{"id":2057755,"date":"2023-10-06T11:07:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T15:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/who-wins-in-a-labor-strike\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T11:09:54","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T15:09:54","slug":"who-wins-in-a-labor-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/who-wins-in-a-labor-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Who gains from a labor strike?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwho-wins-in-a-labor-strike%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2057755&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Are Strikes\u2062 a Winning\u2064 Proposition for Workers?<\/h2>\n<p>Kaiser Permanente\u2019s 75,000 union workers and negotiators are\u2064 the latest to walk out of work \u2064in a strike year that has seen more than 100 so \u200bfar. \u200cAccording to the Cornell University School \u200dof Industrial and\u200c Labor Relations, those strike actions in 2023 represent a 65 percent increase from 2022. But the question remains: Are these strikes a winning proposition for employees who join the picket line, put their jobs\u2064 at risk, and, in the case of the current United Auto Workers (UAW) strike, attempt to live on a strike fund of $500\u2064 a week?<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Examining the Risks and Rewards<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cEvery single strike has to be weighed on its\u2063 own\u200d merit. Does it make sense? Where are the risks and rewards?\u201d Dr. Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., of the University of\u2062 Illinois at \u2064Urbana-Champaign, said to The Epoch \u200bTimes. \u201cWhen you look under the cover of the UAW strike and the data around it, you see a\u200c union that\u2019s designed to be on strike. But I\u2064 wonder why, when you look at the UAW leadership \u2064and how much money they make\u200d compared to the workers, no one talking about that?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The UAW\u200c originally asked for a 40 percent hourly wage increase for its workers\u2062 over\u2064 the next four years. The current average wage for a UAW member working on\u200c a manufacturing production line is currently $28 an hour, according to the Bureau\u200b of Labor Statistics. \u200bPrior to his election this year as UAW president, Shawn Fein earned $160,000 as an\u2064 administrative assistant. Former president Raymond Curry made $267,126 in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The UAW and the Big Three auto manufacturers have been locked in tense contract negotiations for weeks, with a slight chance the 25,000 workers now on the picket line could reach a settlement by the end \u200bof the week. Dr. Jacobson believes that the timing of the \u200cstrike was more about a high level of strike funds than worker concessions from Ford, General Motors (GM), and Stellantis.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Who Benefits from Strikes?<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe people who get the most benefit from striking is the union leaders and the demands they\u2019re putting forward are unfeasible. They wanted\u200b to be on \u2064strike for a while and bring the strike\u2062 fund closer to the lower end to the $650 million level \u200cand as soon as they get close to that, they\u2019re going to settle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, the negotiations between the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and the healthcare provider continue around the \u200bclock, with some reports of progress being made. The planned three-day work stoppage\u200c began on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>The Cost \u2064of Strikes<\/h3>\n<p>But for the protracted strike negotiations \u200dlike those currently ongoing with the UAW, some believe that while the premise of a strike is to get workers the best deal possible,\u200d little thought is \u2063given to the overall cost paid by workers\u2064 who \u2063leave their jobs to support their unions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cUltimately, it\u2019s the workers who are most affected by\u2063 this. That\u2019s the risk you run in being the pawns \u200cfor some of these big\u200b picture salary gains,\u201d Detroit area labor and employment \u200battorney Brett Miller with Butzel Law\u200c told The Epoch Times. \u201cSometimes no one wins from \u200dthese strikes and it can come\u2062 down to\u200d the \u2062battle of attrition that\u2063 creates this mutually assured damage. My instinct tells me that this one [the UAW strike] is going to be a long one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of the Big Three automakers have had to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/who-wins-in-a-labor-strike\/\" title=\"Who gains from a labor strike?\">make decisions directly related<\/a> to striking employees who may not have jobs to return to once it\u2019s settled. GM, for example,\u200d has\u200c laid off around \u20632,000 employees since the strike began, with Ford laying off an additional 930.<\/p>\n<p>With\u200b the potential of job loss and living for \u2062a long stretch of time on \u2063strike pay of $500 per week, 17-year UAW member Debbie Oszust told Saginaw, Michigan, TV station WNEM\u200d 5 that she\u2019s\u2063 been getting\u2063 ready for this her entire life. \u201cYou have to change a lot of things\u2014go get loans if you don\u2019t have the \u200dmoney, put it away in the bank, change your bills around,\u201d she said. \u201cMy whole\u200d lifestyle is different, and\u2062 my husband is disabled at home, so I\u2019m the sole supporter of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The last UAW strike in 2019 lasted 40 days and specifically targeted GM, taking a huge \u2062chunk of profit away from the \u2064company and its employees. \u201cGM lost $2.6\u200c billion in earnings and workers lost a billion\u2064 in\u2064 lost wages. So at this point, it\u2019s really\u200b just mutual pain with the current economy and inflation and a $500 strike fund paycheck a week can create hardships,\u201d Mr. Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>The current UAW strike is the first to target all Big \u2064Three players at the same time,\u2063 and one of the negotiating\u200c points is that the union is demanding a 32-hour workweek, a demand some believe could bankrupt the automakers.<\/p>\n<p>According to a filing with the Securities\u2064 and Exchange Commission, the strike thus far\u200b has cost GM $200 million. The UAW is expected to provide\u2062 an\u2062 update on its negotiations via Facebook Live sometime on\u200c Friday.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are some of the negative consequences of strikes for industries and communities<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u2062The union leaders,\u201d said Jamie Richardson, Vice President of White Castle, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-aoc-mcdonalds-employees-in-denmark-arent-better-off\/\" title=\"No, AOC, McDonald\u2019s Employees in Denmark Aren\u2019t Better Off\">fast-food chain<\/a> that experienced a\u200d strike earlier this year. \u201cThey might\u200b walk away\u200c with\u2064 some concessions, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s the workers who suffer \u2063the most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, strikes can have severe financial consequences for employees. When workers go on strike,\u2063 they not only lose their wages for the duration of the strike but also face the risk of retaliation from their employers. Many workers live paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to miss\u2064 out on their income, even for \u2062a short period of time. In the case of the UAW strike, workers have to rely on a strike fund of $500\u200c a week, which is significantly lower than their regular wages.\u2062 This can place a tremendous \u2064strain on workers and\u200b their families,\u200d causing financial\u2062 instability and hardship.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, strikes may not always\u200b guarantee\u200d the desired outcomes for employees. \u2064While unions strive to negotiate better working conditions, higher wages, and improved benefits\u200b through\u200c strikes, the success of these efforts is not \u2064guaranteed. Employers may resist the demands of the union, leading to prolonged strikes and further financial strain for workers. \u200dIn \u200csome cases, strikes may result in \u200djob losses if employers decide to hire replacement workers or move their operations elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, strikes \u200ccan also have negative consequences for the industries and communities involved.\u200c In the automotive sector, for example, prolonged strikes can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-is-helping-china-by-restricting-domestic-mining-minnesota-state-senator\/\" title=\"Minnesota State Senator claims Biden Administration is aiding China by limiting domestic mining.\">disrupt supply chains<\/a>, impacting not only the manufacturers but also\u2063 the suppliers and businesses that rely on them. This \u2063can lead to job losses and economic instability in the affected regions.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, while strikes have historically been a\u2062 tool for workers \u2064to \u2063assert their rights and \u2063push for better conditions, \u200dthe \u2064risks and uncertainties associated with strikes cannot be overlooked. Workers who\u2064 join strikes\u2064 put their jobs\u2062 and financial well-being\u200c at \u2063stake, relying on strike funds that may not\u2062 fully \u200bcompensate\u200b for their lost wages. The \u2063outcomes of strikes are not guaranteed, and it is\u2064 essential for employees to carefully consider the\u200d potential costs and benefits before deciding to participate in a strike. Ultimately, the decision to strike should be weighed based on the specific circumstances and the likelihood of achieving meaningful changes in the \u2063workplace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kaiser Permanente&#8217;s 75,000 union workers join the growing number of strikes this year, surpassing 100. These actions, a 65% rise from last year, concern experts. However, the question lingers: Are these strikes effective in achieving their goals?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2335,"featured_media":2057756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2057755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2057755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2057756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2057755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2057755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2057755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}