Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh with Kellogg strikers Photo Credit: Department of Labor
WORKERS WIN WITH SOLIDARITY
T
he surge of workers organizing and demanding better pay, fair treatment, and a voice on the job has risen to levels not seen in decades. Across industries, hundreds of thousands of workers in North America organized for union representation, withheld their work skills when unfairly treated, and joined picket lines to demand better wages, retirement benefits, job safety, and working conditions. Workers “are the folks that really made the sacrifices [during the pandemic] and the whole time, they were told they were
essential,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Then they go to the bargaining table and they’re basically disposable.” “The companies continued to profit through the pandemic and then say, ‘Thanks, but we’re not going to compensate you, we’re not going to protect you, we’re not going to value and reward you for making those sacrifices,” Shuler continued. “[Workers] are absolutely fed up.” In 2021, strikes included construction workers demanding fair pay, nurses and hospital staff across
the country, telecommunication workers for Frontier Communications, warehouse workers at Hunts Point Produce in The Bronx, auto mechanics in Chicago, distillery workers in Kentucky, janitors at Denver airport, steelworkers at Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI), and school bus drivers in Annapolis. The threat of massive walkouts led to strong contracts for 60,000 International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) members and 32,000 Kaiser Permanente workers. “Last year was inspiring for the entire labor movement as we ISSUE 1, 2022 // 11
