Labor unions from Hollywood to Detroit are flexing their muscles in ways they haven’t in decades and are suddenly gaining the upper hand after years of waning membership and influence.
Although unions are clearly having a moment, whether they can sustain the resurgence is less certain.
Labor drives at iconic companies such as Starbucks and Amazon, the Biden administration’s pro-union stance, and polls showing increasing public support for unions have ignited a spark of optimism after decades of eroding influence. What could reverse the momentum are dwindling union membership, workers’ opposition to organizing at sites across the country and an economic downturn.
“We are seeing positive signs in the labor movement, things we didn’t see five years ago,” said Paul Clark, who teaches labor studies and employment relations at Pennsylvania State University. “But we are not sure if this is a momentary blip because of a conversion of factors or a long-term trend. A recession could turn this around very quickly.”
Union leaders say they have turned a corner. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s, REI, Uber and Lyft have unionized in the past year. Last month, exotic dancers at a Los Angeles topless club formed the nation’s first union for strippers.
More than 200 work stoppages involving 320,000 employees this year mark nearly 10 times the number just two years ago, according to AFL-CIO data.
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A strike by Hollywood screenwriters has entered its sixth month. In July, 65,000 actors joined them. Graduate student workers at the University of Michigan took up picket signs in March with no signs of stopping.
More strikes could be on the way. Last month, United Auto Workers union members overwhelmingly voted to greenlight a strike, which could begin as soon as their contract expires on Sept. 14. American Airlines pilots and flight attendants voted Thursday to head to the picket line.
“Working people are reclaiming our power. Working people are taking on the companies that have exploited us for a long time now,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in an annual pre-Labor Day speech. “So, the state of the unions? The state of the unions is on the rise.”
Still, the percentage of American workers in labor unions continues to decline, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last year, union membership fell by 0.2 percentage points to 10.1%, the lowest on record. A majority of members were in public-sector unions.
It was the second straight year that union membership fell. At the labor movement’s peak in the 1950s, 1 in 3 workers belonged to a union. Although action is increasing, the 320,000 striking employees represent just a small percentage of the 167 million workers in the U.S.
Union leaders tout recent victories, but several losses have stung. Amazon workers at one warehouse agreed to unionize, but employees at several other sites rejected organization. Employees at a major Nissan factory in Tennessee voted not to form a union, and the roughly 350 Starbucks sites that have unionized represent a tiny sliver of the coffee chain’s total stores.
“Organizing a Trader Joe’s here and a Whole Foods there isn’t going to make the union membership curve suddenly spike upward,” Mr. Clark said. “Organizing all the Amazon warehouses across the country could, but so far, they’ve only organized one.”
A key reason unions have reclaimed some of the eroded power is the Biden administration’s agenda to safeguard and bolster labor. President Biden frequently boasts that he is the “most pro-labor president” in history and has used his bully pulpit to encourage workers to join unions. All of his key legislative wins have included provisions incentivizing the use of union labor.
The president will commemorate Labor Day in Philadelphia.
“Unions raise workers’ income, increase homeownership, increase retirement savings, increase access to critical benefits like sick leave and child care and reduce inequity, all of which strengthen the American economy,” the president said Friday at the White House.
The Treasury Department released a study touting unions as key contributors to economic growth by fighting for higher wages, increased benefits and improved working conditions.
The administration’s backing of Big Labor stretches beyond the president’s megaphone. The Labor Department and the National Labor Relations Board have issued a slew of pro-union policies over the past three years.
Last month, the NLRB resurrected a policy it eliminated more than 50 years earlier to make it easier for workers to unionize without formal elections.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which advocates against compulsory union membership and coercive tactics, said the revived “card check” process lacks the protections of secret ballot elections. Mark Mix, president of the foundation, said the decision gives “a blank check” to unions to force workers into their ranks.
“The core principle of American labor law is that the workers choose the union,” Mr. Mix said in a statement. “The Biden administration has turned this commonsense principle on its head.”
The NLRB announced its decision one day after a ruling to curtail employers’ efforts to delay elections. Together, the two rulings form a powerful one-two punch for unions.
One week later, the Department of Labor proposed a rule to make more than 3 million workers eligible for overtime pay. Labor unions widely supported the measure.
Some saw those actions as signs of an improving environment for unions.
“The decisions of the Labor Relations Board and the actions of the Labor Department are taking steps to make life better for workers. That hasn’t happened for a long time,” said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University.
Others see those actions as proof that union influence is waning and needs to be artificially propped up by the Biden administration. Labor unions overwhelmingly endorsed Mr. Biden in the 2020 election.
“Unions have become wards of government action. Their product isn’t saleable in this current economic environment, so they need to rely on the government for power,” Mr. Mix said.
Although the Biden administration rulings are major labor victories, some question whether they will be short-lived. The NLRB ruling is already facing multiple court appeals and will likely head to the Supreme Court, which Republican appointees dominate.
“Regardless of what Biden does or does not do, the bigger question is what is the Supreme Court going to do,” Ms. Bronfenbrenner said.
Another factor favoring unions is the tight labor market. Declining unemployment rates and the lack of a skilled workforce have prompted companies to offer better benefits and wages to keep employees from leaving for competitors.
That has given workers the upper hand with companies struggling to attract and retain power. U.S. freight workers last year rejected a contract that included a 24% wage increase because it did not include paid sick leave.
Fears of a recession could quickly shift the balance of power. That would make it harder for employees to find other jobs and less willing to risk their own.
Perhaps the biggest paradox lies in recent polls, where both union boosters and critics find ammunition for their viewpoints.
A Gallup poll released last week found that 67% of Americans approve of labor unions, a drop from 71% a year ago but up from 62% five years ago.
Yet a Gallup poll from last year found that only 11% of respondents were interested in joining a union and 58% said they were not at all interested in becoming union members.
Mr. Mix said that response underscores that the American people view labor unions as out of touch with working people. Ms. Bronfenbrenner said it reflects the obstacles workers view to unionizing.
“Public opinion of unions is overwhelmingly positive, but workers don’t want to go through hoops of fire and risk their jobs to join one,” she said. “It’s two completely different questions.”
The poll also shows that younger workers are more engaged in unions and more interested in organizing than previous generations, which indicates a bright future for labor, Ms. Bronfenbrenner said. She predicts that younger workers connecting globally through social media will expand the labor movement for years.
“This is more than a blip because the workers who are most interested in unions right now are young people, and they are going to be around a long time,” she said.
Mr. Mix pointed to some losses during union drives that suggest rank-and-file workers are fed up with Big Labor. Roughly 350 Starbucks stores out of the company’s 16,061 total locations have unionized, which amounts to 2.1%. Another 68 unionization petitions were withdrawn, and 68 votes failed.
“You have over 100 losses and withdrawals and 350 wins, which is roughly 2% of Starbucks total stores, but the narrative is that this is a massive gain,” he said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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