2023's historic Hollywood and UAW strikes aren't labor's whole story – the total number of Americans walking off the job remained relatively low

Maryam Rouillard raises her fist on Aug. 8, 2023, while taking part in a one-day strike by Los Angeles municipal workers to protest contract negotiations. Apu Gomes/Getty Images^[13]

Millions on strike

The number of U.S. workers who go on strike in a given year^[14] varies greatly but generally follows broader trends. After World War II ended, through 1981, between 1 million and 4 million Americans went on strike annually. By 1990, that number had plummeted. In some years, it fell below 100,000.

Workers by that point were clearly on the defensive for several reasons.

One dramatic turning point was the showdown between President Ronald Reagan and the country’s air traffic controllers, which culminated in a 1981 strike by their union – the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization^[15]. Like many public workers, air traffic controllers did not have the right to strike, but they called one anyway because of safety concerns and other reasons. Reagan depicted the union as disloyal and ordered that all of PATCO’s striking members be fired. The government turned to supervisors and military controllers as their replacements and decertified the union^[16].

That episode sent a strong message to employers that permanently replacing striking workers in certain situations would be tolerated.

There were also many court rulings and new laws^[17] that favored big business over labor rights. These included the passage of so-called right-to-work laws^[18] that provide union representation to nonunion members in union workplaces – without requiring the payment of union dues. Many conservative states, like South Dakota and Mississippi, have these laws on the books, along with states with more liberal voters – such as Wisconsin.

As union membership plunged^[19] from 34.2% of the labor force in 1945^[20] to around 10% in 2010, workers became less likely to go on strike.

Wages kept up with productivity gains when unions were stronger than they are today. Wages increased 91.3% as productivity grew by 96.7% between 1948 and 1973. That changed once union membership began to tumble. Wages stagnated^[21] from 1973 to 2013, rising only 9.2% even as productivity grew by 74.4%.

Prime conditions

In general, strikes grow more common when economic conditions change^[22] in ways that empower workers. That’s especially true with the tight labor markets^[23] and high inflation^[24] seen in the U.S. in recent years.

When there are fewer candidates available for every open job and prices are rising, workers become bolder in their demands for higher wages and benefits.

Political and legal factors^[25] can play a role, too.

In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal enhanced unions’ ability to organize^[26]. During World War II, unions agreed to a no-strike pledge – although some workers continued to go on strike.

The number of U.S. workers who went on strike peaked in 1946^[27], a year after the war ended. Conditions were ripe for labor actions at that point for several reasons. The economy was no longer so dedicated to supplying the military, pro-union New Deal legislation was still intact and wartime strike restrictions^[28] were lifted.

In contrast, Reagan’s crushing of the PATCO strike gave employers a green light to permanently replace striking workers in situations in which doing that was legal^[29].

Likewise, as we describe in our book, employers can take many steps to discourage strikes. But labor organizers can sometimes overcome management’s resistance with creative strategies.

Protesters parade with a hearse in Manhattan during the 1982 Labor Day Parade, mourning the demise of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, many of whose members were fired in August 1981 while they were on strike. Walter Leporati/Getty Images^[30]

New economic equations

Between 1983 and 2022, the share of U.S. workers who belonged to unions fell by half, from 20.1%^[31] to 10.1%^[32]. The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t reverse that decline, but it did change the balance of power between employers and workers^[33] in other ways.

The “great resignation^[34],” a surge in the number of workers quitting their jobs during the pandemic, now seems to be over, or at least cooling down. The number of unemployed people for every job opening^[35] reached 4.9 in April 2020, plummeted to 0.5 in December 2021, and has remained low ever since.

Meanwhile, many workers have become more dissatisfied with their wages. The strikes by teachers^[36] that ramped up in 2018 responded to that frustration. U.S. inflation, which soared to 8% in 2022^[37], has eroded workers’ purchasing power while company profits^[38] and economic inequality^[39] have continued to soar.

Technological breakthroughs that leave workers behind are also contributing to today’s strikes, as they did in other periods.

We’ve studied the role technology played in the printers’ strikes^[40] of the 1890s following the introduction of the linotype machine, which reduced the need for skilled workers, and the longshoremen strike of 1971^[41], which was spurred by a drastic workforce reduction brought about by the introduction of shipping containers^[42] to transport cargo.

Those are among the precedents for the actors and screenwriters^[43] strikes of 2023, which hinged on the financial implications of streaming in film and television^[44] and artificial intelligence in the production^[45] of movies and shows.

Working conditions, including health and safety concerns and time off^[46], have also been at the root of many recent strikes.

Health care workers, for example, are going on strike over safe staffing levels^[47]. In 2022, rail workers^[48] voted to strike over sick days and time off, but were blocked from walking off the job by a U.S. Senate vote and President Joe Biden’s signature^[49].

Time and again, when the conditions have been right, U.S. workers have gone on strike and won. Sometimes more strikes have followed, in waves that have the potential to transform workers’ lives. But it’s still too early to know when this wave will crest.

This is an updated version of an article originally published Aug. 24, 2023^[50], with nearly complete data for the number of strikers in 2023 and additional details about several strikes.

Read more https://theconversation.com/2023s-historic-hollywood-and-uaw-strikes-arent-labors-whole-story-the-total-number-of-americans-walking-off-the-job-remained-relatively-low-219903

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