Support for unions is growing amid changing working conditions and labor disputes across the country, according to Liz Shuler, president of the country’s largest labor organization.
In comments Tuesday at the AFL-CIO’s first State of the Unions event in Washington, Shuler cited polls that showed support for unions across party lines. The AFL-CIO commissioned questionnaire According to GBAO, a Democratic research and polling firm, 91% of Democratic respondents and 52% of Republicans support unions, and an even larger percentage support the right to strike.
Auto Workers Union at Detroit’s “Big Three” Auto Companies voted by an overwhelming majority August 25 to authorize a strike if an agreement with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis is not reached before their contracts expire on September 14.
Shuler characterized the vote as part of a trend of increasing union activity in the face of a “systematic attack” on workers, including a slew of state laws that make it harder for unions to organize and a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed workers in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying union dues.
“What makes this Labor Day special is the awakening that’s happening across the country,” Shuler said. “It’s in Detroit, where just a few days ago, 97 percent of our UAW members said they were ready to walk out of their jobs and stand up to the Big Three.”
She added that there have already been more than 200 strikes this year, involving 320,000 workers. She said the number of striking workers is ten times greater than just two years ago.
“It’s been a long time since this country has seen workers united like this,” she said. “A long time.”
Shuler said that for many Americans, the lack of support for unions indicates an uncertain future.
The shift to the gig economy has left workers feeling uncertain about their long-term financial security, she added.
Technological advances in artificial intelligence can facilitate workers do their jobs better, she said, but they can also put them at risk. She urged companies implementing AI to listen to workers’ concerns about the technology.
The concerns that are more widespread across the country have also swayed union members, Shuler said, addressing issues that may have been more appealing to conventional Democratic union supporters than the bipartisan support seen in polls.
Workers are concerned about climate change and democratic issues such as voting rights, abortion rights and school censorship, she said. Unions will work to elect politicians who reflect those values, she said.
“We will not remain silent as extremist politicians attack our rights: our right to vote and have our votes counted, our right to read the books we want to read, our right to think and speak freely at work and outside of it,” she said. “We will show up, we will organize, and we will vote.”
Shuler said unions will support President Joe Biden in his re-election campaign next year, praising the president’s efforts to implement federal infrastructure spending.
Biden campaigned on improving infrastructure and supported a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Congress passed in 2021.
The law supports millions of jobs, she said, not just in construction and transportation but also in the service sector. Every job created by federal spending should be a union job, Shuler said.
Biden called for Auto workers and manufacturers should work together to reach an agreement before their contracts expire.
According to a White House report, Biden said he had “talked” to the union on the day of the UAW vote and was “concerned” about the prospect of a strike.
