More than 330,000 American workers — from Hollywood actors to medical technicians — have participated in strikes since the start of September, according to Cornell University's labor tracker.þþWhy it matters: Labor unions enjoying their highest approval ratings in generations are deploying hardball tactics in far-reaching sectors of the economy.þþZoom in: The United Auto Workers said last week that it could expand the strike against Detroit's Big Three automakers ÿat any timeÿ — a shift in strategy for the union, which had been announcing new locations on Fridays.þþUAW: Nearly 34,000 UAW members are participating in a strike against the Detroit Three automakers. The strike began on Sept. 15 with 13,000 workers.þSAG-AFTRA: The actor's guild, which represents 160,000 members, has been on strike since July. Actors and major studios suspended contract talks on Friday.þTwo large-scale strikes, screenwriters and health care workers, ended in the past month.þþWriters Guild of America: More than 11,500 striking TV and film writers became eligible to work last month after a 148-day-long walkout.þKaiser Permanente: About 75,000 people who work for the nation's largest nonprofit health system went on strike for three days last week. It was the largest health worker strike in U.S. history. The unions and company said last week that they reached a tentative labor agreement.þBy the numbers: The number of workers on strike has increased nearly 10-fold since 2021, according to the Cornell data.þþJan. 1 to Oct. 11, 2021: 188 strikes involving about 47,800 workersþJan. 1 to Oct. 11, 2022: 345 strikes involving about 126,800 workersþJan. 1 to Oct. 11, 2023: 318 strikes involving about 468,200 workersþþFlashback: Before the 1980s, more than a million workers regularly went on strike annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.þþIn 1981, former President Reagan fired about 11,300 air traffic controllers nationwide for striking after he ordered 13,000 of them to return to work — drastically shifting the tone for labor movements.þBetween 2000 and 2017, the average number of workers on strike shrunk to about 100,000 per year.
Source: axios.com
