Union’s continue to lose benefits and power across America….
Refusing their labor seems to be their only way to try to wring out any increases….
Workers in various industries nationwide are threatening to go on strike in a sweeping effort to secure higher pay and better working conditions.
More than 100,000 unionized employees — between Hollywood production crew members, John Deere factory workers and Kaiser Permanente nurses — have overwhelmingly voted to authorize strikes and are preparing to join the picket line unless they get stronger collective bargaining agreements.
Thousands are already on strike, including 2,000 New York hospital workers, 700 Massachusetts nurses and 1,400 Kellogg plant workers in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
The wave of strikes comes at a key moment for labor groups, which have steadily lost ground in recent decades amid anti-union legislation and corporate crackdowns on organizing. But with companies now struggling to find employees, unions are finding leverage in their effort to boost front-line wages that have historically been limited due to a steady supply of applicants willing to take lower-paying jobs.
In a near-unanimous vote Monday, unions representing more than 24,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and other health care workers in California and Oregon authorized a potential strike after contract negotiations stalled. Roughly 38,000 Kaiser workers have now authorized their union leaders to call a strike, if necessary….
More on Union/Labor issues developing across post-pandemic America …..
…Union leaders are pressing to increase their ranks and secure gains for their members as workers demand more from their employers and companies struggle with labor shortages and snarled supply chains.
A walkout by production workers for farm and construction machinery company Deere DE 0.91% & Co. that began Thursday followed recent stoppages at snack producer Mondelez International Inc., commercial truck maker Volvo and breakfast-cereal giant Kellogg Co. Labor leaders elsewhere this year have worked to unionize Starbucks Corp. SBUX -0.38% baristas and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 3.31% warehouse workers, so far with mixed success.
Union officials said workers are motivated by lingering frustration over their hours, pay and concerns for their health as some have held front-line jobs through the Covid-19 pandemic. Employees this year have pushed for higher wages, expanded benefits, safer workplaces and added staffing.
‘There is a new militancy out there. I do think it’s an opportunity for labor.’
— James P. Hoffa, Teamsters president
“There is a new militancy out there,” said James P. Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union, which represents 1.4 million workers, from Detroit auto workers to package-delivery drivers. “I do think it’s an opportunity for labor.”….
More…