U.S. workers have waged more strikes in the first nine months of 2022 than in all of 2021, data shows, lending evidence to unions’ and activists’ observations that the labor movement is undergoing a resurgence.
According to Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations’s (ILR) Labor Action Tracker, between January and the end of September, there were 288Strike actions throughout the U.S.A and its territories Researchers were able to track every strike action in 2021. About 260Strikes and work stoppages.
This year, the strikes have increased in size. There were a total of 82 strikes in the first half 2022. about 180 strikesAccording to the tracker, 78,000 workers were involved. That’s triple the number of people, about 26,500 workers, who went on strike in the first half of 2021. Around 140,000 workers participated, totaling over 3.2 Million strike days.
In recent months, there have been several major strikes including several teachers’Strikes and the Minnesota nurses’ strike last month. About 15,000 nurses went on strike in mid-September, marking the largest-ever private sector nurses’ strike in U.S. history. Starbucks Recently, workers in Boston ended the company’s longest-ever strike after winning several concessions.
The total number of strikes in this year’s year is expected to surpass last year’s. October of 2021, dubbed “Striketober” by labor activists, It was indeed see increased strike activity, and this year’s “Striketober” could see another flurry of labor protests.
Graduate workers at Clark University, Indiana University have authorizedStrikes may also be authorized. Thousands of Kroger employeesAfter the Ohio legislature approved a strike last month, Ohio’s railroad workers could go on strike. Railroad workers across the country may also strike. Strike continuesAs workers say railroads continueTo obstruct them from implementing key provisions. And there are a number of ongoing strikes ongoing strike actionsThey are likely to continue through the month.
As advocates have noted, the data shows that the labor movement is growing. Although the percentage of workers who are members of a union has decreased over the last decades, it still stands at a mere 2.5%. 10.3 percentLast year, labor organizers won high-profile wins at workplaces like Amazon and Starbucks. Even Congress.
These labor fights have likely contributed to a rise in the public’s approval of unions. Gallup poll August, found that 71 percent of Americans now say that they approve of unions — the highest approval rate recorded in 57 years, and close to the all-time high of 75 percent recorded in the mid-1950s. Further, workers who aren’t unionized want to join a union; of non-union workers in that survey, 42 percent said they were interested in unionizing.
The unprecedented economic conditions created by the pandemic and partnered may have led to an increase in labor activity. Runaway capitalismIncreasingly exploitative working conditions. With skyrocketing Corporate greed driven InflationAnd for decades of stagnant wagesWorkers are finding themselves with a higher level of power, and leverage.
These data are consistent with statistics from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which show that union filings have been increasing. The NLRB reported this summer that union petitions increased by 58 percent in the first nine months fiscal year 2022 (or between October 2021 to June 2022). This is compared to the same period in Fiscal Year 2021. Workers are also fighting against potential violations to federal labor laws. Unfair labor practice charges have increased 16 percent in the same time period.
