According to the Bank of America and CNN, the majority of the American workforce finds the cost of living is outpacing salary and wage increases. And it is not hard to see why. A quick trip to any grocery store or fast-food restaurant will remind you just how much more expensive things are today than they were just a few years ago. Not to mention, the cost of housing is still sky high.
As a result, people feel they need to work longer hours, or two jobs, to make ends meet. This has of course led to a decrease in work-life balance.
Rising costs of living and stagnant wages have caught the ire of unionized workers, which caused workforces in very important industries to leverage strikes and walkouts to get what they want. And in worked. There were many labor wins in 2023, including:
The Hollywood writers’ strike received a lot of public attention. This strike – which was the second longest in Hollywood history – revolved around members fighting for better pay and working conditions. Some of the major points dealt with repeat showings of work and the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”). Ultimately a deal was struck that increased compensation and improved residuals, along with more defined terms dealing with AI usage.
While it did not have the same Hollywood hype, the Teamsters won big on behalf of nearly 330,000 UPS employees. By way of a new collective bargaining agreement, UPS workers obtained historic raises for all workers and improved workplace protections – like better A/C in vehicles.
Back in October, Kaiser Permanente and a coalition of unions worked to end the largest healthcare dispute in U.S. history. For three days, more than 75,000 workers went on strike against the healthcare giant. The outcome, 21 percent wage increases for workers over the next four years.
These examples, and others, demonstrate the significant role that Unions continue to play in today’s workforce and the large benefits they can obtain for their members. And more importantly, these wins show that members hold tremendous collective bargaining power to obtain benefits. In the coming year, these wins are likely to influence the following:
A series of wins by different unions is likely to inspire employees in other industries to consider unionizing, triggering a broader trend of unionization across various sectors.
These successes could encourage other unions to leverage their collective bargaining power to strike in order to speed up negotiations.
One of the primary objectives of labor unions is to negotiate for compensation and better working conditions. Employers may learn from these wins to preemptively offer better deals in order to avoid their workforce striking.
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