CINCINNATI — The United Auto Workers suspended its strike Monday after reaching tentative new deals with the Big 3 automakers.
It caps a white-hot few months for labor. In fact, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters just got a historic new contract with UPS.
"This is our time, this is our defining moment to get back what we haven't been getting in so long," said Janet Billingsley, UAW Local 674 president.
The 115 UAW workers in West Chester are getting ready to go back to work after the union and GM reached a tentative new deal Monday morning, which would bring an end to the strike against all three of the biggest automakers in the U.S. The tentative deal includes 25% raises, as well as cost of living adjustments.
Last month, UAW President Shawn Fain spoke to members on the first day of the UAW strike.
"Class war has been going on for 40 years in this country," said Fain. "The billionaire class has been taking everything and the working class has been left scraping paycheck to paycheck just trying to survive."
On Aug. 22, the Teamsters voted overwhelmingly to ratify the new contract with UPS. It includes full-time drivers making about $170,000 a year.
"There's just not as many people to work as there used to be," said Janet Harrah with NKU's Haile College of Business. "I think, an impact of inflation, I think workers simply understand that money is not going as far as it used to be and to keep up, not make more, but keep up with the cost of living."
"I think the public shares this frustration, the sense that the gap between the wealthy and kind of regular people has grown way too wide," said Kate Bronfenbrenner with Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. "There's all this press about the economy is doing well, and there are tight labor markets, but they sure don't see it, they can't afford to buy a house, they're having a hard time making their car payment, sending their kids to college."
Both Harrah and Bronfenbrenner also point to other factors driving a growing labor movement. They include a middle class struggling and shrinking since the 1980s, rising inflation and unemployment currently at 3.8%. These factors could be the reasons why employees are gaining some leverage over their employers.
"As long as the economy continues to do well, there's a shortage of workers, the unionization efforts will continue," said Harrah.
"What has happened, is workers have a taste of what they can win, and a lot more workers are doing to try," said Bronfenbrenner.
In the latest Gallup poll, 67% of Americans approve of unions, after more than a decade of rising support. Union support reached an all-time low of 48% in 2009 after the Great Recession. It took eight years to recover to its prior level of 60%.
However, union support has not reached 75%, which was an all-time high in the post-World War II era of the 1950s. That's when union membership peaked at about 35%.
Pew Research found about six in 10 adults say the large reduction over the past several decades in the percentage of workers who are represented by unions has been somewhat or very bad for the country. Union membership has fallen since 1983 when 20.1% of American workers were union members, compared to 2022, when only 10.1% belonged to a union.
There's also a labor movement from some non-union workers. Some pharmacists at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid started three-day walkouts, protesting what they call "harsh working conditions." When these employees have done this in the past, it's resulted in some pharmacies temporarily closing, as well as slowing down business.
READ MORE
West Chester GM workers ready to return to work after tentative UAW agreement
Amazon workers want a union at CVG. Can they win?
Union membership rates declined nationally, increased in Ohio in 2022
