It was 1894, the Gilded Age — a time of extreme inequality, foul working conditions, worker unrest and violent strikes. Congress created Labor Day, a national holiday celebrating workers and labor unions.
Labor Day alone didn’t change much. But from the 1930s through 1950s, labor unions were on the rise. One in every three workers were unionized, ushering in a new middle class, safety procedures and a voice at work, before membership declined again for decades. Today, only 1 in 10 workers are organized, and one-third of the country’s workers earn less than $15 an hour. Research suggests that union decline has contributed significantly to the rise in inequality.
But this Labor Day, for the first time in almost 25 years, union elections — events in which workers vote on whether to form unions — have increased significantly. Workers file for elections with the National Labor Relations Board, which governs most private-sector employees. Union election filings with the NLRB increased by 58 percent in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2022 (October-June), compared with the same period in 2021. Already, recent tallies estimate that more than 1,250 elections were held from October to August, more than were held during all of 2021. And unions have won the majority of these elections.
Here’s what you need to know about this surge in union elections, from Starbucks to Amazon.
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A long-term decline
During the 1970s, there were upward of 8,000 annual elections to form new unions. By 2019, that number had fallen to close to 1,000 annual elections, as you can see in the figure below.
Why did elections fall off so dramatically? Labor laws, meant to protect workers’ rights to organize, failed to effectively adapt to the changing dynamics of work. More states passed laws that made it easier for employers to restrict unions and replace workers. For instance, half the states now have “right to work” laws that make it optional for workers to pay union dues, even when a union’s bargaining must apply to them.
Companies routinely use legal and illegal tactics to prevent unions from forming, including hiring union-avoidance firms, threatening to close workplaces if a union forms, holding mandatory meetings to persuade workers to vote no, offering new perks and promises of better conditions, and bogging down election processes with legal challenges.
In response, unions became cautious. Many pursued elections only if the great majority of workers expressed union support and were prepared to withstand a formidable anti-union campaign. All of this has contributed to the steep decline in union elections over time.
But elections have increased, and new types of workers are organizing
This past year has been different: Support for unions is surging. Both general approval of unions and union elections has been rising. In 2022, Gallup found that 71 percent of Americans approve of labor unions, the highest percentage since 1965. Gallup also found that over 40 percent of nonunion workers have some interest in joining one.
And workers are taking action. Interestingly, many are organizing in industries and companies that previously avoided union representation. Megacorporations, especially in retail, tech and service, have long kept out unions — until now.
Workers at Starbucks, which owns roughly 9,000 company-operated stores nationally, surprised many when they won their first vote to form a union in Buffalo in December. Since then, 225 Starbucks locations, covering more than 6,000 workers, have voted to unionize. Daisy Pitkin, Starbucks Workers United’s field director, estimates that employees at one-third of those locations have since held strikes. Dozens more have filed petitions to hold elections.
Meanwhile, Amazon warehouse workers succeeded in winning a union drive in Staten Island, the first in the United States. Apple, REI, Trader Joe’s and Chipotle workers have also organized their first unions, while others are trying in industries including cannabis, media, sports and education.
Historically, unions have advanced during booms of successful activity in favorable legal, political and economic circumstances. But these booms are often followed by employers’ innovations in reducing unions’ effectiveness and increasing legal restrictions, leading to union busts.
Predictably, these newly organized workers are facing employer resistance, especially as they rack up wins. Workers hoping to file for elections are facing more coordinated and sophisticated opposition. Starbucks recently pushed to suspend union voting, alleging election misconduct. Apple and Trader Joe’s raised wages to make union efforts less appealing. After the successful union election win, Amazon refused to recognize the union and initiated legal challenges. All of this is consistent with intense employer opposition to unions dating back at least a century.
Unions say they help stop covid from spreading. They may be right.
What happens after workers win an election?
The next crucial step is to win a first contract, which can be astonishingly difficult. Bloomberg Law labor data suggests that most unions do not win contracts within the first year of organizing.
As of this writing, most of these newly formed unions have not won a first contract. If companies resist negotiating contracts, a possible union response is to threaten to strike and shut down production. Historically, strikes were a major way that workers were able to win higher wages and union recognition, from sit-down strikes in the 1930s to the public-sector strikes in the 1960s to the Justice for Janitors strikes around the 1990s to the recent educator strikes. As new union elections declined over the past 50 years, so did strikes — and as elections increased this year, strikes did as well.
By law, private-sector workers have the right to union elections and the right to strike. We don’t yet know how today’s workers will respond as employers resist their efforts to bargain for better pay and working conditions. The NLRB has an important role to play in enforcing workers’ rights, as it did last week, when it ruled that Tesla workers have the right to wear union T-shirts. Support from community allies and politicians will also be crucial, not only for the right to fair elections, but also for securing first contracts.
When new unions form, win their first contracts or win strikes, it can inspire other workers to do the same. This Labor Day, it appears that frustrated workers have been inspiring one another nationwide.
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Jasmine Kerrissey is an associate professor of sociology, director of the Labor Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and co-author of “Union Booms and Busts: The Ongoing Struggle over the U.S. Labor Movement,” forthcoming with Oxford University Press.
Judith Stepan-Norris is Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine and co-author of “Union Booms and Busts: The Ongoing Struggle over the U.S. Labor Movement,” forthcoming with Oxford University Press.