[ Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the
number of unionized workers in the United States increased by 200,000
from 2021 to 2022. And that growth came entirely from workers of
color.]
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WORKERS OF COLOR MADE UP 100% OF UNION GROWTH IN 2022  
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Prem Thakker
March 24, 2023
New Republic
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_ Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the
number of unionized workers in the United States increased by 200,000
from 2021 to 2022. And that growth came entirely from workers of
color. _

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As thousands of workers went on strike
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week, evidence continues to build that the labor movement is back on
an upswing in America. But how we engage with the details of this
development will determine whether the swing remains a momentary
uptick, or becomes part of something larger.

Recent data
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the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of unionized
workers in the United States increased by 200,000 from 2021 to 2022.
And that growth came entirely from workers of color. There was an
increase in 231,000 unionized workers of color last year, while white
unionized workers actually _decreased_ by 31,000. Further, of all
racial and ethnic groups, Black workers have continued leading
unionization rates, at 12.8 percent, higher than the figure of total
unionized workers.

While the total share of workers represented by a union still floats
at just above 11 percent—much less than where things stood decades
ago—union election petitions last year increased by 53 percent, the
highest amount since 2016.

According to BLS data, industries that saw the largest increases in
unionization were state government; durable goods manufacturing; arts,
entertainment, and recreation; and transportation and warehousing. And
states with the largest increases in unionization? California, Texas,
Ohio, Maryland, and Alabama. 

All this to say, monolithic conventions on who constitutes the
“working class” need a final upending.

Indeed, the diversity in the movement can be seen in the nature of
labor action these past few months. This week, workers at over 100
Starbucks locations nationwide went on strike to protest
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company’s alleged union-busting schemes. Another union
representing 30,000 Los Angeles school staff workers
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custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, special education
assistants, and more—conducted a three-day strike, and the
35,000-strong United Teachers Los Angeles union joined in solidarity.
At the beginning of the year, 7,000 nurses
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on strike in New York City, protesting poor pay and working conditions
brought on by chronic understaffing. All this does not include the
some 100,000 rail workers nationwide who almost went on strike last
year, until the government itself imposed a contract upon them
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Conservatives—both Republican and Democrat alike—often opine on
the need to focus on “kitchen table issues
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instead of getting wrapped up in “social” ones. The latter, of
course, being another way to say issues surrounding identity and race
(much like the term “woke,
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but perhaps less likely to incite outrage). But the union data reveals
once more that issues of identity and workers’ rights are deeply
intertwined
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After all, unionization and labor struggles are direct mechanisms to
better accomplish racial and social equality; the ability for people
to afford to live happy and dignified lives is inherently tied to
their ability to enjoy fundamental social and civil rights within
those lives, too. 

On moral grounds, every politician and journalist should recognize
these facts. And for any politico concerned solely with
electability, the good news is the results follow the morals anyhow. 

In November, several Democrats who refused to pin the economic against
the social, even in battleground states, went on to win. That includes
people like Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator John Fetterman in
Pennsylvania, Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia, and Governor
Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan. And for examples of how these political
successes turn to policy successes, look no further than the sacred
and often pontificated on Midwest. 

In 2018, Governor Whitmer promised to repeal the anti-worker
“right-to-work” law. And after voters re-elected her with wide
margins—and delivered her majorities in both state chambers for the
first time in decades—she delivered on Friday, signing a bill
to repeal the anti-union legislation
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Just a week earlier, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bill that
guaranteed free breakfast and lunch
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all public school students, geared especially for food insecure
families, many of whom are marginalized and people of color (perhaps a
more direct connection between social and so-called “kitchen
table” issues).

As more people become better acquainted with the contradictions of
capitalism—from noxious train derailments
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to immediately aided collapsing financial institutions
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of which is borne from corporate-bought deregulation)—we may be at
another moment in the long history of labor for which a resurgence is
possible. But such a moment will not be helped by a media and
political apparatus that seeks to flatten the labor movement, rather
than embrace it for the vast and diverse coalition it actually is.

* workers of color
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