U.S. Labor Unions Are Having a Moment

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. organized labor is having a moment after decades of erosion in both influence and power, giving workers their best chance in recent memory to claw back lost ground.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, unions are finding they suddenly have the upper hand—or at least, more solid footing—when it comes to negotiating wages and benefits, spurring a flurry of new picket lines. Nearly 40 workplaces across the nation have gone on strike since Aug. 1, according to Bloomberg Law’s database of work stoppages, almost double the number during the same period last year.

From Deere & Co.’s factories and Kellogg Co.’s U.S. cereal plants to nurses in Massachusetts and distillery workers in Kentucky, tens of thousands of union workers across a vast swath of industries are either on strike or close to it, leading some to dub this month “Strike-tober.” One of Hollywood’s most powerful unions settled over the weekend to avoid a strike — the first in its 128-year history — that had been set to begin Monday.

“Workers are right to think the ball is in their court,” said Adam Seth Litwin, a professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University. “They need to take a really big bite of the apple right now, because whatever they get they’re going to have it in their mouth for a long time.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/us-labor-unions-are-having-a-moment/ar-AAPAebD

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Good. It's been far too long on the side of business owners, the 1%ers, etc. and not workers

for once driving what they should be getting, pay-wise and benefit-wise. Since the 1980s (min. wage) wages have been stuck, and if anything, lesser benefits paid too, since it used to seem that benefits were offered more freely (IMHO). Now, fewer get, and/or workers have to pay for it (what benefits they get, they pay for, not the companies any longer).