Employee strikes sweep the labor market

While a record number of 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August alone, hundreds of thousands of workers with grievances about wages, benefits and quality of life are choosing to go on strike. Last week, 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike while unions that represent 31,000 Kaiser employees authorized walkouts. Meanwhile, 60,000 Hollywood production workers reached a deal on Saturday night avoiding a strike just hours before the negotiation deadline. All said, according to a tracker by Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, there have been strikes against 178 employers this year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) which records only major work stoppages has recorded 12 strikes that involved 1,000 or more workers so far this year. This data is considerably higher than the numbers in 2020 when the pandemic hit. 

Union officials say that this trend in strikes and walkouts is an offshoot of the Great Resignation phenomenon which has thinned the US labor pool and slowed down economic recovery. Workers have now become harder to replace as companies struggle to keep up with high demands and manage delayed supply chains. This has given unions an edge over companies and has made striking less risky for them. In interviews, both workers and union leaders said they were disappointed with employers for failing to raise wages and by the lack of high-quality jobs. They are also frustrated that wage growth does not keep up with the pace of inflation. Although the average US worker's pay increased by 4% in September in comparison to last year, inflation grew 5.4 percent over the same period.

Source: The Washington Post