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- Thousands of workers across the US are on strike, and thousands more are preparing to walk out.
- It's being called "Striketober," and it shows a revitalized labor movement ready to down tools.
- Workers are flexing their power across the economy by quitting, striking, and demanding better conditions.
A new month has been born in 2021. Instead of October, it's "Striketober."
That's because thousands of workers in every industry are saying no to current working conditions. They're not joining the wave of workers quitting during "the Great Resignation" phase of the labor shortage. They're staying at their current work - but demanding it change.
From Alabama coal miners to Hollywood theater hands and from Kellogg's to John Deere, American workers are flexing their power across the economy.
-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 14, 2021
All told, The Hill reports that in the midst of a national labor shortage, more than 100,000 workers have voted to authorize strikes. That means that many employees will walk out of their jobs and stop working completely until they reach agreements with management on issues such as pay transparency, more manageable hours, and better benefits.
It could mark a new chapter in American labor history, while touching everything from your favorite snack to your favorite movies.
Dan Osborn - the president of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Works and Grain Millers Union local 50G in Omaha, Nebraska - is one of the workers across four different Kellogg's plants who are currently striking for an equal wage system and stronger benefits.
Osborn, who's been a mechanic at Kellogg's for 18 years, said, "there seems to be a movement sweeping across America with labor right now. People are finally standing up for what they believe and the workers are trying to get what they deserve."
-Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 14, 2021
The labor movement largely slumbered in 2020. Striketober could stir it back to life.
These strikes are huge in scale
Over 60,000 Hollywood-based workers in the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) are preparing to strike on Monday, while over 24,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente have authorized a work stoppage, The Washington Post reports, if they don't get an equal pay system, raises, and more hires to help ease shortstaffing.
Thousands more are already actively striking. Besides the 1,400 Kellogg workers who have been on strike since October 5, over 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike at midnight on Thursday. In Alabama, 1,100 coal miners have been on strike since April, Mic's Kim Kelly reports.
"Without an end date, we could keep talking forever. Our members deserve to have their basic needs addressed now," IATSE President Matthew Loeb said in a Wednesday statement.
It's the first time that IATSE has authorized a strike, showcasing a breaking point. Insider's Elaine Low reports it could essentially shut down Hollywood. The number of IATSE workers on strike alone would be more than double the number of workers involved in major work stoppages last year.
Indeed, this round of strikes will be felt by consumers and workers alike. An IATSE walkout could slow the production of television shows and movies; Osborn is asking that strike supporters boycott Kellogg's products as the strike continues on.
In a statement, Kellogg's said "our proposals have been grossly misrepresented by the Union," and the company is "ready, willing, and able to continue negotiations at any time."
Workers are fighting back against unequal gains
Mike Mitchell, the director of policy and research at Groundwork Collaborative, told Insider the strikes reflect a "huge, significant shift in power from workers to corporations and businesses." He says this is because the pandemic and ensuing recession created so much uncertainty for workers, while inequality increased and wages remain stagnant.
However, as inequality become more pronounced during the pandemic, stimulus measures also led to personal income hitting record highs. Also, wages have actually moved significantly upward for the first time in decades - something that unemployed Americans previously told Insider made them reconsider what they want or need from work.
In a tweet, IATSE Communications Director Jonas Loeb wrote that "#Striketober is a function of greedy bosses trying to recoup the un-recoupable. Workers across every sector in our economy are being pushed to the brink to make up for the lost time during the pandemic shutdown."
-Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 14, 2021
American billionaires added $1.8 trillion to their fortunes during the pandemic, according to a report from the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness. In 2020, CEOs got paid 351 times more than the typical worker, an analysis from EPI found.
Over the past 40 years, the rate of workers covered by unions has shrunk by half, according to a report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.
In 2020, 444,000 fewer workers were covered by a union than in 2019, EPI found. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics found there were just eight major work stoppages in 2020 that involved at least 1,000 workers and lasted at least one work shift during the week. Only two other years had fewer strikes, and it's far lower than the average of 16 a year over the past two decades.
Broadly, 27,000 workers were involved in work stoppages that started in 2020, per BLS. The looming IATSE strike alone dwarfs that.
Mitchell said this will go down as a historic month of labor action. "You can see similar moments in the early 1900s, where there was a strong concentration of corporate power, really no real rules around the ability for workers to come together and speak up and have their voices be heard," he said, adding that the pandemic has brought up a lot of the same issues for workers.
The Biden administration has actively sought to strengthen union power and collective bargaining as a priority, dedicating a task force to it and backing the PRO Act, a major labor-rights bill. It's "the most pro-union administration in history," Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a Thursday press briefing.
"Our economy is shifting to a labor market where workers have more bargaining power," Psaki said. She added: "That means workers can push for higher wages and more dignity and respect in the workplace."
As for the actual experience of being on strike, Osborn said it's a "cocktail of emotions."
"It's been tough, but it's been exciting at the same time being part of something greater than yourself," he said. "This movement isn't just about the 1,400 workers at Kellogg's on strike. It's about workers across the nation."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3BIGBKF
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