A Turning Point for Unionization is at Hand With Recent Gains & Legislation
America has arrived at a unionization crossroads, and we seem to be headed in the right direction.
In January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported union membership in the United States in 2021 to be at 10.3 percent while the number of unionized workers continued its decline to 14 million.
To put that into perspective, in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available, the unionization rate was 20.1 percent with 17.7 million union workers.
One of the intentional casualties of 40 years of neo-liberal Reaganomics is the precipitous drop in public-sector unions.
But we might finally be entering a unionization renaissance.
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren re-introduced a bill from 2017 and 2020, the “Nationwide Right to Unionize Act,” that would repeal Section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, and make illegal right-to-work-for-less laws that prohibit unions from collecting dues from non-union members covered under union contracts.
In a press release published on her website, Sen. Warren explained:
“Twenty-seven states have enacted ‘right-to-work’ laws that prevent unions from collecting dues from non-union members who are covered under a union-negotiated contract. These laws make it more difficult for workers to form unions and fight for higher wages and better working conditions in the states that adopt them, resulting in a 5% decrease in unionization rates and a decrease in average wages for all full-time workers of 3.1%, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, or about $11,000 a year, according to a report released by Rep. [Brad] Sherman’s [D-Calif.] office.”
Co-sponsor Rep. Brad Sherman added:
“So called ‘right-to-work’ laws are designed to make it difficult to organize a union. This impacts not only workers who want a union — but general wage levels throughout the state. In an ill-conceived effort to attract business, one state after another has adopted these anti-union laws in a race to the bottom. That is why today I’m proud to partner with Senator Warren to reintroduce the National Right to Unionize Act — legislation I’ve introduced in every session of Congress since 2008.”
18 senators, including Bernie Sanders, and 12 House members, including Pramila Jayapal, are co-sponsoring Warren’s bill.
Labor organizations like the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Unions (AFL-CIO); the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU); the International Association of Machinists (IAM); and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) are behind it as well.
UFCW president Marc Perrone said in a statement:
“The brave, essential workers who make up the UFCW can attest to the fact that the best way to improve a workplace has always been for workers to organize, form a union, and fight for their rights together.
“Right now, thousands upon thousands of Americans are doing exactly that, and, despite all the unfair hurdles they must overcome, workers are successfully organizing in new industries and new workplaces. Passing this bill and rolling back decades upon decades of anti-worker legislation would be one of the single most important steps we can possibly take to empower the American workers that keep this country running.”
In 2018, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) further undercut already weakened unionization when it decided in the Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) case that employees in unionized industries have a legal right to opt out of paying dues, or “fair-share fees,” while still benefiting from collective bargaining efforts, effectively making the entire country a right-to-work-for-less zone.
The fact that republicans refuse to refer to the anti-union movement by the abbreviated “right-to-work” instead of the more honest “right-to-work-for-less” speaks to their awareness about its detriment to the labor movement.
As The Guardian reported in March:
“The recent, much-publicized wave of union victories in the US at companies as varied as the giant coffee chain Starbucks, trendy outdoor outfitters REI and media group the New York Times is spurring hopes that this will somehow turn into a much larger unionization wave that lifts millions of Americans.
“This is an unusually promising moment for unions, labor strategists say, as they strain to figure out how best to build a larger wave, although they acknowledge it won’t be easy because US corporations fight so fiercely against unionization.”
Amazon made history in April when Staten Island, NY Amazon employees voted to create the first unionized warehouse.
Microsoft entered into a neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), stating if it purchases Activision, it will not interfere with Activision Blizzard workers’ union rights.
Ditto workers at Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, NJ.
After striking following an imposed 30% fee, internet retail marketplace Etsy is considering forming a union as well.
Workers at Apple, Chipotle, Trader Joe’s, Google, REI and Verizon have all won union elections in recent months.
The Guardian reported today about the increase in worker walkouts amid this unionization spike in what some have deemed “Stroke-tober.”
“According to the labor action tracker at Cornell University, strikes in 2022 so far have significantly outpaced strike activity in 2021, with 180 strikes involving 78,000 workers in the first six months of 2022, compared with 102 strikes involving 26,500 workers in the first six months of 2021,” The Guardian reported. “The tracker recorded 41 strikes that started between 15 August and 15 September 2022, involving 35,250 workers.”
Cornell University ILR labor action tracker project director, Johnnie Kallas, explained:
“Strikes appear to be increasing as we head into the fall. These strikes are being led by workers in the service sector. Starbucks workers have organized over 70 strikes so far this year in response to poor working conditions and employer retaliation. Over the past month, thousands of healthcare workers and educators have gone on strike to protest understaffing, low pay and poor conditions for patients and students.”
One crucial piece of federal legislation, the “Protecting the Right to Organize” (PRO) Act, seeks to grow and strengthen union membership by:
“Introducing meaningful, enforceable penalties for companies and executives that violate workers’ rights;
“Expanding workers’ collective bargaining rights and closing loopholes that corporations use to exploit workers;
“Strengthening workers’ access to fair union elections and requiring corporations to respect the results.”
America has arrived at a crossroads, and the direction we take could plunge us deeper into neo-liberalism’s feudal tax cuts for the economic royalists, or again into an age where the wealthy pay their share of taxes and average workers producing the largess off which the wealthy profit will benefit from higher wages, better living standards, and democratic workplaces.
That change is already taking place.
A progressive component to the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is that companies that report more than $1 billion in profits will pay a 15% minimum corporate tax rate, and wealthy shareholders will pay a 1% tax on stock buybacks. Americans making over $400,000 are just going to have to pay a little more in taxes now so everyone will benefit from lower prescription drug costs and reduce the deficit.
Last week, President Biden addressed the National Education Association (NEA), to which he acknowledged, “There is a lot at stake here.”
NEA President Becky Pringle extolled Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of labor unions, and reminded everyone to show up “in big numbers on Election Day,” stating, “We need to elect candidates who stand with us for working families, and against any attempt to diminish organized labor.”
As the old folk song goes, “I’m sticking with the union.”