More Gen Z workers unionize

Across all industries in the country, especially in the media and service sector industries, the interest in the labor movement has increased over the years. Interestingly, it has gained traction particularly among the newest and youngest workers in the economy. Gen Z, born between 1996 and the mid-2000s, came of age through the Black Lives Matter movement, the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration. The oldest among Gen Z would remember the 2008 financial crisis, the Great Recession and are now seeing the echoes of that era's instability today.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of Labor Education Research and senior lecturer at Cornell University says, "They've seen opportunities for their generation disappear and are afraid they are going to be worse off than their parents. They look around and see who is doing something, and they see the labor movement." Many members interviewed by CNN said that they wanted to be a part of some movement where social causes are part of their workplace values. One example is Kaitlin Bell, 23. Bell is a communications chair of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union and a member of CLINIC Workers United. She decided she wanted to organize after seeing millennials making Tik Toks about overbearing bosses and their fears of getting fired.  She says, "I want to be in a work environment where people feel safe and secure. Those TikToks are funny, but if that's our reality for the next several decades, it can be a little disheartening."

Richard Minter, the organizing director of Workers United says that he has organized about 300 members in the last 18 months and he has never seen such a great number of young people. He said most of them work in the restaurant or service industry. Minter said, "In my history of doing this for 27 years, I don't think I've seen that kind of bravery."

Source: CNN