Picket signs rise when job quality falls. Since the 1800s, labor strikes have been a part of our country’s history. Strikes have continued for over 200 years.
Now, as we near the end of 2021, we’re witnessing yet another historical shift. A global pandemic is causing the working class to rally around the corporate elite.
It’s worked before. But is it possible to do it again?
The Great Resignation
4 million Americans left their jobs in April 2021. The following month, Texas A&M professor Dr. Anthony Klotz coined the term “the Great Resignation.”
That resignation only got worse as the years went by. By August, total non-farm quits Attained 2.9 percent—an all-time high.
Harvard Business ReviewFind itMid-career workers, which ranged from 30 to 45 percent, were the most likely people to leave their jobs. Resignation rates were highest in the hospitality, tech, and healthcare industries.
A healthy economy is one that has many workers leaving. It signifies a gesunde economy. A vibrant job marketWith many options for workers. However, if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that we’re not in normal times.
It’s no coincidence that this mass exodus took place immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Toppling Workload
The labor market was a pressure cooker before the pandemic. Just below the surface, rampant wage, gender and race inequalities bubbled. The COVID-19 epidemic raised the temperature by two degrees. And that’s all it took to turn a slow simmer into a violent boil, bubbling over the sides of our metaphorical melting pot.
Wage discrepancy is one of the most urgent issues. Many thousands of workersFor survival, most people rely on minimum wage employment. The minimum wage has not changed as the cost to live has increased. The minimum wage has been increased to no longer consideredYou can find more information at “living wage.”
The 2020 minimum wage was $28, after inflation adjustment 33% less than 1970. This year, it’s even lower. Additional benefits include PTO and insurance for health. Are not available to more than halfThe labor market.
Then, there’s the issue of HowWork. Remote work has been a major driver of the rise in remote work. “Great Reshuffling,”Workers had more time to review their priorities and preferences.
Many workers prefer the freedom to work from home, which is not surprising. It is also required by some other reasons. skyrocketing childcare costs.
But the labor market isn’t made of worker bees alone. The labor market is also feeling the effects on the top-ranking officials.
The View from Behind The Desk
Employers also have had their share of problems. “No one wants to work”It became a Rallying the corporate elite to fight for their causeAs the Great Resignation began. Employers claim that applicants continue to ghost them.
“I’m in the medical field, and this has been happening to us for the past year,”One employer Telled Slate reporter Alison Green. “Being ghosted for interviews, people not responding. We’ve even hired people who didn’t show up on the first day or return for the second. It’s unreal.”
There are staff shortages at fast food restaurants and gas stations as well as non-medical businesses. “Short-staffed”Notifications They have become viral. Hours are being cut by businesses.
Indeed, no matter which side you’re on, there’s a problem in the labor market. Nevertheless, one side still has more leverage.
“What’s unique about this moment,” Joseph McCartin told NPR, “is there is a labor shortage that many employers are complaining about. But it’s a labor shortage that is largely worker-driven.”
“Workers have been withdrawing from the labor market in dissatisfaction with the jobs they currently have,”McCartin continues.
So what do workers do with this newfound leverage? What they’ve always done, of course: they strike.
Striketober: The End!
October 2021 is the start of 2021 “Striketober,”One of the greatest increases in organized labor in the 21st Century. More than 100,000 workers took part in or prepared to go on national labor strikes in October alone.
Ronald Reagan was President when America experienced a strike so widespread. The 1981 PATCO strikeNearly 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike. Reagan fired more than 11,000 of them. This created a fear of strike in the country.
Now, under a Administration pro-unionStriketober seems like an obvious next step. “Workers have just come through a pandemic. The economy is just beginning to improve,” McCartin said NPR.
“Usually, after a big crisis and when things begin to improve, workers can become more militant,”He continues. McCartin claims that similar strikes surges occurred after. Both World WarsAnd The Great Depression.
In October, there were strikes among employees. Nabisco, Kellogg’s, John Deere?, and McDonald’sTo name just a few, Also, workers went on strike at tech, higher education and healthcare institutions.
This striking question begs the following: Will it work?
Strikes Beget Strikes
McCartin seems to think so, andHe’s not alone. “Strikes tend to breed strikes,” he Telled NPR. “If workers see that strikes are being effective, then they’re more likely to use the strike weapon.”
“Strikes can be contagious for unions and workers,” Kate Bronfenbrenner Telled NBC News. “Workers are looking at each other and getting inspired.”
That inspiration doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, either. Experts predict that labor strike will continue well into the future. 2022’s midterm elections.
Most importantly, we’ve seen Successful labor strikes before. It’s not unfathomable to think we will see similar labor shifts in the 21st century. In fact, it’s happening before our very eyes right now.