The number of union organizing campaigns has skyrocketed in fiscal 2022, according to federal data released Wednesday, reflecting how the tight U.S. job market has created opportunities for organized workers.
In the first three quarters of fiscal 2022 — October 1 through June 30 — 1,935 union campaigns were filed with the National Labor Relations Board, up 56 percent from the prior year.
The surge in union movements was a feature of the Covid-19-era US economy, which also saw a surge in strikes at John Deere, Kellogg’s and elsewhere amid dissatisfaction with working conditions and wage levels.
Activists have won elections at more than 100 Starbucks stores. Labor also prevailed in a hard-fought election at an Amazon warehouse in April, although Amazon challenged the vote.
These efforts have raised hopes of a possible reversal of the decline in US unionization that has been ongoing since the 1980s. The rate fell to 10.3 percent in 2021, with an even smaller percentage of the private sector unionized.
The NLRB said it also saw a rise in allegations of unfair labor practices, which rose 14.5 percent, with more union campaigns sparking allegations of violations by employers.
That increase poses challenges for the agency, which has had a stagnant budget since 2010, resulting in a 25 percent decline when adjusted for inflation. The overall workforce has declined 39 percent since 2002, the NLRB said in a press release.
“The NLRB handles the most cases it’s seen in the lowest staffing years in the last six decades,” said NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo.
“The agency urgently needs more resources to process petitions and conduct elections, investigate allegations of unfair labor practices, and obtain full remedies for workers whose labor rights have been violated.”
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