(FORTUNE Magazine) – More than 150,000 striking miners paralyzed the coal industry in Siberia and parts of the Ukraine. They wanted better wages and working conditions and more say in running the pits. Their boss, the government, has promised concessions. / But if the promise is broken, the miners swear they'll walk out again. It's something of a time warp, reminiscent of the U.S. nearly 45 years ago. To be sure, West Virginia coal miners are striking too, and picketing pilots seem always with us. But aside from that, strikes in the U.S. are becoming ever more rare. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that from 1978 to 1988 the number decreased from 219 to 40, and the number of striking workers shrank from one million to 118,000. Days lost last year: a mere 0.02% of the total work time, a post-World War II low. Daniel Hamermesh, professor of economics at Michigan State University, attributes the decrease to the decline of unions, the internationalization of markets, and a maturing labor-management relationship. Says he: ''Both sides have more information about the other guy's likelihood of concession. When you know the outcome, why walk?''