|
|
|
|
|
Friend,
Strikes are on the rise. There has been an upsurge in major strike activity in 2018 and 2019, marking a 35-year high for the number of workers involved in a major work stoppage over a two-year period, according to EPI’s analysis of government labor data.
In 2019, alone, there were 10 work stoppages involving at least 20,000 workers at corporations such as AT&T and General Motors, and amongst public school teachers in Kentucky, West Virginia, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The increase in strike activity when the unemployment rate is less than 4% suggests two things.
- Workers know that if they are fired for strike activity, they will be more likely to find another job.
- Workers are concluding that if even a sub-4% unemployment rate is not providing them with enough leverage to secure robust wage growth, they must join together to demand a fair share of the recovery.
Share this crucial data on Facebook. The more people who understand the inequality of our economic system and how workers are forced to react to it, the more effective we will be in fighting for meaningful economic change.
Take a look at this chart: In the last two years, there has been a substantial upsurge in work stoppages.
|
|
|
EPI’s Director of Policy has already tweeted out the report. Now it’s your turn!
|
|
|
Where are these job actions taking place?
|
|
Teachers are included several times throughout the list. Here’s why:
EPI research found, “the largest work stoppages by number of workers during 2018 and 2019 were in elementary and secondary schools in states such as Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Community support, such as students and parents protesting in solidarity at schools and state capitals, made it possible for hundreds of thousands of teachers to strike in an effort to improve their pay and working conditions.”
EPI has detailed some of the financial pressures facing educators and have highlighted the teacher weekly wage penalty, which hit 21.4% in 2018, a record high. EPI’s research showed that—even after accounting for age, experience, and other factors—teachers’ wages are falling further and further behind their peers, hurting our schools’ ability to teach and undermining our students’ ability to learn.
In addition to the cascade of work stoppages throughout the country involving teachers fighting for a fair wage, manufacturing unions have taken a stand to protect their financial future.
- Last September, for example, nearly 50,000 workers walked out of General Motors factories across the country. GM workers went on strike to preserve job security, improve wages, and retain health care benefits. The GM strike was the longest major work stoppage in 2019, with over 1.3 million days idle. The strike was also the first GM strike in over a decade. The six week strike concluded with the United Auto Workers and GM agreeing to a four-year contract that improved wages, sustained health care costs for workers at existing levels, created a transition process for temporary workers to become permanent employees, and committed to making investments in American factories.
Crucial reforms found in the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would strengthen the right to strike and would help ensure that workers have the leverage they need to secure their share of economic growth.
That’s why our sister organization the EPI Policy Center is fighting to get the PRO Act enacted into law. And we are getting closer! Thanks to your efforts to stand up and demand economic fairness, the House of Representatives recently voted 224-193 to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. The PRO Act would provide millions of working people with additional protections to organize and collectively bargain a fair return on a day’s work.
Every day, EPI is fighting for stronger rights and wages for all working people. Donate to EPI today to strengthen workers’ collective bargaining rights, including the right to strike!
The sharp rise in jobs actions in recent years is the direct result of the realization of working people throughout the United States that the economy is simply not producing enough gains for them. They may have a job, but their earnings are failing to keep pace—and the inequality in our economy continues to rise.
Every working person deserves a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, and retirement security. Thank you for fighting for stronger rights and solid wages for all working people.
In solidarity,
John Schmitt,
Vice President, Economic Policy Institute
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
