A new labor movement in the US. It’s being called David vs. Goliath:
upstart unions vs. powerful corporations.
Workers are forming unions in industries and companies that haven't seen them before.
“They’re like a deer in headlights,
they can’t believe what is happening, but it’s happening around the world.
“I heard my God whisper in my ear: organize”
In this video, we’ll look at how the political and social environment in the US has created
fertile ground for a fresh labor movement. We’ll visit the state of North Carolina to
find out how unionizing efforts are running up against one of the world’s biggest corporations
"Amazon says that they want the associates to have a voice. Well, workers collectively. That is a
voice. It's nothing more Democratic than a union.” "And we’ll look at a crucial question:
whether this momentum is actually going to reshape America’s labor landscape."
“I don't think you know it's any guarantee whether these workers are going to succeed”
“Employees
just don't understand that employers also have rights during an active organizing campaign.”
That’s all coming up on this correspondent special of Business Beyond.
Let’s start with some recent history here in the US. The
last big wave of organizing was in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
It was just after the Great Depression and unions started to expand -- especially with
the passing of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. It supported workers forming unions.
By the 1950’s, just over 35 percent of the labor force was unionized.
But in the decades that followed, those numbers declined steadily as manufacturing jobs started
to dry up, automation increased, and overseas markets opened up.
By 1983, only 20 percent of US workers belonged to unions. And
in 2021 that number had fallen to 10.3 percent. The US is definitely not alone in that trend.
Trade union membership has dropped across the globe. From Japan to Turkey. Here in the US,
the rise of more precarious working conditions in the gig economy has made it harder for
traditional unions to attract new members. But there are some important nuances. For example:
Only around 8 percent of France’s workforce is unionized…yet nearly allworkers there are covered
by collective bargaining agreements -- contracts between an employer and a group of employees.
We asked labor expert David Madland what really sets the US apart from
other countries when it comes to unions. Our labor law is very weak. It gives
corporations tremendous power and ability to fight unions in ways that are sort of unimaginable. //
The penalties of companies breaking the law and, for example, firing a worker for trying
to join a union are incredibly weak. There is no monetary penalty for doing so. The most that the
corporation might have to do is post a notice and rehire that worker and pay them back pay
minus anything they've earned in the meantime. That law also prevents the type of sector-wide
unions seen in countries like Germany. In the US, for example, workers can only go on strike against
their direct employer. And they can’t combine with other unions for collective bargaining.
Despite those odds, the tide appears to be turning. The number of petitions to
unionize has jumped by nearly 60 percent since last October.
Starbucks has seen a surge in union activity. Nearly 200 stores have taken
the first step towards forming a union. Amazon workers in Staten Island,
New York successfully filed a petition to form the company’s first union.
Corporations from Apple, Google, Target, and Kellogg’s have seen union activity, too.
Labor expert David Madland says most workers have faced five decades of near-stagnant wages while
economic inequality has hit record levels; and in juggernauts like Amazon or Apple,
workers are also under immense pressure to meet performance quotas set by algorithms -- with
little control over changing their working conditions. Then, the pandemic hit.
The American economy wasn't working very well for most workers, and then you had COVID,
which really put those problems into stark relief, where workers were considered essential but they
weren't paid more, they didn't nearly have safe workplaces, and so workers really felt
particularly vulnerable at the same time saw the executives at their companies getting near record
profits. So they were frustrated, ready to act. But beneath all the activity, the percentage of
US workers in unions hasn’t changed all that much. And we heard that US
labor laws still heavily favor employers. So is this really a new labor movement?
This is Ryan Brown. He’s a former reverend who is now the president of CAUSE,
Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment - a
group of Amazon workers in Durham North Carolina who are trying to form a union.
Brown works on the main floor putting together packages. Last winter, he was told he’d have
to go work in a department where Covid was spreading quickly, and he refused to go.
I prayed a long, hard prayer. And in that prayer. I heard God whispered in my ear, organize.
Organizing has now become his ministry: coordinating with his fellow colleagues
and activists to demand better pay and working conditions.
He’s joined today by a small group. of workers just beyond Amazon’s property, handing out
flyers to colleagues getting off shift. You don't even have enough time to rest,
to rejuvenate, or even to just digest your food. If you go to the restroom, that's what they call
t-o-t time of. That's a possible write up. // Amazon has made our organizing very easy
because everyone is extremely mad and they all have this righteous anger
because they see that this is an unjust place. We asked Amazon about those concerns:
Amazon jobs come with an average starting pay of more than $18 an hour,
well over twice the federal minimum wage, and hourly pay may go up to
$28 per hour in some locations. And on unions the company added:
Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have. As a company,
we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees.
Many of the workers here tell us they make below that 18-dollar-average: between 15.50 and 16.00 an
hour…not enough to meet basic monthly costs like rent and car payments. And they are expected to
meet unrealistic hourly targets, too. They know getting Amazon to the table will be difficult,
but they believe fighting to form a union is the only way to improve their jobs.
I believe fully and wholeheartedly we are going to do it. That it is going to happen. That we won’t
be ignored. You know we’re here. You see us here today. To be honest, they don’t know what to do.
They’re caught like a deer in the headlights. They can’t believe this is happening around the world.
Many Americans agree with that sentiment. In fact, polls show that 68% of people approve
of labor unions. That’s the most popular unions have been in the US in decades.
So if this is a new labor movement and it has
plenty of support -- what chances does it have to succeed? It’s a mixed picture.
Genaira Tyce is an attorney who supported unions at the National
Labor Relations Board for 10 years. Now she’s helping COMPANIES as a labor lawyer.
I've sort of seen it on both sides. You know, I think overwhelmingly employees
just don't understand that employers also have rights during an active organizing campaign.
Those rights include being allowed to voice their opinion on unionization efforts -- as long as
they don’t interfere with or coerce employees. As for the new generation of labor activists:
Tyce believes the jury is still out on whether they will see through what they’ve started.
If you look at millennials and Gen Zers, I think they're all very ambitious. And so
the idea of being committed to working in one workplace for an extended career over
time to the point where they could truly see a lot of the benefit of unionization,
is still sort of out there as a question mark. Beyond the commitment needed -- there’s another
big challenge. Filing a petition to form a union is just a first step. Then comes the next step --
getting at least 50 percent of workers’ support in a union election. Then comes perhaps the most
difficult step: getting their companies to the table to discuss wages and working conditions.
Their battle is less than half over. They still then need to negotiate a collective
bargaining agreement and none of the sort of new waves have even succeeded at that yet.
And that might be the central point: this new wave of unionizing is not likely to
change the country’s labor landscape on its own. According to labor analysts,
THAT would require tremendous grassroots pressure, and deeper change: support from elected officials
to revamp labor laws in order to support workers and make collective bargaining easier.
Such legislation has dim chances of making it through a very divided Congress.
And with an economic downturn looming, labor experts warn that it will become
MORE difficult for workers to build momentum in a recession as the labor market tightens up.
Still, workers across the country are starting to generate a national debate about how we work and
what rights we have. And THAT could make enough waves to push lawmakers here in Washington to act.
And that’s all for this edition of Business Beyond. We’d like to know wfhat you think:
What role do labor unions play in your country – and could we see a new global labor movement?
Thanks for watching, in the meantime, do check out our earlier episodes of Business Beyond.