“The ‘pay your dues’ concept is a trap.” At a first job, it’s almost a cultural expectation that you’ll be underpaid, harassed, or exploited in some way.
This new voting bloc is made up of several different demographic groups, including young people, ex-felons, and newly naturalized citizens.
Union membership has been declining for more than a half-century. The demographic most positively disposed to unions is younger people, who spend their lives online. Reaching the next generation of union members means online organizing.
As measures to slow the coronavirus pandemic lead to mass layoffs, people ages 18 to 34 are being disproportionately affected.
The American labor movement has been reinvigorated in recent years, with teacher-led Red for Ed strikes, the General Motors walkout, the Fight for $15’s push to raise the minimum wage. Sixty-seven per cent of young people 18 - 34 approve of unions.
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Workers across many industries are increasingly banding together and standing up against management as part-time and contract work grows, automation amps up, and wages barely budge, labor observers say. Silicon Valley tech workers have started a coalition to unite.
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There might not be too many young workers represented by unions yet, but that doesn't mean they don't want to be.
The ILO has issued its 2014 Global Employment Trends report, with a grim forecast for workers in general, and young workers in particular. The proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) continues to rise. The ILO report follows the release of an Oxfam report that states that the world's richest 85 people control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population put together.
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