In 2023, labor is striking back.
As of June, 119,000 American workers were on strike in 146 separate job actions, according to researchers at Cornell University. The university’s “labor action tracker” documented 424 strikes and lockouts last year, a 52% increase from 2021. It appears that after decades of dormancy, labor militancy is making a comeback, buoyed by a tight labor market that makes replacing unhappy employees difficult.
The strikes rocking Hollywood, by the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild, are grabbing headlines, but labor disputes – or the threat of them – are happening in many industries. UPS workers threatened a major work stoppage before agreeing to a new contract. The United Auto Workers are demanding double-digit pay increases, as its contract with the Big Three in Detroit expires in mid-September. Workers at more than 60 hotels in California walked off the job demanding better pay and health benefits.
In this episode of History As It Happens, historian of social movements Michael Kazin of Georgetown University traces the origins of today’s labor militancy to the New Deal period, when unskilled workers in the steel and auto industries demanded union recognition in words that would find a place in today’s struggles.
“One of the phrases labor used to talk about … is industrial democracy or economic democracy. We have political democracy … but we don’t have economic democracy. People work 8, 10, how many hours per day at different jobs, and at most jobs because they have no unions, they have no say,” said Mr. Kazin, the author of “What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party.”
History As It Happens is available at washingtontimes.com or wherever you find your podcasts.
