US labor flexes its election-year leverage after big union wins

There’s still movement… in labor. American workers keep fighting for better pay and benefits after a banner year for unions. 2023 saw the most major US strikes in over two decades, as 150K autoworkers, 170K+ actors and writers, and 340K UPS employees scored major contract victories. Now worker movements in other industries are gaining momentum:

• Food chains: After a two-year, $240M anti-union campaign, Starbucks began contract talks last month with its 10K workers repped by Workers United. It’s a big leap for the fast-food industry, which has historically struggled to unionize. 

• College athletics: Dartmouth’s men’s-basketball team voted last week to form the first union in college sports. Up next is a battle that could fundamentally change the NCAA: whether college athletes are employees.

• Simultaneous strikes: This month, 13K Minnesota workers from unions representing janitors, city employees, teachers, and others are participating in coordinated strikes. On a larger scale: the United Auto Workers is trying to get big unions to line up their contract expirations for a nationwide strike on May 1, 2028.

From picket lines to boardrooms… Unions are tackling corporate moves. The 1.2M-member United Steelworkers union has strongly opposed Nippon Steel’s $15B takeover of US Steel. While the deal doesn’t need union approval, the labor-friendly Biden admin could hesitate to OK a merger opposed by a major union in an election year. Nippon’s meeting with union leaders this month in hope of winning their blessing. Union pressure in a boardroom-seat battle was likely a factor in Starbucks starting contract talks with its unionized workers.