Unions and the election; Gen Z work ethic : NPR

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Why work makes a difference

by Andrea SueNPR labor and workplace reporter

In spring 2021, I became NPR’s labor and workplace correspondent. This comes on the heels of a failed labor attempt to unionize at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, in a closely fought vote in which workers voted more than two-to-one against unionizing.

I didn’t know then that the labor movement would pick up steam.By the end of the year, the first Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize, setting in motion years of conflict. Reached the Supreme CourtThe following spring, Amazon workers in Staten Island Voted to form a unionI’ve been trying ever since. Keeping abreast of new organizing efforts And many labor disputes broke out, some of which Leading to strikes.

Add to this the presidential election, where both candidates are seeking to win the support of workers. In a speech before Labor Day, AFL-CIO President Liz Schuller noted that in battleground states, union members make up one in five voters. Nationally, union members 1 in 10 US workers They are union members. The statistics suggest that there are much larger concentrations of such workers in states where elections are decided.

Considering former President Donald Trump’s victory in Michigan in 2016 Having won New York by fewer than 11,000 votes and Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, you can see why union members have become a focal point of the campaign, especially for Democrats.

Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz have already garnered a lot of goodwill in that area. Civil servant union I am especially grateful to Harris. Waltz has spoken out against efforts to reverse harmful policies enacted by President Trump. He signed a series of pro-labor bills into law In recent years, Minnesota has become one of the most worker-friendly states in the country.

Now they hope union members will become their political emissaries. “I know this is preaching to my sympathizers, but they need to sing now,” Walz told the crowd.

And given the current state of union membership, that seems like a sound strategy. To be sure, Trump successfully appealed to many white, working-class, union families in 2016 and will likely retain many of their votes this fall, but in recent years, union enthusiasm has been driven by a new wave of young people joining the labor movement: Starbucks workers. Graduate Student Workers Staff at cultural facilities, etc.

It is this younger generation that is bringing imagination, creativity and fresh strategies to the labor movement. “The reality is that the economy is changing,” Ruth Milkman, a professor of sociology and labor studies at the City University of New York, told me.

If Democrats can harness it, the labor movement could play a decisive role. This election, I will be watching closely to see how this plays out.

Labor Day Listen

by Suzanne Nuyen, First Newsletter Editor

For decades, airline unions have fought not only for better working conditions but also for civil rights. Plotting a path that continues to this day. Through Line, Look up at the sky and listen How American labor unions took off.

Labor unions often make the news when their members go on strike. Withhold work until your demands are met. You don’t have to belong to a union to strike, but the risks are high. The National Labor Relations Act protects Americans’ right to strike, with some significant limitations. How a strike works New Hampshire Public Radio Civics 101.

Gen Z and millennial workers have gotten a bad rap for refusing to go above and beyond what’s expected at work. Is this stereotype simply a generational battle, or do young people truly lack work ethic? Get the Answer Member station KUOW Prosperity,

PBS Frontline Documentarians Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes followed two working-class families over a period of 34 years. In Milwaukee, people lost their high-paying manufacturing jobs and struggled to put their lives back together afterward. Discuss the film, Two American FamiliesWHYYY Fresh air.

This newsletter is Carol Ritchie.