U.S. Labor Strikes Went Up Almost 50% Between 2021 and 2022
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Jan. 17, 2023 | COLLECTIVE ACTION | In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated shortly after speaking with sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. The workers were on strike to protest their low wages and unsafe working conditions. Union membership and strike activity has fallen in the decades since King’s death. But more recently, that has been changing. The number of strikes in the United States rose almost 50% between 2021 and 2022, according to Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. That pickup in activity has momentum. In many industries, working conditions have worsened during the pandemic. Cathy Creighton at Cornell said workers are stressed. “And with labor shortages, that exacerbates the stress because you have to do more with a lot less people.” Marketplace Getty Images/iStockphoto
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