The Labor Movement is Bubbling Across the Country - Every American Must Support the Cause
The biggest, yet least covered American story of 2021 wasn’t inflation, the metaverse, or even Biden’s infrastructure bill. It was the revival of the labor movement. And the movement is charging into 2022.
In Alabama, 1,100 coalminers entered 2022 having been on strike for over 10 months in response to unfair labor practices which have resulted in lost pay and benefits.
Over 300 Teamsters in Seattle have brought construction to a standstill over low wages and decreased healthcare benefits for retired union workers.
The strikes are working. On January 6, student workers at Columbia University ended a 10-week strike. In their new contract, they won increased wages and expanded healthcare benefits.
From Kroger grocery store workers to Saint Vincent Hospital nurses to the Ivy League student workers at Columbia, a new image of what a “union worker” can be is being born.
As unions reinvent themselves, it is important to acknowledge a past that left certain workers out - specifically minorities and women. Unions were allowed to segregate or exclude minorities and often treated women as a threat to employment for men.
While union history is not perfect, today unions are purposefully moving to be more inclusive.
As of 2018, more than half of union workers were either women or minorities and leadership within the Canadian Auto Workers union are actively trying to shatter the white male worker stereotype of their industry.
As unions work to fix the problems of their past, we can focus on the massive benefits they provide to their members that non-union jobs don’t.
The Economic Policy Institute found that during the pandemic, United Food and Commercial Workers secured premium pay, bonuses, and a 15% raise for their workers. The United Auto Workers shut down operations at their factories for two weeks to slow the spread of the virus and got all workers protective gear to keep them safe. Non-union workers, on the other hand often faced retaliation and termination for asking for similar benefits.
Union workers earn 11.2% more than their non-union counterparts. When my wife and I did our last monthly spending breakdown, we found that our part-time nanny cost more than our entire home mortgage. I’m anxious about the astronomical cost of childcare and would love a union to be standing by my side demanding higher wages so I can care for my family.
Ninety-four percent of union workers are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance compared to 68% of non-union workers. In the US, 66.5% of all bankruptcies are tied to medical debt. Who wouldn’t want a union standing with them, demanding better coverage?
The benefits are clear. Unions are good for you even if you aren’t in one. According to the Center for American Progress, when controlling for and dropping union households, non-union workers living in highly unionized areas have higher wages, greater benefits, and are less likely to experience poverty.
The first time I worked with union members was while I was organizing a Bollywood dance competition in Boston called South Asian Showdown. I hated union members. They had a narrow scope of work from which they wouldn’t budge. They had hour-long lunch breaks. I had to eat on the go. They went home on the dot when their shift was over. My day started at 7 AM and didn’t end till the work was done, often going late into the night.
Since the competition, my view has changed. I worked alongside union organizers to elect Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). I protested the extremist, conservative American Legislative Exchange Council by their side.
Today I see that those union workers at the dance competition had dignity and respect. They had clear boundaries with their employer. They had agency.
The reality is that we all could use a union to demand the wages, benefits, and dignity that we deserve. Not as workers, but as humans. As the pandemic ravaged workers and the benefits of collective action became clearer, unions appeared in non-traditional settings like Starbucks, Google, Code for America, and the Austin American-Statesman.
And as we look at this new future, we need to acknowledge that there is a real cost to being in a union: union dues. As it is, American families are stretched thin and need every dollar they can get. But the benefits of being in a union far outweigh the dues.
In 2022, more than 1,577 contracts, covering over 1 million unionized workers, are set to expire in the United States. Many will strike to get the dignity they deserve.
Even if you aren’t in a union or part of a strike, you can help. Head over to Cornell’s Labor Action Tracker map. This map is tracking every labor action in the nation. Using the map, you can find labor actions happening near you and take action to support those local workers.
We have a unique chance to reinvent what unions can look like and change the dynamics between labor and management. Workers, we have the power. We just need to organize.
About the Author:
Saatvik Ahluwalia is a digital director at Progress Texas. He is also a Public Voices Fellow of the OpEd Project. His work has been covered in the Boston Globe, Ms. Magazine, and Austin NPR.