|
|
The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the face of employment in the U.S., with more workers looking for stability, career advancement, and respect at many jobs that were once considered to be mundane positions at the very bottom of the corporate ladder.
The Wall Street Journal analyzed federal data and found that workers at 1,411 workplaces filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board. The paper said the number represents a nearly 70 percent jump since 2021 and the biggest jump since 2015.
The paper said of the over 1,400 applications, 311 are from Starbucks stores.
The Trends Journal has been reporting extensively on the push for unionizations among workers who are stuck in menial, low-paid jobs with no room for career growth, while the companies they work for pull in record profits. (See “STARBUCKS STORE TO UNIONIZE, A TOP TREND FOR 2022?” “ACTIVISION STUDIO GROUP WILL FORM A UNION, SOLIDIFYING TRENDS JOURNAL FORECAST,” “POLITICO JOURNALISTS FORM UNION. A TREND OF THE TIMES” and “REI: UNIONIZATION TREND EXPANDS AS FORECAST.”)
The tight labor market in the U.S. seems to give workers more leverage. The New York Times reported last week that New York City is a good example of the seismic shift and is “facing an exodus of city workers” in health care, parks, police officers, and child protective service. The report, citing the Citizens Budget Commission, said the city’s overall job vacancy rate was 7.7 percent as of March.
We have reported on union pushes within Amazon and Apple. Recode, citing an internal memo, reported that Amazon burns through so many employees, that the Seattle-based company could run out of people to hire in the U.S.
The Times cited data from Georgia State University, Trinity University, and the Urban Institute that showed a yearslong decline of unionization in the U.S. The research said about 10.3 percent of American workers were union members last year, compared to 29.3 percent in 1964.
Dan Bowling, a labor lawyer now teaching at Duke University, who spent much of his career at Coca-Cola opposing unions, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that companies, like Starbucks, can damage their reputations when they work to reject the effort by employees to unionize.
“I find it ironic, but the organizations that had presented themselves as progressive, faced with an organizing campaign, hire high-priced legal and consulting talent to fight it,” he told the paper.
TREND FORECAST: Unionization will continue to be a Top Trend; the more limited the supply of workers made worse by “No Jab, No Job” mandates; (see “WANT TO KEEP YOUR JOB? GET THE JAB!” and “NO JAB, NO JOB. VACCINE MANDATES ‘WORKING’”), the more powerful the trend toward unionization will be.
And, as inflation continues to rise faster than wages, corporations that wish to incentivize their workforce to do and give the best they can, will raise the pay scale to levels higher than inflation rates. In doing so, they will create atmospheres of mutual appreciation.
It is worth noting that the unionization trend is not limited to factories and grocery stores. Performers at Medieval Times also voted to join the American Guild of Variety Artists, the Times reported.
“A huge point of the union is just basic respect,” Monica Garza, 25, one of several actresses who plays the queen at the performances. “People will always exploit you when it’s something you love, because they know you’ll do it for nothing.”
TREND FORECAST: Among the reasons there is a shortage of workers is that they no longer want to work for poverty level wages, and after being locked down and having the time to reflect on their lives, many assessed the worthlessness of their jobs in their personal development.
As Gerald Celente has long said, “When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose, they lose it.” Therefore, as socioeconomic conditions continue to deteriorate, “NEW WORLD DISORDER,” one of our 2020 Top Trends, will escalate as billions take to the streets, demonstrating against the lack of basic living standards, crime, violence, and government corruption.
And now, after it was disrupted when the COVID War began in 2020 and governments forbade people from protesting, the demonstrators are now back on the streets.