OPINION: The ‘Year of Labor’ in 2023 was just the beginning

By LIZ SHULER
President
AFL-CIO

When Alicia Weaver, a guest room attendant at the MGM Grand Detroit, went on strike last year with UNITE HERE, she didn’t know how long she would be on the picket line.

All she knew was she and her co-workers deserved more: Better wages, after 24 years on the job; decent health care, so she didn’t have to choose between a doctor’s visit and paying rent; a chance to grow professionally and have a future at the company — something that hit home for Alicia as she looked down the strike line and saw her own son, also an MGM Grand Detroit employee.

After 47 days on the picket line in the Detroit winter — in rain and freezing temperatures — Alicia and her co-workers won historic raises, benefits, job security and opportunities to grow their careers.

MOST DYNAMIC AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR
When people ask me why the Labor Movement just had its most dynamic and successful year in a generation, I tell them about workers like Alicia — people whose lives changed because they stood together with their co-workers. For all the talk about macro trends and economic factors, the driving force behind the “Year of Labor” was simple: Being in a union makes your life better.

We’re in a moment of profound uncertainty and disillusionment across this country. Americans are fed up with politicians, institutions and the status quo. Approval ratings for Congress and most major institutions have plummeted to well below 50 percent. The Labor Movement is the one exception. Polling shows 71 percent of Americans believe in unions — more than two-thirds of people in this country, the highest number in the past 60 years. Unions are where people seem to have increasingly placed their hopes, their dreams and their aspirations for a better future.

WORKER WINS
It’s not hard to see why. Look around at the wins workers have earned, together, and the real change it makes in their lives and their families’ futures:

• United Auto Workers (UAW), which won 25 percent pay raises for employees’ new contracts with the Big 3 automakers.
• The Teamsters, who took on UPS and won historic safety protections and wage increases.
• The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, who stood up to the Hollywood studios and won protections against artificial intelligence (AI) that provide security and peace of mind.

Some 900,000 union members secured double-digit wage increases this year in their new contracts. That’s the power of solidarity.

People also look at the Labor Movement and see that it increasingly looks like them. We’re bringing together people of every background — White, Black, Brown, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Indigenous; young and old; white collar and blue collar — to take on the absurd economic inequality. We are working in common cause, and we are winning.

So, where do we go in 2024? The AFL-CIO (where I serve as president) represents 60 unions and 12.5 million workers across this country, and our goal is simple: To make sure every working person has a good job that pays a living wage. A job where they are treated with dignity and respect. A job where they are free to come together and organize with their co-workers when things aren’t right. For decades, whenever workers have tried to improve their lives in this country, they’ve run into roadblocks. Right now, we need to make sure every road leads to a union.

ORGANIZING NEW SECTORS
We’re doing that by organizing the new sectors of the economy. All over the South, billions of dollars from President Biden’s historic infrastructure packages are being invested in clean energy projects, many driven by companies like Blue Bird, an electric bus manufacturer, whose workers organized with the United Steelworkers (USW) — and we’ll do the same thing across the South and the whole country, setting a standard that every job created by these investments is a good, high-wage, union job.

We’re making sure voices like Alicia’s and other workers are heard on the issues of the future, especially AI and automation — and as we just showed with Microsoft, we’re not afraid of unconventional partnerships to get workers at the table.

TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
We’re focused on training and apprenticeship programs, too, especially in the construction trades, where there is incredible opportunity for upward mobility — but, for far too long, women and workers of color have been left out. For any company that wants to add high-skilled, highly trained workers to its operation, they can access the best pipeline of talented workers they’ve ever had. We’ll work together to maximize the opportunities for workers and companies.

More and more, Americans also are recognizing unions as a trusted source in a time of political upheaval. In 2023, we proved what can happen when working people come together in critical local and state races that affect our lives.

And in 2024, we’re going to lead the largest mobilization of working people the country has ever seen — tens of millions of workers coming together to protect our democracy and elect candidates who understand our challenges and our lives.

EMPOWERING YOUNG WORKERS
And we’re further empowering young workers in this movement. Nine out of 10 Americans younger than 30 believe in unions right now. Just look at the phenomenal organizing at Starbucks, a retail chain where no one ever thought workers could win. Yet, 366 stores and counting have voted to unionize. The average age of a Starbucks barista is 24. And those young people, and many others across all kinds of industries, believe in a better future. It’s up to us to turn that belief into reality.

The Labor Movement is ready to welcome in more hard-working Americans: For those who aren’t sure what a union even is, we’ll walk you through it. For those who want to join a union, we’ll make sure you have that chance. For those who want to build a new union of their own — one that may look nothing like what they see in the world — we couldn’t be more excited to support you.

Working people are on the rise. For any worker in this country who is disillusioned, frustrated or searching for a better life, I invite you to join a union. Together, we’re growing our power and building better lives and a stronger America for generations to come.