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It’s not just for the money: understand the strikers movement that advances in the USA

It’s not just about the money. The United States has seen an increase in union activism — including strikes and other organizing efforts — in the past year, which is being driven by factors far beyond pay rates and benefit packages.

If payment were the only issue, the country likely wouldn’t be facing the risk of its first national rail strike in 30 years next week, a standstill that could break the still-struggling supply chain’s legs and be another blow to the economy. American.

A presidential panel reviewing this labor dispute has recommended that the two sides agree to a five-year contract that includes an immediate 14% raise, late payments starting in 2020 and a 24% salary increase throughout the contract. That’s less than the 31% in five-year raises the union is seeking, but more than the 17% previously offered by the rail administration.

That was enough for some of the unions to agree to interim deals, but not the unions representing more than 90,000 workers, including those who make up the two-person crews on freight trains. They look ready to pounce unless Congress acts to keep them in the works.

These unions say they are not rejecting the salary offer. Instead, it’s the work rules, staffing and scheduling proposals they oppose that require them to be on call and ready to report to work, seven days a week for most of the year. If it were just a question of wages, an agreement between the two sides would likely already be in place.

“Let’s not sit here and argue about [salários] or medical assistance. We are beyond that,” said Jeremy Ferguson, president of the union representing conductors, one of two freight train workers along with the engineer.

Unions say working conditions are driving thousands of workers out of jobs they would previously have held for their entire careers, creating unsustainable conditions for the remaining workers. Changing these work rules, including mandatory duty, is the main demand.

“The word got out that these jobs are not attractive in the way they treat workers,” said Dennis Pierce, president of the union that represents engineers. “Employees said ‘that’s enough’.”

Non-economic issues drive other strikes

And it’s not just railroad workers who have reached this breaking point.

More than 2,000 mental health professionals are on strike against Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii. Union members say inadequate staff is depriving patients of care and preventing them from doing their jobs effectively.

Alexis Petrakis, a member of the union negotiation committee and a child therapist at Kaiser for the past three years, said he had never been in a union before and did not expect to go on strike this time. But she said poor quality of care and the company’s inability to schedule visits for new patients for up to six weeks because of staffing issues prompted her and her co-workers to leave.

“Being away from my patients is heartbreaking. But they were receiving inadequate care,” Petrakis said. “The curtain is being lifted on this broken system. He needs to change now. I’m doing everything I can to make their care better.”

Teachers in Columbus, Ohio, went on strike at the start of the school year complaining about large classes and dilapidated schools, where a lack of heating and air conditioning created miserable classroom environments. The school district, the largest in Ohio, quickly took hold.

Organization also raises concerns in the workplace

Complaints about working conditions, safety and quality of life problems are not just triggering strikes. They are also driving an increase in organizing efforts.

The successful unionization effort at an Amazon distribution center in Staten Island, New York, began with concerns about worker safety in the early days of the pandemic. It was the first successful union vote at an Amazon facility.

Worker safety protocols and a desire to have a say in how stores are run are the main reasons why baristas at more than 200 Starbucks across the country have voted to join a union in the past nine months.

These non-economic issues may seem unique to today, but they were behind the very foundation of the US labor movement a century ago.

Employees fighting for safer working conditions and quality of life issues such as weekends, holidays, paid vacations and a 40-hour week helped unions establish a foothold in the US and led to their growth in first half of the twentieth century.

Union members are not the only ones expressing concerns about these issues. Some economists attribute the so-called “Great Layoff,” which saw record numbers of workers leave their jobs starting in 2021, to employees’ increased focus on quality of life issues. And they say the pandemic has brought these issues to the forefront for many workers.

In addition to the impact it had on the broader workforce, concerns about work resulted in a wave of union activism.

The US has recorded 263 strikes so far this year, according to a database maintained by Cornell University, an 84% increase from the same period last year.

And there were 826 union elections in the workplace from January to July this year, up 45% from the number held in the same period in 2021, according to data from the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees the polls. The 70% success rate of unions in these polls is much better than the 42% in the first seven months of 2021.

These surges of activity would never have happened without the non-economic issues that surface, according to union officials.

“This is definitely what is driving the voice of workers across the country. It’s not just pocket issues,” said Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. “They want their voices to be heard. They are working horrible hours. Workers are finding that their bosses don’t respect their voice, they don’t respect them.”

Experts agree that unions are finding recent success because of workers’ anger over non-economic issues.

“Trade unions are successful when they are based on things that concern workers,” said Alexander Colvin, dean of the school of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University.

“Schedule, health and safety concerns are very important,” he added. “There is certainly an opportunity for the unions there.”

And experts say these issues bode well for continued union strength in the future.

“The rise in importance of non-economic issues suggests a revival of the labor movement,” said Todd Vachon, a professor of labor studies at Rutgers University.

“Economic demand for labor will ebb and flow. The more comprehensive the demands that the workforce brings to the table, the better they will be able to withstand changes in the business economic cycle.”

Source: CNN Brasil

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