Whither Labor? Updates on U.S. Strikes and Looming Elections

UAW's Stand Up Strike- Uplifts the Labor Movement

The labor movement in the U.S. got a tremendous shot in the arm in September 2023 after the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on a historic strike against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors called the Big 3. Nearly 150,000 workers went on a 6 week strike resulting in significant gains including removal of the divisive tiered system for wages among permanent employees, resumption of cost of living expenses that was eliminated in 2009 and impressive wage increases for both permanent and temporary employees.

The UAW buoyed by its victory in 2023 started organizing workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee in southern U.S this year. A majority - 2200 out of 4300 workers voted to be represented by UAW in April 2024.The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has showed that southern states have a union coverage rate that ranges from 3 to 5.4% while it is 11.2% nationally. The EPI has documented the policies of these states that have given subsidies and tax cuts to corporations while imposing policies detrimental to workers which include low wages and hostility to unionization campaigns. The victory of UAW under these onerous conditions in Tennessee has been welcomed by labor movement everywhere. In September 2024, UAW's negotiations started with Volkswagen for a contract. Winning  is only the first step, it takes on an average 409 days after a union wins an election to get a contract according to Bloomberg Law's labor data.

According to Becker’s Hospital Review, there were 15 strikes of healthcare workers in 2014. The key issues not only included wages but also staff patient ratio to ensure safe healthcare. At University of Chicago Medicine, 125 trade and supply chain workers members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 73 went on a strike for a week in July for better wages, benefits and citing unfair practices by the management.

Their new contract offered better pay and bonus. However other demands like healthcare costs and quotas were not met. “They’re the people that make sure the supplies run through this facility, that the boilers stay running, that the doors stay working, that this whole entire hospital stays moving and making sure that they can provide the best patient care,”  SEIU Local 73 Executive Vice President Jeff Howard said during a press conference. There were solidarity rallies from the nurses, students and other community members.

Workers and Powerful Companies: Boeing and ILA workers Fight Back 

While Boeing is a household name in the U.S. it has a long record of unfair labor practices. On September 13 this year, 33,000 workers in Seattle, Washington state who assemble some of the best known aircraft went on strike. They are represented by International Association of Machinists (IAM).  IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said while announcing the strike “This is about respect, this is about the past and this is about fighting for our future,” The workers are demanding 40% increase to their wages, ending forced overtime, annual bonus, and most importantly are asking for defined benefit pension instead of 401(K) pension plan which leaves them at the mercy of the market forces.

Kshama Sawant, former Seattle City Councilmember who is a socialist, described the Boeing company's tactics as "economic terrorism" back in 2013 when Boeing threatened to take its operations out of Seattle and exhorted the IAM to accept the unfavorable 401 (K) plan. She has continued to rally in support of the machinists in their ongoing strike. She wrote in Counterpunch "Instead of deploying resources into addressing urgent safety issues, Boeing executives have prioritized returning maximum profits for shareholders in the near term, exorbitant CEO pay, and shoring up their status as one of the most powerful political lobbying groups in the U.S."

Good Jobs First- subsidy tracker- has found that Boeing has received 15.5 billion dollars in bailouts and 75 billion dollars in government loans and bailouts in the last few years. Former CEO of Boeing Calhoun's compensation for 2023 was more than 30 million dollars. Boeing along with Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman and others is part of the war machine that enables the U.S to attack and destroy so many countries in the planet. Boeing secured 14.8 billion dollars in Pentagon contracts in 2022. On October 24, several weeks into the strike, 64% of the workers rejected the contract offered to them by Boeing. The rank and file workers are not happy as one of their important demands of reinstating the defined pension plan has not been met. Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751 and Brandon Bryant, president of IAM District W24, said in a joint statement that “there are consequences when a company mistreats its workers year after year.”

Another recent strike that caused jitters to the capitalist class in the U.S was the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) work stoppage which began on October 1, 2024. The ILA representing 45,000 port workers was going to disrupt shipping worth billions of dollars worth of products from food to automobiles in major ports in the East and Gulf coasts. The strike was temporarily suspended on October 4th after the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) agreed to a 62% increase in wages over a 6 year period. USMX (from their home page) is an alliance of container carriers, direct employers and port associations serving the east and gulf coasts of the U.S. A.P. Moller-Maersk one of the member companies revenue was 82 billion dollars in 2022. The workers in these ports spend long hours doing back breaking jobs, in addition there is threat now of automation and use of AI which can lead to job losses in the future. The workers are currently working under their old contract until January 15, 2025, while a new contract is being negotiated.

Workers and the Two Party System: 2024 US Elections

On November 5th, American citizens will elect the president who will be in the office for the next 4 years. The two main contenders are Donald Trump, a Republican, and Kamala Harris, a Democrat. There are 4 independent and 3rd party candidates, notably Claudia De la Cruz from the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Jill Stein from the Green Party. 

Both the Republican and Democratic parties represent the interests of the capitalist class. Juan Gonzalez a prominent journalist, co-host of Democracy Now! described it well when he called the Republican party as the home to "white supremacist capitalism" while the Democratic party promotes "multiracial neoliberal capitalism."

The Republicans have strongly opposed unions, the classic example of Ronald Reagan crushing the air traffic controllers strike in 1981, which led to disastrous consequences for the entire labor movement. Project 2025, an initiative of Heritage foundation, which has had prominent Republicans write the blueprint, will be catastrophic for the working class and immigrants. Among other draconian measures, it proposes to change overtime laws, impose a ban on public employee unions, allow states to ban unions, and weaken child labor laws. Even Trump has had to distance himself from this project when he realized how unpopular it was with his own supporters- many white working class males.

The Democrats while cozying up to the union leaders and co-opting popular movements do not have a great record in supporting the workers. In 2013, during the Boeing machinists strike, the Democratic Party politicians in Washington State betrayed the workers by putting pressure on IAM to sign a highly unfavorable contract. In 2022, the so called 'pro union" President Biden, a democrat, stopped the railroad workers strike which would have paralyzed the country and brought losses to the multibillion dollar rail corporations. The workers who are on call 365 days, 7 days a week, were fighting for a basic human right – to get sick leave in their contract.

The billion dollar arms industry is raking in billions of dollars of profits while the United States funds the illegal occupation and genocide of Palestinians by its client state Israel. Both the Democrats and Republicans have their hands dripping in blood. In the labor movement, thousands of workers across the country have been in solidarity with the movement on the ground against the siege of Gaza and the ongoing genocide. While many unions have passed resolutions for ceasefire, they have clearly not been able to advance the struggle to end the genocide and stop the supply of aid and arms to Israel. This is because the leadership has a close relationship with the Democratic Party. 

There been an increased support for unions in the last few years, in 2023, 67% of Americans supported labor unions in a Gallup poll. The UAW strike in 2023 was hugely popular with a vast majority of Americans supporting the union. These are all good signs. Strikes are as Lenin said, “a school of war and not the war itself …. only one aspect of the working class movement.”

There is a long road ahead of the working class in the U.S. The labor movement has to break free from the clutches of the Democratic Party and develop an independent program. The Democratic and Republican parties represent monopoly corporations. The need of the hour is to support socialist parties, which will reverse the war economy and emancipate workers from the oppression of capital.