Why Americans are loving trade unions again
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2019
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trade unions in the United States have seen a historic decline since their heyday in the mid-20th Century. But in many sectors labour organisation is making a come-back, particularly in new media and gig economy jobs. Lowell Peterson, executive director of the Writers Guild of America East explains how they have helped a number of digital websites unionise, and Tyler Sandness, a Lyft driver and unionist in Los Angeles, explains the challenges facing gig workers. We also hear from Janice Fine, assistant professor of Labour Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University in New Jersey, on why support for trade unions is at its highest in years.
(Photo: Rideshare drivers wave flags as they line up their cars during a protest outside of Uber headquarters on 27 August 2019, San Francisco, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Manuel Saragossa. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. Coming up, are Americans starting to love trade unions again? |
| 0:12.1 | Polling is showing now that there's like 64%, the highest since 1986, support for unions and public opinion surveys in the US. This is especially true of younger workers who they want more balance in their lives. |
| 0:24.9 | And how organized labor in America is adapting to the gig economy. |
| 0:29.6 | It takes a while for the green light to go off in somebody's head that like, oh boy, my industry is not necessarily the way it was 20 years ago or 50 years ago. |
| 0:38.4 | My union needs to change. |
| 0:40.4 | That's all here in Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:45.9 | In 1985, average trade union membership in OECD countries stood at 30%. |
| 0:53.0 | Today, it's fallen to just 16%. |
| 0:56.4 | But before you completely dismissed trade unions |
| 0:59.4 | as an anachronism of the old economy, |
| 1:02.0 | have a listen to this. |
| 1:04.8 | Today is day 14 of the UAWGM strike, |
| 1:07.5 | so where do we stand? |
| 1:09.0 | The Indian said there would be a strike |
| 1:10.2 | if they could not reach a deal by midnight, and that's |
| 1:12.1 | exactly what happened here. |
| 1:13.5 | I want you to take a look behind me here. |
| 1:15.4 | You can see a number of workers already on the picket line here. |
| 1:19.1 | The union says they're fighting for better wages, better benefits, and their share of the |
| 1:23.7 | profits. |
| 1:24.3 | Around 50,000 GM workers are striking for a second day after their union. |
| 1:28.0 | The United Auto Workers and GM failed to make a deal on wages and benefits. |
... |
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