Throughout 2023, workers across the nation fought hard for fair compensation and safe working conditions, showing the true power unions and collective bargaining.
Union strikes like United Auto Workers, Writers Guild of America, SAG-Aftra, Teamsters, and Kaiser Permanente have influenced the provision of better working conditions and compensation for workers. The reasons behind these accomplishments were the plans made and the leaders who led the workers to victory.
According to Kate Bronfenbrenner, a Wall Street journalist who advocated for the labor union movement, “Sean O’Brien (Teamsters), Shawn Fain (United Auto Workers), Ellen Stutzman (Writers Guild of America) and Fran Drescher (Screen Actors Guild)—had a mandate from their members to run smarter and more militant campaigns. By actively engaging the public, the media and public officials, and changing strike strategies, they left employers in unfamiliar and less comfortable territory.”
The U.A.W was a stepping stone for other strikes in 2023. On Sept. 15, workers shut down Ford and Jeep Motor Company manufacturing plants, striking.
The strike resulted in the loss of production on 100,000 vehicles, costing Ford 1.7 billion dollars in one year. As the U.A.W. strikes started to close down more assembly plants, Ford continued to lose the production of major profitable vehicles. On Oct. 25 the company and union negotiated that workers would earn $42 per hour in addition to annual profit-sharing checks.
The SAG-Aftra strike started on July 14 when the three-year contracts of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees had ended, and workers argued to provide better working conditions and wages.
Chelsey Sanchez, Bazaar magazine writer, wrote, “SAG members were fighting for better pay and working conditions as they face a labor landscape transformed by streaming and threatened by artificial intelligence.”
The workers pressured major television companies but they were not given total compensation. The workers started to make plans on an authorization together to form a strike.
Lindsey Bahr, an A.P. news journalist, stated, “The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said Monday that nearly 99% of registered members who participated, or 52,706 people, voted in support of a strike over the weekend.”
Film companies saw the financial losses that were a result of the strike. On Nov. 9 the companies agreed to a new contract. The details of the new contract have yet to be disclosed as a few unwritten agreements still need to be placed but many entertainment industries have since gone back to production.
On May 2, 9,000 writers walked the streets of Hollywood and New York to fight for higher wages and safer working conditions. The Writers Guild of America union discussed problems with residual pay for writers who worked in minirooms and writing credits involving AI. As a result, film companies lost millions of dollars. Eventually, film companies agreed to create a new three-year deal, entailing that they would increase wage benefits and that, in the future, their credits and compensation would not be affected by AI.
The UPS Teamsters Union settled on an agreement on Aug. 22 before they could strike. After the current contract expired, the union pushed for salary increases. If those conditions were not met, the UPS labor union would strike. As UPS realized the profit they would lose by not delivering packages in the future, they decided on a new tentative agreement.
According to The Washington Post, “All UPS union employees would receive a $2.75-an-hour raise this year and a $7.50-an-hour pay increase over the next five years. Pay for UPS’s part-time workers, who make up about half of the workforce, would start at $21 an hour, a notable boost from the current $16.20-per-hour starting wage though less than the $25 an hour that a vocal reform group composed of Teamsters members had demanded.”
The Kaiser-Permanente healthcare workers strike not only had an excellent outcome for the workers but also made history by being the most significant healthcare labor dispute in U.S history. Different types of healthcare workers participated in the strike that occurred on Oct. 4-6. The strike greatly impacted the healthcare workers’ lives by pointing out the underpaid jobs and unfair work hours. The outcome of this strike led to the workers getting a 21% wage increase for the next four years.
As 2023 ends, the U.A.W, Writers Guild, Sag-Aftra, UPS teamsters and Kaiser-Permanente strikes are only part of the many labor union strikes that had a better outcome for the workers. These strikes have played a significant role in activism and served as a stepping stone for other industry workers.
