Employees everywhere are organizing. Here's why it's happening now

[Omaha Steve]

Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, left, speaks next to Christian Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), during an ALU rally in the Staten Island borough of New York, U.S., on Sunday, April 24, 2022.
Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images

PUBLISHED SAT, MAY 7 20229:15 AM EDTUPDATED SAT, MAY 7 202212:05 PM EDT

After years of declining influence, unions are having a resurgence. Employees from companies across the country are increasingly organizing as a means of asking for more benefits, pay and safety from their employers.

Between October 2021 and March of this year, union representation petitions filed at the NLRB increased 57% from the same period a year ago, according to recent data from the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. Unfair labor practice charges increased 14% during the same period.

More than 250 Starbucks locations filed petitions, and after notching a first win late last year, 54 Starbucks company-owned stores have formally organized. Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York City recently voted to form the first union at the second-largest U.S. private employer and join the Amazon Labor Union. Google Fiber contractors in Kansas City successfully voted to unionize their small office in March becoming, the first workers with bargaining rights under the one year-old Alphabet Workers Union.

These efforts are resonating with the broader public. A Gallup poll conducted last September showed 68% percent of Americans approve of labor unions — the highest rate since 71% in 1965.

FULL story here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/07/why-is-there-a-union-boom.html