Striketober

Last updated
United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack meeting with John Deere workers on strike 20211020-OSEC-LSC-1981 (51614259438).jpg
United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack meeting with John Deere workers on strike

Striketober was a labor strike wave in October 2021 by workers in the United States in the context of strikes during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the month, approximately 25,000 workers participated in strikes. [1]

Contents

The labor movement began with workers who were made to work long hours for low wages observing businesses making increasing profits while income inequality in the United States intensified. Due to the labor shortage of the Great Resignation – which some economists described as a general strike – workers held more leverage over companies who required additional labor.

Background

The American middle class was created due to organized labor according to American historian Michael Beschloss. [2] In the early 20th century, American workers would strike during times of economic change or crisis to earn rights and higher wages. [2] In the 40 years preceding Striketober, organized labor had been decreasing in the United States as governmental policies and companies combatted against labor movements. [2] [3] [4] Beschloss stated that since the Republican administration of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, organized labor had lost its bargaining power at workplaces. [2] President Reagan's firing of 12,000 air traffic controllers who participated in the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike was "the beginning of the war on organized labor in this country" according to Beschloss. [2] Into the 1990s, the Democratic Party also began to distance itself from organized labor as it sought campaign funding from corporations. [2]

Over the period of time when participation in organized labor decreased, the wages of the average worker have remained stagnant while bosses and CEOs received larger shares of company profits; all while the profit of companies greatly increased. [2] [5] [6] [7]

Causes

Striketober began amidst the Great Resignation, a labor shortage that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the existing low wages, which some economists described as a general strike. [3] [7] [8] [9] New York wrote that the cause for the crisis was clear; "American workers are exploited, and they’ve had enough". [8] As time progressed during the pandemic, companies continued to restrict higher wages from their workers like they had done for decades. [7] Workers began to organize and participate in strikes as business profits rose and income inequality in the United States increased. [10]

American workers – many paid low wages and described as "essential" during the COVID-19 pandemic – were forced into working overtime in short-staffed and underpaid conditions. [10] [11] Kate Bronfenbrenner, head of labor education research at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) explained, "Covid was a wake-up call, because it wasn't just you could get injured on the job, but going to work could kill you. ... Workers are feeling like they're working harder than ever and they put themselves out there during Covid and risked their lives for what?" [11] Professor at University of California, Berkeley, Catherine Fisk, agreed with Bronfenbrenner's statement, saying "On the low-wage side, these workers were essential. They faced high death rates but couldn't afford housing or health care," Fisk said. "Now there's this activism borne of desperation". [11]

Director of policy and government affairs Celine McNicholas of the Economic Policy Institute said that the workers have realized that the COVID pandemic exposed poor working conditions in the United States and that "workers are really in a system that is very much rigged against them" since companies can violate the rights of employees under current governmental regulations. [4]

Dean of the Cornell's ILR Alex Colvin said that because of the labor shortage facing companies, workers had the potential to hold more influence over businesses by striking since the employees would be more difficult to replace. [12]

Timeline

During the Striketober period, workers from various backgrounds, including manufacturing, filmmaking, health care and others, began to organize and participate in labor strikes. [13] [14] Communications director of the AFL-CIO, Tim Schlittner, said that strikes would continue into 2022 through the United States mid-term elections. [11]

As of October 15, over 100,000 workers were either on strike or preparing to strike. [15] ABC News reported on October 22 that 43 of 255 strikes, or about

Hollywood

Approximately 60,000 workers from the entertainment industry were about to strike on October 18. However, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) managed to reach a tentative agreement with Hollywood producers for better working conditions and pay, averting the strike. [16]

Nabisco strike

The first major strike that occurred shortly before Striketober was the Nabisco strike, when the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM) disagreed with an existing labor agreement with Nabisco. [11] The strike resulted with workers higher pay, a $5,000 bonus, increased 401(k) contributions from Nabisco and the blocking of a proposed tiered-pay system opposed by workers. [17] [6]

First strikes

On October 1, the 2021 Mercy Hospital strike in Buffalo, New York began when hundreds of nurses belonging to the Communications Workers of America did not reach agreements with Catholic Health. [7] The same day, 450 workers of Special Metals Corporation began a strike in Huntington, West Virginia. [7]

Kellogg's strike

The first large-scale strike to occur during Striketober was the 2021 Kellogg's strike, with about 1,400 beginning their strike on October 4. [8] BCTGM workers employed by Kellogg's disagreed with the employee benefits presented in a new labor contract. [18] Workers demand an end to the two-tiered system of "legacy" and "transitional" workers, which leaves the latter with a big wage gap, long workweeks, required overtime and poor holiday pay. [19]

John Deere strike

On October 14, 2021, the John Deere strike began when workers belonging to the United Auto Workers did not reach an agreement with John Deere regarding increased wages, pensions and removing a tiered employee structure. A total of about 10,000 John Deere workers participated in the strike. [8]

Healthcare strikes

In the United States, dangerous working conditions, occupational burnout and overall dissatisfaction among healthcare workers has resulted in hospital staff shortages. [20] Shortages of staff were reported before the COVID pandemic and grew worse amid the pandemic. [20]

In California, thousands of healthcare workers began to or planned to strike as staffing shortages occurred in about one in three hospitals throughout the state. [20] The staffing shortages were compounded by higher demand due to the COVID pandemic. [20] Unions representing healthcare workers reported that healthcare facilities hired traveling staff, such as travel nurses, to fill understaffed positions and paid the traveling staff higher wages. [20]

McDonald's strikes

Workers of McDonald's in ten cities across the United States announced a strike to begin on October 26 in protest against sexual harassment incidents that allegedly occurred in multiple locations. [21] Fight for $15 supporters and others encouraged McDonald's workers to start unions while participating in the strike. [22]

Higher education strikes

Graduate student workers at Columbia University and Harvard University, both members of the United Auto Workers, voted to begin striking in October 2021 in response to stagnation at the bargaining table. [23] [24] Workers belonging to the Student Workers of Columbia cited the university's inability to reach a first contract after two years of collective bargaining, including provisions such as a living wage, protection from harassment, and dental insurance, as necessitating the strike. [23] At Harvard, workers began a three-day strike on October 27 as part of a push to negotiate a stronger contract. The Harvard Graduate Students Union had previously signed a one-year contract with the university, which many members felt was inadequate. [25]

Other actions

In Staten Island, New York, workers at Amazon warehouses organized the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and began their registration process with the National Labor Relations Board to achieve recognition. [26] ALU organized themselves to achieve higher wages, safer work conditions and more vacation time. [26] Kelly Nantel, a spokesperson for Amazon, shared opposition to a potential unionization saying the business "made great progress in recent years and months in important areas like pay and safety". [26]

Effects

Striketober has brought more attention to the proposed Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act). [11] [27] Bronfenbrenner said that the passing of the PRO Act would help protect workers on strike from being fired by businesses. [11]

Public opinion

At the time of Striketober, Yahoo! News noted that the support for unions was at its highest level since 1965, citing a Gallup poll from September 2021 that showed 68 percent of American respondents supported worker unions. [5]

Reactions

President Joe Biden has said that he supports the worker's right to strike, but that he is "not going to get into the negotiation." White House officials have also said that Biden wanted to leave workers and their employers to resolve both of their own labor disputes. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labor unions in the United States</span> Overview of labor unions in the United States of America

Labor unions represent United States workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger trade unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union</span>

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) is a labor union in the United States and Canada primarily representing workers in the food processing industry. The union was established in 1886 as the Journeyman Bakers Union. The contemporary BCTGM was formed in January 1999 as a merger of the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers' International Union and the American Federation of Grain Millers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California agricultural strikes of 1933</span>

The California agricultural strikes of 1933 were a series of strikes by mostly Mexican and Filipino agricultural workers throughout the San Joaquin Valley. More than 47,500 workers were involved in the wave of approximately 30 strikes from 1931 to 1941. Twenty-four of the strikes, involving 37,500 union members, were led by the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union (CAWIU). The strikes are grouped together because most of them were organized by the CAWIU. Strike actions began in August among cherry, grape, peach, pear, sugar beet, and tomato workers, and culminated in a number of strikes against cotton growers in the San Joaquin Valley in October. The cotton strikes involved the largest number of workers. Sources vary as to numbers involved in the cotton strikes, with some sources claiming 18,000 workers and others just 12,000 workers, 80% of whom were Mexican.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fight for $15</span> Political movement in the United States

The Fight for $15 is an American political movement advocating for the minimum wage to be raised to USD$15 per hour. The federal minimum wage was last set at $7.25 per hour in 2009. The movement has involved strikes by child care, home healthcare, airport, gas station, convenience store, and fast food workers for increased wages and the right to form a labor union. The "Fight for $15" movement started in 2012, in response to workers' inability to cover their costs on such a low salary, as well as the stressful work conditions of many of the service jobs which pay the minimum wage.

The Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU), officially known as Harvard Graduate Students Union United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW), is a labor union representing graduate students, teaching assistants, and other student employees at Harvard University. The bargaining unit comprises about 5,000 student employees, including graduate students working as research assistants and teaching fellows as well as several hundred undergraduate students holding teaching positions. Contract negotiations with the university are scheduled to begin in Fall 2018. HGSU is affiliated with the United Auto Workers labor union, whose 400,000 members include 45,000 graduate students and 30,000 academic workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strikes during the COVID-19 pandemic</span> Industrial action relating to the emergency

Strikes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic due to many factors including: hazard pay or low pay, unsafe working conditions, inability to pay rent. These strikes are separate from the various protests that occurred over responses to the pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon worker organization</span> Collective worker action at the American e-commerce company

Some warehouse workers of Amazon, the largest American e-commerce retailer with 750,000 employees, have organized for workplace improvements in light of the company's scrutinized labor practices and stance against unions. Worker actions have included work stoppages and have won concessions including increased pay, safety precautions, and time off. There are unionized Amazon workers in both the United States and Europe.

The 2021–2022 Columbia University strike was a labor strike involving graduate student workers at Columbia University in New York City. The strike began on March 15, 2021, and ended on May 13, 2021. However, additional strike action commenced on November 3 and lasted until January 7, 2022, when a tentative agreement with the university was reached. The strike was organized by the Graduate Workers of Columbia–United Auto Workers Local 2110 (SWC–UAW), a labor union representing student workers at the university. The goals of the strike were an increase in wages, increased healthcare and childcare coverage, and third-party arbitration in cases of discrimination and sexual harassment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Resignation</span> Surge in job quits, beginning early 2021

The Great Resignation, also known as the Big Quit and the Great Reshuffle, is an ongoing economic trend in which employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most cited reasons for resigning include wage stagnation amid rising cost of living, limited opportunities for career advancement, hostile work environments, lack of benefits, inflexible remote-work policies, and long-lasting job dissatisfaction. Most likely to quit have been workers in hospitality, healthcare, and education.

The 2021 Frito-Lay strike was a labor strike by employees at the Topeka, Kansas Frito-Lay plant against the company's mandatory overtime policy. The strike began on July 5, 2021 and ended on July 23, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Nabisco strike</span> American labor action

The 2021 Nabisco strike was a labor strike involving workers for the American snack manufacturer Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelez International. The strike began at a Nabisco facility in Portland, Oregon on August 10 and over the next few days spread to several more Nabisco facilities throughout the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple and unions</span> Apple Inc. related worker organizations and unions

Apple Inc. workers around the globe have been involved in organizing since the 1990s. Apple worker organizations have been made up of retail, corporate, and outsourced workers. Employees have joined trade unions and formed works councils in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Kellogg's strike</span> 2021 labor strike by employees of the food manufacturer Kelloggs

The 2021 Kellogg's strike was a labor strike started on October 5, 2021 and ended December 21, 2021 involving about 1,400 workers for food manufacturer Kellogg's, unionized as members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM). The strike was caused due to disagreements between the union and company concerning the terms of a new labor contract, with particular points of contention concerning the current two-tier wage system, health care, holidays, retirement benefits, cost-of-living adjustments, and vacation time. The strike affected all of Kellogg's cereal-producing plants in the United States, consisting of plants in Battle Creek, Michigan; Omaha, Nebraska; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee. It is one of several strikes conducted by the BCTGM in 2021, including strike action against Frito-Lay and Nabisco.

The 2021 Mercy Hospital strike was a labor strike involving nurses and hospital workers at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, in the United States. The strike began on October 1, 2021, and ended on November 4, 2021. It began following breakdown in collective bargaining negotiations between Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union representing the workers, and the Catholic Health System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 John Deere strike</span> Nationwide labor strike in the United States

The 2021 John Deere strike was a labor strike in the United States that began on October 14 and ended on November 17, and involved about 10,000 employees for John Deere, a manufacturer of agricultural and heavy machinery. These employees are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union, which had been negotiating a new contract with John Deere for several months. On November 17 the workers approved a new 6-year contract officially putting an end to the strike. The strike was John Deere's first in over three decades.

The 1986–1987 John Deere labor dispute, a.k.a. the 1986 John Deere strike and lockout, was a conflict between Deere & Company, more commonly known as John Deere, and its employees. The workers, unionized as part of the United Auto Workers, began selective strikes at three Deere facilities on August 23, 1986. The selective strikes prompted Deere to close the rest of the facilities under the same labor contract as the original three striking locales, which the UAW, and later The New York Times, called a lockout. On February 1, 1987, workers ratified a tentative agreement which provided stronger benefits to Deere production employees. The conflict was the longest strike ever against Deere, lasting 163 days, or more than five months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance of Health Care Unions</span> Labor federation representing 52,000 healthcare workers

The Alliance of Health Care Unions (Alliance) is a union federation of 21 local unions representing roughly 52,000 Kaiser Permanente (KP) employees. The Alliance is one of two union federations that are part of the largest and longest running Labor Management Partnership in the U.S. In 2021, more than 40,000 Alliance members were on the verge of the largest open-ended healthcare strike over concerns of short staffing and a two-tier wage system proposed by KP. On November 13, 2021, the Alliance and KP reached an agreement that preserved leading wages and benefits and defeated the two-tier system.

A number of labour strikes were held throughout 2021.

ABK Workers Alliance is a group of organized workers from video game company Activision Blizzard. Formed in response to a July 2021 state lawsuit against the company for harassment and discriminatory work practices, the worker advocacy group A Better ABK organized walkouts and demonstrations against the company's policy and practices. The quality assurance workers of subsidiary Raven Software went on strike in December after part of the team was fired. The striking workers announced their union as the Game Workers Alliance in late January 2022 and offered to end the strike pending their union's recognition.

References

  1. ↑ "U.S. workers have been striking in startling numbers. Will that continue?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Transcript: The Beat with Ari Melber, 10/15/21". MSNBC . 15 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  3. 1 2 "100,000 workers take action as 'Striketober' hits the US". BBC News . 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  4. 1 2 "The pandemic could be leading to a golden age for unions". NPR . Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  5. 1 2 "'Striketober': American workers battle for power amid labor crunch". Yahoo News . 18 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  6. 1 2 "What's 'Striketober' and why are American workers fed up?". South China Morning Post . 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "'Striketober' is showing workers' rising power – but will it lead to lasting change?". The Guardian . 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Jones, Sarah (2021-10-14). "Welcome to Striketober". New York . Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  9. ↑ Zhenzhong, Wu (2021-10-24). "「十月大罷工」：工資追不上通脹 寧願不上班？". HK01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  10. 1 2 "What's behind #Striketober?". Fortune . Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 García-Hodges, Ahiza (14 October 2021). "As 'striketober' momentum builds, what's behind the recent spate of worker strikes?". NBC News . Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  12. 1 2 3 "What to know about 'Striketober': Workers seize new power as pandemic wanes". ABC News . 22 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  13. ↑ "'Striketober' is here, with workers increasingly vocal about what they want". NPR . 14 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  14. ↑ Sy, Stephanie; Norris, Courtney; Mufson, Claire; Woodruff, Judy; Givan, Rebecca (Oct 18, 2021). "'Striketober': Growing number of U.S. workers are pushing back against employers". PBS NewsHour . Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  15. ↑ Quinn, Bryan (October 15, 2021). "'Striketober' in US as organised labour makes a post-pandemic comeback". France 24 . Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Hollywood strike averted after union and producers reach last-minute deal". The Guardian. 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  17. ↑ Vigdor, Neil (September 19, 2021). "Nabisco Workers End Weekslong Strike After Reaching New Contract". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  18. ↑ Gregg, Aaron (October 6, 2021). "Workers on strike at all of Kellogg's U.S. cereal plants". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  19. ↑ Shumway, Emilie (November 1, 2021). "What can HR pros learn from #Striketober?". HR Dive. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Perrett, Connor. "Thousands of California hospital workers strike over 'critical staffing shortages' at nearly a third of hospitals in the state". Business Insider . Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  21. ↑ Agustin, Francis. "McDonald's workers are staging another one-day strike to protest the alleged sexual harassment of employees at the chain's restaurants". Business Insider . Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  22. ↑ Colton, Emma (2021-10-24). "McDonald's workers strike to protest alleged sexual harassment with goal of unionizing". Fox Business . Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  23. 1 2 "Protestors interrupt President Bollinger's class in support of student workers' strike - Columbia Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  24. ↑ "'Appalled and outraged': Harvard graduate students plan to strike during parents weekend - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  25. ↑ "Harvard University grad students get first union contract after two-year battle". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  26. 1 2 3 Bogage, Jacob (21 October 2021). "Amazon warehouse workers on Staten Island seek union vote". The Washington Post .
  27. ↑ "More than 10,000 John Deere workers are on strike" . The Independent . 2021-10-14. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2021-10-21.
  28. ↑ PettyPiece, Shannon (October 24, 2021). "Biden on the sidelines of 'Striketober,' with economy in the balance". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.