Strikes are in the air. Workers across a number of industries have gone on strike recently in and around the greater Portland area. It all boils down to the high costs of living, poor wages, and poor working conditions. The summer of 2023 is filled with worker discontent as seen by the wave of strikes and other labor movement actions. This is happening as employees across the U.S. express frustration with their employers. In Portland, employees across a range of industries are holding votes to unionize or authorize strikes.
The strikers include workers at a Beaverton Starbucks store that went on strike early this month. In addition, employees at Powell’s Books also voted to authorize a strike. This happened close to the same time. Nurses and doctors throughout Portland have expressed recent frustration in a weeklong strike by Providence nurses. About a third of strike activity in 2022 was in the health care field, which was the highest of any industry.
Workers at Powell’s Books voted to authorize a possible strike amid ongoing union contract negotiations with the famous independent Portland bookstore. The union announced the results of the vote last Wednesday, and said the strike authorization received 92% approval.
Starbucks is on the hotseat as National Labor Relations Board records show that 55 unfair labor practice charges have been filed against it. Starbucks workers said they want higher pay, better health care and more time working. At local hospitals, nurses went on strike for better wages and working conditions, and said staffing levels have gotten too low and become unsafe.
An inverse relationship is seeming to form related to workers and uniins. Despite a seemingly high number of strikes, union membership continues to drop nationally. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed around 10% of workers are union members nationwide. In Oregon, 16% of workers were union members in 2022.
