Unions are having a major moment — but don't expect a 1930s-level boom

Kelsey Vlamis
Jul 18, 2023

Writers on strike march with signs on the picket line on day four of the strike by the Writers Guild of America in front of Netflix in Hollywood, California on May 5, 2023. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

The Hollywood strikes are the latest example of an increase in strike activity in the US.
While unions are more popular than they've been in decades, a smaller share of workers are in unions.

It's unclear if the strike wave will translate into a labor resurgence absent pro-union legislation.

If it feels like unions are having a moment, that's because they are.

It's the first time writers and actors have gone on strike at the same since 1960, effectively putting the film and television industries on hold. A wave of unionization has also hit digital media — staffers of this publication were on strike for 13 days last month, setting a record for the industry. And unionization efforts have come for companies like Amazon, Starbucks, and Trader Joe's.

In 2022, the number of workers involved in a work stoppage was 50% higher than the year prior, a significant resurgence in strike activity. According to Gallup polling, 71% of Americans said they approved of labor unions in 2022, up from 48% in 2009, marking the highest level of public support since 1965.

But none of this necessarily means we're approaching a union boom anywhere near the levels of the 1930s.

Despite the increase in strikes last year, the share of American workers in a union actually continued to decline, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The percentage of workers who were members of a union was 10.1% in 2022, a drop of 0.2 percentage points from the year prior. In the 1950s, one in three workers were in unions.

Workers in more industries have expressed interest in unionizing, but forming a new union is still very difficult, according to Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, an associate professor at Columbia University. There are also examples of companies engaging in union-busting tactics or discouraging unionizing, with federal labor officials accusing companies like Apple of illegal anti-union practices.

David Leonhardt of The New York Times noted the labor movement of the 1930s was sparked by legislation, something that seems unlikely in today's Congress. House Democrats did pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act in 2021, which Biden supported, but it lacked the support needed from Senate Republicans.

So while unions are certainly having a moment, it's not yet clear if we're approaching the labor resurgence that some are hoping for.