News & Commentary August 4, 2023 Google and Accenture accused of illegally terminating employees

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/august-4-2023/

By Greg Volynsky

Greg Volynsky is a student at Harvard Law School.

In Today’s News & Commentary, more journalists and labor veterans weigh in on the current state of the labor movement, Google and Accenture accused of illegally terminating contract employees in the process of unionizing, Amazon warehouse workers rally for better wages in the wake of Teamsters’ agreement with UPS, and ProPublica reports how Wisconsin makes it difficult for workers critical to the state’s dairy industry to live and work.

The Washington Post reports that 2023 has been among the busiest year for strikes in three decades. The strike of Hollywood writers and actors has been the most visible, but baristas, housekeepers, graduate students, among many others, have contributed to the growing numbers. As I covered two weeks ago, Bloomberg has similarly reported that this summer is poised to produce an “avalanche of union activity not seen in the US in decades.”

There is a paradox at the core of current American labor relations. Workers are striking, and more of the public supports unions than at any time since 1965. One veteran of the labor movement, Dave Kamper, penned an article on Monday explaining why, “for the first time in my 27 years in the labor movement, so help me, I think I’m an optimist.” The immediate impetus for Kamper’s optimism was Teamster’s tentative agreement with UPS, which Michelle described last Thursday. The agreement “represents a real, substantive, sustainable improvement in the working conditions of 340,000 UPS workers. UPS put $30 billion in new money on the table. This may very well be the best and most important contract win of the 21st century.” Kamper attributes the success to a tight labor market, Bidenomics (or Abruzzonomics), and a labor movement that is “united, aggressive, and ambitious.”

And yet, union membership dropped to a record low in 2022, with the private-sector union rate four times lower than it was in 1973. While strikes were up 52% in 2022, strike activity is nevertheless considerably lower than in previous eras. The disparity between union support and success has one main reason: legal design.

FULL story at link above.