Historic labor strikes take US by storm

NEW YORK — It has been a big year for labor organizing in the United States. From auto production lines to Hollywood, all eyes are on strikes taking the world of work by storm.

The boiling point comes amid soaring costs of living and rising inequality, including growing pay gaps between workers and top executives. Now, thousands of workers, who were asked to make sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic even as corporate profits soared, are asking for better pay and protections — and walking off the job if progress is not made in heated contract negotiations.

At least 453,000 workers have participated in 312 strikes in the US this year, Johnnie Kallas, project director of Cornell University's Labor Action Tracker, said. This year's work stoppages have spread across multiple industries, including transportation, entertainment and hospitality.

In the healthcare sector, a major strike kicked off this week, with some 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walking off the job on Wednesday in multiple states, demanding better pay and benefits.

This is the largest US healthcare strike on record. The two main reasons are concerns over staffing levels and practices and dissatisfaction with pay that has not kept up with inflation and was too low to begin with.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents about 85,000 of the health system's employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and for one day in Virginia and Washington, DC.

The three-day strike will end on Saturday morning. But the coalition said "another longer and stronger" strike will be staged next month if a new contract agreement cannot be reached by then.

Failed talks

Negotiations between union leaders and Kaiser executives broke down on Wednesday due to a dispute over a pay increase. The coalition also demanded ways to fix a staff shortage that workers have long complained about.

Kaiser admitted the staff shortages in its statement, saying it is a problem that "every healthcare provider in the nation" has been facing. The organization's data confirmed a chronic trend of staff shortages in the US healthcare industry, which was exacerbated by the pandemic.

In January, more than 7,000 nurses at two major New York City hospitals went on strike, complaining that staffing shortages led to burnout.

In an unprecedented labor campaign against the Big Three automakers, about 25,300 out of some 146,000 workers represented by the United Auto Workers are now on strike across the country.

The UAW's targeted strikes against General Motors, Stellantis and Ford began at select factories after the union's contract with the companies expired in mid-September.

UAW President Shawn Fain has announced strike expansions on each of the past two Fridays, citing a lack of what the union says is meaningful progress, but it is unclear how much that will continue as the strike nears its three-week mark.

The UAW was expected to make another "stand-up" announcement later on Friday. The union is seeking 36 percent general wage increases over four years, as well as a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay, among other benefits.

However, the companies fear that raising their labor costs could make their vehicles more expensive than those manufactured by automakers where workers are paid less. Tensions have also risen amid layoffs impacting thousands of workers, with the automakers saying some factories are running short.

In the summer, Hollywood was taken by storm with a historic dual strike from the unions representing writers and actors, bringing much of production to a halt.

After five months on the picket lines, the writers' strike was declared over after their union approved a contract agreement with studios last week. Meanwhile, actors are still on strike, but a shot at cutting their own deal is finally on the horizon.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA, began negotiations on Monday with the same group of major studios and streaming services — the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — for the first time since they joined writers on the picket lines on July 14. The two sides continued their negotiations on Friday, and will work internally over the weekend and resume talks on Monday, the SAG-AFTRA said.

Agencies Via Xinhua