This year, taking advantage of stronger labor markets, unions across the country have gone on strike. Strikes have occurred across multiple industries and in higher numbers in 2023 compared to previous years; according to CNN, 56 major strikes have occurred in the United States and 86 in Canada just this year.

Locally, according to KEZI, workers at health care corporation Kaiser Permanente, joining workers in five states, went on a three day strike in order to earn living wages and demand a resolution for the staffing shortage. According to the Associated Press, the strike includes 75,000 workers asking for a $25 minimum wage. Despite many of these workers being skilled, Kaiser still denies them their fair share of the industry giant’s 2.1 billion dollar profits just last quarter. Kaiser has hired 10,000 workers to fight the staff shortage but still falls short, which unions assert is because staff shortages boost profits but hurt employees and patients.

Autoworkers from three major car companies have also gone on strike including factories of Ford, GM and Stellantis. According to CNN, they demand higher wages and better pension plans. Already the giants have taken a hit, GM reporting 200 million in losses in only two weeks, a testament to the importance of labor in the function of enterprise. Companies have shown intent to shift the responsibility of their losses onto the consumer, who they say will have to pay more while the strike lasts, due to declining inventory.

2023 was not only marked by numerous strikes across multiple industries, but by successful negotiations between unions and their companies, with workers often winning the majority of their demands. According to AP News, a strike by Hollywood writers came to an end after they signed a contract with studios requiring higher compensation, a guaranteed length of employment and protection from AI. 

According to PBS, the United Parcel Service union managed an agreement without ever going on strike. The union won a higher starting wage for part time workers as well as securing future wage increases and air conditioning in delivery vehicles. This comes as the company reports a 140% profit growth since the start of the pandemic, and the union is committed to securing the rightful share of the workers who make the company run.

All these unions share one thing in common; they are trying to stop corporations from taking advantage of the employees who do the hard work when it comes to keeping an industry afloat. Many of the corporations listed above have made record profits this year while their workers, without whom they would have no profits, continue to get the short end of the stick, without proper compensation in wages and benefits. These are not unskilled professions either; the people working in all the named industries have a lot of experience in their trade and companies still refuse to justly compensate them for the value that they contribute.

Unions offer these workers a way to remind their employers that the billionaire owners aren’t the ones that do the hard, on the ground work, and that the people who do deserve a living wage and good working conditions. The union victories of 2023 set an example for other industries that have not yet unionized and showcase the power of ordinary working people when they stand together instead of divided.

Article by Julian White