreading to other towns in the oil-rich oblys, or region. The massacre was a stark illustration of the country's poor human rights record under President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The 2011 Wisconsin protests were a series of demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin in the United States beginning in February involving at its zenith as many as 100,000 protesters opposing the 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also called the "Wisconsin Budget Repair bill." Subsequently, anti-tax activists and other conservatives, including Tea Party advocates, launched small pockets of counter protests. The protests centered on the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, with satellite protests also occurring at other municipalities throughout the state. Demonstrations took place at various college campuses, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. After the collective bargaining bill was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 14, the number of protesters declined to about 1,000 within a couple days.

The Vita Cortex sit-in was a peaceful protest at the Vita Cortex plant on the Kinsale Road in Cork, Ireland, which began on 16 December 2011 after workers were made redundant without pay with immediate effect. The dispute led to nationwide protests, television appeals and debates in Dáil Éireann. According to the trade union UNITE, the dispute was part of a growing trend of workers being "left in the cold" after being made redundant.

The 2011 Qantas industrial disputes were a series of disputes between the Australian airline Qantas and a number of trade unions during much of 2011 and the start of 2012. The disputes commenced in late 2010, when Qantas and unions commenced bargaining for new enterprise agreements. The bargaining became more heated when the airline announced its intentions to launch a new airline in Asia. During the bargaining, engineers, pilots and baggage handlers carried out a number of protected industrial actions, culminating in the decision by Qantas, on 29 October 2011, to lock out those employees (with the consequence that the entire Qantas mainline fleet would be grounded). After an application by the Federal Minister for Workplace Relations, Fair Work Australia terminated the industrial action with effect from 2 am on 31 October 2011.

The 2010–11 Hanjin Heavy Industries strike was a strike in the Republic of Korea and the Philippines from 28 December 2010 to 10 November 2011, resulting from the layoff of 400 Hanjin Heavy Industries employees. The goal of the strike was to prevent the layoffs and improve overall working conditions.

The 2011 Chaozhou riot (Chinese: 潮州6·6事件) began on the night of Duanwu Festival June 6, 2011 in Guxiang (古巷镇) Chao'an County, Chaozhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.