By Scott Heric
The United States has seen several labor movements over its nearly 250-year history. Labor movements grow out of a need to protect workers’ rights and make workplaces safer with reasonable working hours and better benefits. The earliest recorded U.S. strike happened in 1768 in New York when a group of tailors protested wage reductions. The labor movement in the United States is woven into the fabric of who we are as a country and everything we stand for.
The pandemic that we have weathered in the last two years has had its lasting effect on working, and the labor movement in the U.S. With many workers moving permanently to remote work, a new kind of labor movement has been rising as the pandemic wanes and people fight to stay in their remote positions. There has also been a growing call for better wages across many industries, from foodservice to elder care.
From calls for a permanent shift to remote work to demands for living wages, the labor movement is a powerful force and growing more robust as the mindset of workers shifts pre-pandemic.
The Benefits of Union Membership
A pandemic-related decrease in wage and salary workers hasn’t slowed the union membership rate. There have been several prominent moves to unionize that have dominated the headlines. Workers from Starbucks, Amazon, and REI have launched well-received campaigns to organize their workers. President Biden’s Build Back Better program includes provisions to remove barriers to union organizing. There has been an overwhelming return to support for unions in the past two years.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, Unionized workers earn on average 11.2% more in wages than nonunionized peers, and 92% of union members have health benefits. Studies show union workers fared far better during the pandemic than non-union workers.
Renewed Popularity of the Labor Union
The COVID-19 pandemic and its changes on the labor market have spurred interest in the labor movement.
The pandemic’s beginning saw many people who had never organized before joining picket lines and sick-outs to protest policies that they didn’t feel were keeping them safe amid rising Covid rates. Union leaders across the U.S. say that labor relations in the midst of the pandemic sparked interest in union membership. As has happened with past labor movements, hard times have spurred action. One major impetus for the uprising was the designation of “essential workers” during the early days of the pandemic. With the exception of some healthcare workers, most of the workers deemed “essential” had low wages and less than safe working conditions. A nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment exacerbated the problem of dangerous working conditions. While the workers toiled in peak-virus conditions for poor wages, many of these companies posted record profits.
Many of these designated “essential workers” began to exercise their rights to protest conditions and inquire about their union rights. Workers realized that with strength in numbers provided by unionization, some of the things they wanted to see changed could come to fruition.
When people see that organizing and striking can lead to positive outcomes, they are more apt to consider the benefits of union membership for themselves. During the last two years, union leadership has been able to gain hazard pay for their members who were working amid the threat of the virus. Different unions have even banded together to strengthen their bargaining power.
Labor Movement Remains Strong
Despite right-to-work states creating an unfriendly environment for union organizers, the push for unions hasn’t slowed. Workers at Starbucks have launched major campaigns to form a union that persists despite efforts to quell the movement. Recently, the Starbuck union push, plus movements from workers at other large employers like Amazon, has put union membership in the news nearly daily.
Despite insistence to the contrary, union membership is still something workers are looking for. As we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, union membership is positive during a crisis. When union members fight for workers’ rights, improved wages and better work environments positively affect all workers. Today, the most prominent union members are public sector/government employees such as police officers and firefighters.
It remains crucial for people to support union membership in the United States. When people unite for a common goal, it makes for a stronger workforce and, as a result, a stronger country.
