Worker Strikes Surged in 2022

https://portside.org/2022-12-19/worker-strikes-surged-2022
Portside Date:
Author: Emily Peck
Date of source:
Axios

There were 374 worker strikes started in 2022 — a 39% increase over 2021, according to a database run by Cornell.

Why it matters: Fueled partly by anger over working conditions in the pandemic and spurred on by other labor wins, all sorts of workers — warehouse employees, teachers, nurses, graduate students, journalists — walked off the job.

The big picture: The low unemployment rate and worker shortage gave workers more leverage. "But that's not the whole story," said Johnnie Kallas, project director of Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker.

Plus: With rising inflation, workers want bigger raises than employers typically give.

Context: Strikes were on the rise, even before the pandemic — hitting a 17-year high in 2019, when 25 major work stoppages occurred, per BLS data, which only counts stoppages of 1,000 workers or more. (Cornell's tracker, started in late 2020, covers all collective actions.)

Details: The highest-profile strikes of the year, including UC's, happened in the second half:

What to watch: Next year will be pivotal. Employees at Starbucks, Amazon and a few other places who voted to unionize will need to negotiate labor contracts with employers who've so far been staunchly resistant to organization.


Source URL: https://portside.org/2022-12-19/worker-strikes-surged-2022