Workers are organizing and taking to the picket lines in increasing numbers in 2022 to demand better pay and working conditions, prompting optimism among labor leaders and supporters that they are witnessing a turnaround in their sagging fortunes.
Teachers, journalists and baristas were among the tens of thousands of workers who went on strike – and it took Congressional action to prevent 115,000 rail workers from walking out as well. In total, there will be at least 20 major layoffs involving at least 1,000 workers in 2022, up from 16 in 2021, and hundreds of smaller ones.
At the same time, workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Apple and dozens of other companies filed more than 2,000 petitions to form a union during the year – the most since 2015. Labor won 76% of the 1,363 elections held.
However, historically, the numbers have been quite tepid. The number of major work stoppages has declined over the decades, from nearly 200 in the 1980s, while union elections typically exceeded 5,000 a year in the early 1980s. In 2021, union membership is at an all-time low of 10.3%. In the 1950s, more than 1 in 3 workers belonged to a union.
As a labor scholar, I agree that the evidence shows an increase in union activism. The obvious question is: Do these developments represent a tipping point?
Signs of increased union activity
First, let’s take a closer look at 2022.
The most important sign of labor revival is the increase in the number of petitions filed with the National Labor Relations Board. In fiscal year 2022, which ended in September, workers filed 2,072 petitions, a 63% increase from the previous year. Starbucks workers filed only 354 of these petitions, winning the majority of the elections held. In addition, employees at companies historically considered unaffected by unions, including Apple, Microsoft and Wells Fargo, also scored a win.
The increase in strike activity is also important. And while major strikes involving 1,000 or more employees and tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics arouse the most attention, they represent only the tip of the iceberg.
The bureau forecasts 20 major attacks in 2022, which is about 25% more than the average of 16 per year over the past two decades. Examples of these major strikes include the one-day New York Times walkout, two strikes in California involving more than 3,000 workers at health care company Kaiser Permanente, 2,100 workers at Frontier Communications and 48,000 workers at the University of California.
Starting in 2021, Cornell University tracked any work action, however small, and found that there were 385 assaults in the 2022 calendar year, up from 270 the previous year. In total, these reported attacks have occurred in nearly 600 locations in 19 countries, demonstrating the geographic breadth of activism.
Historical parallels
Of course, these numbers are still low by historical standards.
I believe the two previous spikes in the early 20th century offer some clues as to whether new events can lead to sustained gains in union membership.
From 1934 to 1939, union membership rose from 7.6% to 19.2%. A few years later, from 1941 to 1945, membership rose from 20% to 27%.
Both surges occurred during times of national and global upheaval. The first spike came in the latter half of the Great Depression, when unemployment in the US reached a quarter of the workforce. Economic deprivation and a lack of workplace protections led to widespread political and social activism and sweeping efforts to organize workers in response. It also contributed to the establishment of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, which stimulated organization in the industrial sector.
The double jump comes as the US mobilizes its economy to fight a two-front war in Europe and Asia. The mobilization of the national economy in support of the war led to growth in manufacturing employment, where unions had made substantial gains. The government’s wartime policy encouraged trade unions as part of a deal for industrial peace during the war.
Inequality and pandemic heroes
The current situation is a far cry from the economic suffering of the Great Depression or the social upheaval of a global war, but there are some parallels to explore.
Overall unemployment may be near record highs, but economic inequality is higher than it was during the Depression. The top 10% of households held more than 68% of the wealth in the U.S. In 1936, it was about 47%.
In addition, the top 0.1% of wage earners experienced a real wage increase of nearly 390% from 1979 to 2020, compared to a paltry 28.2% wage increase for the bottom 90%. And employment in manufacturing, where unions gained a stronghold in the 1940s and 1950s, will decline by more than 33% from 1979 to 2022.
Another parallel to the two historical precedents is the national mobilization. The pandemic required a massive response in early 2020, as workers in industries considered essential, such as health care, public safety and food and agriculture, suffered its effects, earning the label of “heroes” for their efforts. In such an environment, workers began to value more the protections obtained from unions for occupational safety and health, which eventually helped give birth to new labor trends such as “good resignation” and “quiet retirement.”
A stacked deck
Ultimately, however, the deck is still stacked against unions, with unsupportive labor laws and few employers showing any real commitment to having a unionized workforce.
And unions are limited in how they can change public policy or the structure of the U.S. economy which makes unionization difficult. Labor law reform through legislation remains elusive, and the 2022 midterm results will not be any easier.
This leaves me unsure whether the recent signs of progress are a turning point.
Ace up the worker’s arm can be a common sentiment. Support for labor is at its highest since 1965, with 71% saying they approve of unions, according to an August Gallup poll. And more and more workers themselves want to participate. In 2017, 48% of workers polled said they would vote for union representation, up from 32% in 1995, the last time this question was asked.
Future success may depend on the union’s ability to tap into its growing popularity and replicate recent victories at Starbucks and Amazon, as well as the successful “Fight for $15” campaign, which since 2012 has helped pass a $15 minimum wage law in dozens of countries. and Washington, DC
The obstacles may be difficult, but the seeds of opportunity are there if the workforce can exploit them.
Marick Masters is Professor of Business and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.