Workers “fired up” despite dip in union representation

Union illustration dropped barely in California final 12 months, however the Golden State nonetheless has one of many highest charges of represented employees within the nation, based on federal information.

What’s taking place: The share of California employees represented by unions barely declined from 17.8% in 2021 to 17.6% in 2022, based on information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Sure, however: California’s proportion of employees with union illustration — 17.6% — ranks because the nation’s fifth highest, trailing behind states like New York and Washington.

The large image: Union assist hit near-record ranges final 12 months, with high-profile organizing at Amazon and Starbucks grabbing headlines. But union membership nationwide hit an all-time low final 12 months, Axios’ Emily Peck and Nathan Bomey write.

• Regardless of a rise of 273,000 new unionized employees in 2022, union membership as a share of the workforce is at an all-time low, based on January information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Zoom in: California has been dwelling to a handful of labor struggles over the previous few months.

• In September, hospitality employees at San Francisco Worldwide Airport went on a three-day strike that resulted in larger wages.
• In November, the College of California tutorial employees staged the most important strike of 2022 in an effort to acquire labor contracts with truthful pay and higher advantages. That very same month, employees on the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission movie show introduced their intent to unionize.
• Final month, employees at Bay Space espresso chain Peet’s Espresso voted to unionize with the Service Staff Worldwide Union, the San Francisco Chronicle reviews.

In the meantime, the California Labor Federation launched Unionize California final 12 months in an effort to extend union membership all through the state.

What they’re saying: Staff in California, particularly these within the hospitality trade, “are fired up and able to set up unions at an unprecedented degree,” Ted Waechter, a spokesperson with hospitality union UNITE HERE Native 2, informed Axios by way of electronic mail.

• Waechter pointed to pandemic-related layoffs, lack of healthcare and now inflation energizing employees to kind unions.

However, however, however: Union election petitions have been up 53% between October 2021 and September 2022, however unfair labor observe prices additionally elevated 19%, based on the Nationwide Labor Relations Board.

What we’re watching: Whether or not final 12 months’s dip was an anomaly and if elevated assist for unions elsewhere will end in a bigger illustration of union members in California.

• Within the Bay Space, Waechter mentioned he expects employees will maintain organizing for higher jobs as a result of “it isn’t getting any simpler to reside” right here because of the rising price of residing.