When 420 employees at the Heaven Hill spirits bottling factory outside Louisville went on strike in September, they expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s proposed contract, which would have resulted in a reduction in overtime pay. During the epidemic, many people were able to make more cash by working seven days a week.
As Leslie Glazar, recording secretary of the local union representing spirits employees, put it, “We were really crucial.” It seemed like they were saying, ‘If you can get us through this, we’ll make it worthwhile for you.'” “However, we went from being heroes to being nothing.”
This seems to be reflected in the recent strike at Heaven Hill, which ended in late October when the firm modified their overtime request. Motivated by labour and supply constraints that make companies more susceptible to the virus and dissatisfied with what they perceive to be unfair treatment during the pandemic, employees are taking to the streets to demand a better deal.
According to data gathered by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the number of employees on strike climbed to more than 25,000 in October, up from an average of roughly 10,000 in the preceding three months.
According to Johnnie Kallas, a Ph.D. student and the project director of Cornell’s Labor Action Tracker, “labour market leverage and the fact that workers have endured incredibly difficult working conditions over the past year and a half as a result of the pandemic are both contributing to a lot of this labour activism now.”
While large corporations continue to have tremendous influence, there are no indications that the recent job actions herald the beginning of a new period of mass strikes. There are many employees who seemed to be on the verge of going on strike who have since drawn back from the edge, including 60,000 film and television production workers whose strike threat was at least temporarily defused after their union negotiated preliminary deals with production companies. Furthermore, even a doubling or tripling of strike action would result in levels that were much below those seen in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, the sporadic economic recovery after the epidemic has weakened management’s competitive advantages. Employers are experiencing unusually tough times filling positions; this summer, the Labor Department reported the largest number of job opportunities since the department started tracking such statistics in 2000, according to the Labor Department. In addition, supply-chain interruptions have had a negative impact on the bottom lines of several businesses.
According to a recent poll conducted by the IPC, a trade organisation that represents the electronics sector, nine out of ten manufacturers expressed dissatisfaction with the length of time it takes to create their products. Almost one-third of respondents experienced delays of eight weeks or longer.
Many employees also believe that their bosses have neglected to participate in the tremendous profits generated during the epidemic, despite the fact that they have occasionally endangered their lives to make those profits possible. Deere strikers have noted that the company is on track to post a record profit of nearly $6 billion this fiscal year, despite the company’s efforts to phase out traditional pensions for new hires. The union representing the striking workers announced a tentative agreement with the company over the weekend. It is believed that a vote on the contract will take place this week, according to the United Automobile Workers union.
Those who work in the industry claim that when employers do grant raises, the gains are generally modest and do not make up for the erosion of benefits that they have been subjected to for years.
Because of this, labour action has increased significantly since 2018, when tens of thousands of teachers walked off the work in places such as West Virginia and Arizona, despite the fact that the pandemic’s lockdowns and layoffs initially reduced strike activity. Because employees in both Democratic and Republican states believe they have been mistreated, the striking urge tends to transcend ideological boundaries.
Employees who were hired before a certain date may earn a higher wage or a traditional pension, whereas those who were hired after that date may earn a lower maximum wage or receive the majority of their retirement benefits through a variable plan such as a 401(k), which is becoming increasingly common (k).
Workers have even expressed scepticism about their union’s leadership in certain situations, fearing that negotiators have become too removed from the concerns of the rank and file.
As an example, go no farther than the United Automobile Workers, which has been engulfed in a corruption scandal in which more than 15 individuals have been imprisoned, including two of its most recent presidents. Some Deere employees cited dissatisfaction with their union’s leadership as a reason for voting against the original contract that the union had negotiated with the company.
