Worker strikes in 2023 demanded economic fairness after 4 decades

More than 458,000 workers were involved in major strikes in 2023, according to an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A report by researchers at Cornell University and the University of Illinois—who, unlike the BLS, also tracked smaller U.S. actions—tallied 466 strikes and four lockouts involving a total of 539,000 workers.

This marks a 280% increase compared with 2022, with walkouts across the country—from auto workers to Hollywood writers and actors, nurses, and public school teachers—showing that there is a renewed appetite among Americans who have endured economic setbacks since the 1980s.

Roughly 75% of major work stoppages in 2023 took place in the private sector—with over half occurring in a healthcare setting, including one job action involving more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers.  The strike was the largest health care worker strike in US history.

Crucially, the BLS data do not capture all strike activity because BLS only includes strikes involving 1,000 or more workers lasting at least one full shift. For example, a six-week strike involving 750 Temple University graduate student workers was not captured in the 2023 data, because it did not meet the BLS size limitations. 

“A surge of workers went on strike in 2023 to fight back against record corporate profits, stratospheric CEO pay, and decades of stagnant wages. From the United Auto Workers to nurses across the country, these strikes provided critical leverage to workers to secure better wages and working conditions,” said Margaret Poydock, EPI senior policy analyst

“The increase in major strike activity in 2023 occurred despite our weak and outdated labor law failing to protect workers’ right to strike. Federal and state action is needed to ensure the right to strike,” said Jennifer Sherer, EPI director of the State Worker Power Initiative, who said that current labor law fails to adequately protect workers’ fundamental right to strike.

While nearly half a million workers last year participated in 33 major work stoppages—the most since the turn of the century—labor advocates still stressed the need for more policies protecting the right to strike.

“To strengthen the right to strike, Congress should pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act, among other key policies,” said progressive New Jersey Democrat Lisa McCormick, who urged state lawmakers to protect the right to strike for public-sector, agricultural, and domestic workers that are not covered by federal labor law.   

“Described by the AFL-CIO as ‘the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression,’ the PRO Act is a proposed law to protect workers’ rights to organize and bargain for better wages, benefits, and safer workplaces,” said McCormick. “The Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act would prohibit an employer from terminating or screwing around with the health insurance coverage of an employee engaged in a lawful strike.”

“Workers are done letting billionaires and corporations keep all the wealth and they are showing that they have power,” said McCormick. “A common theme among striking workers was a demand for higher pay amid the inflationary shocks stemming from pandemic re-opening, global crises, record profits for many corporations, and stratospheric CEO pay.”

“Any union worker knows that strikes are always a last resort. But sometimes it’s the only option to reach a fair agreement, so they can keep going to work and providing for their families,” said McCormick. “Our laws should protect workers’ and their families’ health during strikes and lockouts so if they’re backed into a corner, they can stand up to corporate abuse, without the fear of losing their families’ health insurance.”

“GM dropped workers’ healthcare coverage during the nationwide UAW strike in 2019,” said McCormick. “In February 2022, Raytheon Technologies tried to force nearly 300 employees into an unfair contract by locking them out, withholding their paychecks, and blocking access to health insurance after management and the local union did not reach an agreement.”

The Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act is supported by the following organizations: Communications Workers of America (CWA), NewsGuild-CWA, International Union, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers (BCTGM), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Communications Workers of America (CWA), United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), International Association of Iron Workers (IW), United Steelworkers (USW), and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

McCormick has called for a repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, also known as the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), which is became law on June 23, 1947, over the veto of President Harry S. Truman and restricts the power and activities of labor unions.

With more than 380 of its 9,000 cafes and 9,000 workers joining the nationwide union drive at Starbucks by voting in unions, the organizing boom at the chain has provided much drama – especially considering that before December 9, 2021, the coffee giant had zero unions.

Starbucks and Workers United announced on Feb. 27, 2024, a commitment to begin discussions on a foundational framework designed to achieve ratified collective bargaining agreements, the resolution of litigation, and a fair process for organizing.