America’s worker-boss war has only just begun: Expect more conflicts in 2023
But the strong labor market that gave workers a firm hold over their bosses seems to be slowly receding. Last month, unemployment rose to 3.7% from 3.4% six months earlier amid widespread layoffs (mostly in the tech sector). But even if it wasn’t what it was earlier this year, it’s still holding up: October saw 10.3 million job vacancies, almost double the average for each October between 2000 and 2020 (4.6 million ).
That means workers have no plans to give up their power in the new year, said Thomas Kochan, a professor of labor research at MIT’s Sloan School of Management TIME.
He expects “more conflicts, more strikes and more contract refusals” among workers in 2023. In strong years, workers stay focused on profits while companies contemplate pre-emptively cutting costs to prepare for a slower crisis. That difference in expectations, Kochan said, “creates a higher likelihood of conflict and strikes.”
One need not look far to find examples of this in both white and commercial industry. Above 1,100 earlier this month New York Times Journalists left the company’s Manhattan headquarters in protest at lengthy wage negotiations. The walkout – the first of its kind at the newspaper in 40 years – lasted 24 hours as workers insisted they negotiate in good faith over measures such as remote working and wage increases.
And on one of the busiest days of the year – Black Friday – Amazon workers around the world went on strike as part of a coordinated movement called “Make Amazon Pay”. Over 80 unions, environmental activist groups, and tax watchdogs joined efforts to demand Amazon pay its workers a fair wage, “respect their right to join unions, pay their fair share of taxes, and commit to true environmental sustainability.” .
Even the government has noticed the working conditions. President Joe Biden signed legislation in early December to avert a railroad strike that could have plunged the United States into a deep recession. The unionized railway workers demanded, among other things, paid sick leave and less brutal working hours.
“The law I’m about to sign into law ends a difficult railroad dispute and helps our nation avoid what would undoubtedly have been an economic disaster at a very bad time on the calendar,” Biden said at the time.
Overall, 374 workers’ strikes began in 2022 — a 39% increase from the year before, according to trackers from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. It showed that about 78,000 workers walked out in the first half of 2022, up from 26,500 in the first half of 2021. Most of these strikes were about health, safety and staff shortages, said Johnnie Kallas, one of the project leaders of Tracker, recently told axios.
This number is likely to rise again next year. Over 70% of Americans currently support unions, according to an August 2022 Gallup poll — last seen this high in 1965, when twice as many Americans were union members.
Also, drastic measures like walkouts or work stoppages can feel less intimidating when workers are confident that if they quit or are fired, a new job would be waiting for them. For every American job seeker, there are almost two openings. Some workers who became unemployed never filed for unemployment at all because they could get a new job so quickly.
Towards the end of the year, the peak of these results suggests that the war between workers and bosses may be just beginning.
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