Labor Day 2023 Comes as Strikes, Negotiations Continue
Summary from AllSides News Team
Labor Day 2023 comes at a time when several unions in major industries are striking or ensnared in high-stakes contract negotiations.
Delivery: The Teamsters union voted to ratify a new five-year contract with UPS in August, avoiding a strike that could have impacted over 300,000 UPS workers. Roughly 86% of Teamsters members supported the deal, which includes higher wages and protections such as more air conditioning in delivery vehicles.
Hollywood: Over 160,000 Hollywood writers and actors have been striking since earlier in the summer, when the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild or America failed to reach new deals with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Automobiles: Pushing for higher pay and better pensions, UAW members voted in favor of a strike at major Detroit automakers like Ford and General Motors if their requests aren't fulfilled by the time their four-year contract expires on Sept. 14
Coffee: Born in 2021 amid a push for better workplace conditions, the Starbucks Workers United union staged strikes at 150 stores in June to protest the removal of Pride Month decor at some Starbucks locations.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum highlighted Labor Day, the holiday's history, and current labor conditions as top stories Monday. Some right-rated sources focused more on how an auto workers strike could hurt President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection bid. Some left-rated sources focused more on workers' reasons for striking and the general push for workers' rights.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Biden makes appeal to unions as possible UAW strike looms over 2024 reelection bid
President Joe Biden is making his pitch to union members as a possible labor strike threatens to upset both the economy and his 2024 reelection bid.
Biden's latest appeal to labor unions comes after the United Auto Workers lodged complaints against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis over unfair wages and pensions, and voted in favor of a strike at the Detroit Three automakers if their demands are not met by the end of their four-year contract, which expires on Sept. 14.
In an opinion written for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sunday, Biden said his economic policies will...
From the Left
From strikes to new union contracts, Labor Day’s organizing roots are especially strong this year
Labor Day is right around the corner, along with the big sales and barbecues that come with it. But the activist roots of the holiday are especially visible this year as unions challenge how workers are treated — from Hollywood to the auto production lines of Detroit.
The early-September tribute to workers has been an official holiday for almost 130 years — but an emboldened labor movement has created an environment closer to the era from which Labor Day was born. Like the late 1800s, workers are facing rapid economic transformation — and...
From the Center
Biden to mark Labor Day in Philadelphia amid summer of strikes
Touting himself as the most pro-union president in American history, President Joe Biden will celebrate Labor Day by speaking to sheet metal workers in Philadelphia.
For the past few months, the U.S. has witnessed what some describe as the summer of strikes.
From UPS workers threatening a massive walkout that would have led to a supply chain disruption to Ford and General Motors auto plants in Detroit facing possible walkouts later this month, union workers have been busy fighting for better working conditions.
“All we’ve tried to do in this is prepare everybody so in...
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