We are in the thick of the holiday season, but there’s no rest for the weary when unions have their foot in the door after organizing workplaces. In this StrikeWatch edition, unions have set up picket lines against businesses during what should be the most festive time of the year:
NYC’s Strand Books, the city’s largest independent bookstore with an “18 miles of books” slogan, was left without hourly staff when booksellers went on strike during the biggest shopping weekend of the year. The United Auto Workers are involved and want an immediate $18 per hour wage and nearly 10% raises in subsequent years.
An REI ski shop in Manhattan saw workers go on strike a week ago over safety concerns. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union-fueled walkout also leaves the retailer in a pinch during the height of ski season.
Airport ground and service workers at LAX and the Charlotte Douglas International Airport went on SEIU-led strikes for the week surrounding Thanksgiving travel. The union is calling for $25 per hour for these workers.
Allegiant Air pilots at Des Moines International Airport began the month with a rally as the Teamsters threatened to strike. Fortunately, the federally mandated 30-day “cooling off” waiting period means a strike won’t land during Christmas travel. However, the Teamsters have reportedly rejected the airline’s latest offer of “an immediate 50% average increase in hourly wages that scales to 70% over 5 years” in addition to generous time off and significant pilot bonuses.
Hotel workers in at least eight major cities across the U.S. went on a UNITE HERE strike in late September and largely remain on the picket lines with San Francisco venues in particular noting that they see no end in sight. As of last week, additional workers walked out with the union claiming that a total of 15,000 workers had authorized strikes. The union aims to match hotel industry wages in southern California, reportedly set to reach $35 hourly at 34 hotel chains by July 2027.
In Los Angeles, tourism workers represented by UNITE HERE announced their intent to go on a three-day hunger strike outside of City Hall while seeking a $25 hourly minimum wage.
The UAW Staff Union’s overwhelmingly authorized strike came to a surprisingly quiet end with a tentative deal and a joint statement in which the UAW claimed to have provided “the most generous economic package for temporary organizers in the labor movement.”
That “temporary” qualifier seemed to be part of what drove the staff union to strike in the first place, especially after the UAW pushed for Big Three automakers to convert temp employees after nine months. In contrast, their own temp employees generally maintain that status in three-month intervals for up to three years.
The deal’s financial details aren’t public yet, but after a staff union representative previously called the UAW’s raises “laughable,” we will be watching to see how the strike-happy UAW treated its own striking workers.
