Are unions regaining their power?

[Omaha Steve]

Mike BebernesEditor,Yahoo News 360•October 25, 2019

What’s happening
For much of the 20th century, labor unions were a major force in American life. Labor organizations grew in size alongside the surging U.S. economy. At one point in the 1950s, 35 percent of all workers in the country were unionized. But union membership dropped precipitously in recent decades; in 2018, only 10.5 percent of U.S. workers were in unions.

In the past two years, however, there has been a rise in successful union actions across the country. More than 485,000 workers took part in union-led work stoppages last year — up from 25,000 in 2017 — largely led by teacher strikes that brought higher wages and changes to classrooms.

The United Auto Workers union voted to ratify an agreement to end a six-week nationwide strike against General Motors, union leaders announced Friday. The deal establishes a bonus for eligible employees and a clearer path to permanent status for full-time temporary workers. Teachers in Chicago have been on strike for more than a week as they seek higher wages and smaller class sizes.

Why there’s debate
Some observers see this recent string of union actions as a sign that organized labor is having a resurgence. A strong economy has led to low unemployment, which gives workers more power to make demands of their employers, some argue. Others make the case that growing discontent with increased inequality and a decline in quality of life for the working class — both trends that coincide with the dwindling of unions — have turned public sentiment in favor of unions.

FULL story: https://news.yahoo.com/are-unions-regaining-their-power-225341907.html

[Sherman A1]

1. I believe that they are certainly doing better

Folks are fed up with the deck stacked against them in the workplace and this Second Gilded Age that we have been living in since the 1980s. It has taken far too long, but people are in some instances waking up to the facts around them.