The Right to Organize
Across the globe and especially in the US we have seen a massive uptick in strikes, unionization, and outcries for labor reform. The beginning of the pandemic may have marked a mass lay-off of workers around the world, but this past summer, nearly a year and a half later, marked what’s been called “the great resignation.” Millions of workers have left their jobs, and while the reasons are diverse and plentiful, one message has become very clear: workers are no longer willing (or able) to simply take whatever conditions and compensation their employers offer. While simply resigning has been an option for many, others unwilling or unable to do so have joined the recent surge in labor reform activism. From a recent bid for unionization from several Starbucks locations in Buffalo, NY, to a massive simultaneous strike at four Kellogg plants across the country, food workers across the industry are organizing to demand better pay, safer working conditions, better benefits, and more, and it seems they’ve only just begun.
Why is this all happening now? What is the historical context for these movements? Why is it so difficult for food workers to organize? What can you do to help? Read on!
A brief history of labor movements in the food industry
Any honest history of labor movements in the US could justifiably fill more than one textbook spanning centuries and criss-crossing countries around the world, but we can contextualize the current effort to improve working conditions in the food industry with a quick recap of some notable events in the 20th century.
In response to rapid industrialization and the resulting horrific working conditions that plagued cities across the country, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 was passed, which aimed to protect the rights of workers to form a union and bargain collectively. Essentially, the law and its writers determined that outside of a slew of workplace regulations, the best way to ensure the fair treatment and compensation of workers across the country was to allow them to organize, unionize, and bargain with their employers for fair conditions and compensation. The law certainly isn’t perfect, but nearly two decades later, roughly a third of Americans belonged to labor unions and major strikes across the country tallied in over the triple digits every year.
Unfortunately, over the decades corporations and their political allies have worked together to remove the teeth from this law, and effectively allow employers to violate the NLRA with impunity. While there are many reasons for the decline in union membership and strikes, many believe that the final nail in the coffin of the NLRA was when in 1981, former president Ronald Reagan demanded that over 13,000 PATCO workers on strike return to work immediately, and subsequently firing over 11,000 of those that refused by executive order.
With the teeth of the NLRA removed, and federal precedent established for the firing and replacement of workers on strike, the percentage of unionized Americans has dwindled to roughly 10% in recent years, and violations to the NLRA have proliferated.
Why fighting for these rights is important
Now, it’s worth taking a moment to understand why unionization and the continued fight for improved labor rights is so important, and what impact these efforts can have on workers across the country.
Unions offer workers representation and a channel for collective bargaining, through which their wages, benefits, and working conditions are not only protected, but typically improved. Here’s a quick look at what that can look like:
Compensation
Unionized workers earn, on average, 11-13% more than “a peer with similar education, occupation, and experience in a non unionized workplace in the same sector.” When companies like Starbucks, Frito-Lay, and Kellogg are watching profits soar and shelling out bonuses to executives while their service and factory workers struggle to make ends meet, organized labor forces like unions can work to close that gap.
Benefits
In addition to better pay, unionized workers are more likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance (96% vs 69%), paid vacation, sick leave (93% vs 75%), and retirement plans (82% vs 48%).
Working Conditions
As employers work to squeeze as much profit as possible out of their businesses, and as unforeseen stressors (like a global pandemic) arise, more often than not, workers foot the bill under increasingly oppressive and sometimes unsafe working conditions. Be it sweltering heat, incredibly arduous “suicide” shifts, or productivity expectations that can result in undignified practices and long term health issues, unions can work to hold employers accountable and demand the protection and fair/ethical treatment of their members.
Equity
A lesser talked-about benefit of organized labor unions is their ability to help in the fight for racial and gender equity. Reports have found that women and BIPOC individuals who work under union representation receive proportionally larger boosts in wages than their white, male counterparts, and thus the associated wage-gaps are significantly reduced under said representation.
How the food industry is unique and why it’s so difficult to organize
In light of all of these benefits to organizing and unionizing, you might be wondering why everyone doesn’t simply unionize. One reason is that many people simply don’t feel they would benefit greatly from union representation, and sometimes that is true. But there are a slew of other reasons that relate to corporate intimidation and misinformation, as well as others that plague food industry workers specifically.
As previously mentioned, the NLRA has been gradually stripped of its power over decades to the point of being virtually unable to achieve its original goal of protecting the rights of workers to form a union and bargain collectively. This means companies are now able to get away with NLRA violations that do a lot to deter workers from not only unionizing, but even discussing the possibility amongst their colleagues.
Companies illegally thwart these efforts by threatening to fire workers who unionize or campaign for unionization, engaging in covert surveillance, and evening closing facilities that attempt to unionize. In addition to the tactics of intimidation, companies will often subject workers to their own campaigns of anti-union propaganda, sometimes even hiring third-party consultants who specialize in that kind of work to “handle” unionization efforts. To illustrate just how prevalent these kinds of tactics are, a recent report found that once unionized, employers have been charged with violating federal law related to unionization rights nearly a third of the time, and charged with illegally firing workers for organizational effort nearly 20% of the time.
To make matters even worse, many types of jobs in the food industry can make organization-effort even harder. Jobs in food service not only have extremely high rates of turnover, but are also often seen by society and by the workers themselves as “transitional.” This means that workers are seldom around long enough, or seldom see themselves staying in a given position long enough to either have the time to organize, or develop the personal, emotional, and financial incentives to organize. Paired with the justifiable fear of retaliation from your employer, and when your dependence on the job is exacerbated by external stressors like student loans or family health problems, the risk-to-reward can make efforts to unionize seem futile at best.
Outside of food service positions, which often employ younger workers that work for shorter periods of time, other positions in the food industry like those at food processing plants typically employ workers with a higher median age who hold those positions for years if not decades. This may shed light on why strikes and unionization efforts have been more successful at companies like Kellogg and Frito-Lay than Starbucks and Burger King, however the general decline in strikes and union membership, as well as the increased prevalence of corporate intimidation and anti-unionization campaigns has plagued these types of positions all the same.
What you can do to help
Fortunately, despite these massive hurdles, successful strikes and campaigns for unionization have a way of inspiring and educating non-unionized workers across the nation to band together and start their own movements. As these efforts hit the press, it's crucial that they gain the support of surrounding communities and patrons of the businesses they work for. So, if you’re wondering how you can help in the future, here are a few strategies:
Policy
Pressuring your representatives to not only publicly stand with strikes and unionization efforts, but put forward or support bills that protect those workers is vital. Recently, a new bill has been put forward, the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize, H.R. 842), which seeks to address and eliminate many of the aggressive anti-union behaviors that have become so common amongst employers by finally holding them accountable for their actions. The bill, much like the original NLRA, also aims to protect workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively. This bill has passed in the house but faces huge hurdles in the Senate, so call your senator and make your voice heard! To learn more about the PRO Act, visit this link here.
Donate
Many strikes have support funds, often called economic hardship funds, which are crucial for allowing striking workers to support themselves and their families in lieu of their wages, and also provide health-care funds if/when employers cut their medical benefits. You can find some current funds to support here.
Join the Strike
There is a lot at stake for workers on strike, so joining in the efforts by creating signs, standing with them, publicizing their efforts in local newspapers and on social media can be a huge help in demonstrating to the employer and the rest of the county/state/country that the community stands with them. You can find strikes around the country here.
Don’t Cross the Picket Line
When workers are on strike, it’s crucial that the employer knows that customers stand with the workers— money really is power in this case! One of the most impactful ways to support the strike is by suspending your support of the business itself (not buying any of their goods or services for the duration of the strike).
If you’re looking for other ways to support unionization efforts and labor rights, check out the American Federation of Labor’s “Take Action” page.