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The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in 2023, the number of major strikes (33) involving 1,000 or more workers was at its highest in 23 years.
This totals some 458,900 workers. The number of work stoppages that include less than 1,000 workers is far higher, estimated by Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker to clock in at 470, totaling nearly 25 million days of striking.
There were several notable union victories including the well-covered SAG-AFTRA strike where over 160,000 workers downed tools. Historic strikes from The United Auto Workers union and unions representing Kaiser Permanente’s healthcare workers secured significant pay increases, and unionized workers at Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Costco, UPS, American Airlines, and many others triumphed in the courtroom or on the picket line.
2024 has continued in the same vein, with major walkouts from companies including Lyft and Uber.
Employers are increasingly wary of this trend. Corporate giants like Amazon, SpaceX, Starbucks and Trader Joe's are responding to the ongoing struggle between labor groups and corporate interests by mounting a legal offensive to dismantle the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), declaring the board unconstitutional.
And yet, at the same time, union membership in the U.S. was at its lowest in 2023 since 1983 at 10%, a drop from 10.1% in 2022, and part of a steady decline in union participation.
Employers and HR teams are therefore left to consider how exactly union activity may be shaping their workforce in 2024, and whether major cases from SAG-AFTRA to Starbucks United are truly cautionary tales or merely a drop in the ocean of U.S. labor.
Whilst in most major organizations HR and employee relations teams sit as distinct departments, they are increasingly working towards the same goal: building a strong relationship between employee and employer by creating an outstanding experience for each worker. As such, although responsibilities for engaging with unions may sit with employee relations teams, HR leaders must be aware of industry trends and high-profile instances of union activity.
Unionization in America: Focus on your people, not the paradox
The rising prevalence of work stoppages and declining participation in unions present a paradox complicated further by significant variation between industries, sectors, states, and even within companies.
Unionization is far higher in the public versus the private sector and has typically been higher in older U.S. industries such as manufacturing, utilities, and transportation, compared to newer industries such as professional services or food services.
“Unions have traditionally been at large corporations like Ford, GM, and USPS, but there appears to be a more recent trend toward unionization at smaller employers,” adds a confidential Director of Employee Relations at a major U.S. airline.
However, even this can vary. “For example, it’s not all of the Starbucks stores that are seeking unionization, but rather a handful here or there,” they continue. “I suspect the concerns are with management or working conditions at some stores, but not the company as a whole.”
Labor laws including state-specific legislation such as “Right to work” laws also make it increasingly difficult for workers in some states to form a union.
Rather than attempting to dissect decades of America’s labor relations history or launching offensive legal attacks on labor relations groups such as the NLRB (or worse, their own employees), HR teams should help their company to avoid union activity by working closely with employees to uncover frustrations on working conditions before they become strike-worthy.
“Employees feel they need to unionize because they’re unable to improve their wages and working conditions informally with the business owners or management,” explains the confidential Director of Employee Relations.
HR professionals, therefore, should direct their attention to employee perceptions of working conditions at their company including pay, performance, scheduling, hiring and termination, and so on. Whilst overall unionization is declining, work stoppages are concentrated in specific sectors, and the headlines from 2023 and already in 2024 tell us how this can disrupt the flow of work.
If any company is blindsided by unexpected union activity, it has already failed to properly appreciate the needs and demands of its workforce.
Where to begin when union activity is unfamiliar
Particularly for smaller companies or those working in newer industries where workplace stoppages have historically been less prevalent but are on the rise, and informal processes are the norm, preparing your workplace for possible union activity will come as a significant change, but a necessary one.
“When a workforce unionizes, it means that owners or management need to hammer out a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the union representing their employees,” explains the confidential Director of Employee Relations.
“This will specify hours, wages, and working conditions in compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws. This will also often include instituting a formal discipline process, employee grievance rights, and much more.”
Indeed, it can become very easy to run afoul of labor laws, and as a result, working with experienced labor lawyers is a fundamental step before engaging with employees on the topic of unionization. This should be a proactive, rather than reactive step.
“A good, experienced lawyer will be able to help the business navigate potential pitfalls, and equally important, potentially address employee concerns to the degree that unionization can be avoided,” explains the Director of Employee Relations. “Likewise, if the employees proceed to unionize anyway, the lawyer will be critical in helping management or owners negotiate the ensuing CBA.”
The major cases of union activity we have seen in the past few years will no doubt continue to make the headlines in 2024 and beyond. HR teams would do well to draw lessons from these examples and to get ahead of similar disruption by engaging with their workforce on topics such as pay or discipline processes and working with legal support to formalize and improve the necessary elements of their working conditions.
