US Dealmakers Forced to Adjust as Unions Flex Their Muscles

Lane Windham, associate director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University, said unions began taking an active shareholder approach in the 1970s. “What is different right now is that the public’s ideas about labour and workers have changed and are far more favourable,” said Windham, who is also an organiser.

A Gallup poll shows that unions have enjoyed a steady revival ever since the 2009 recession, when approval ratings hit an all-time low at 48 per cent. Union popularity is now back up to 67 per cent — close to the level recorded in the mid-1960s. Windham said that following the pandemic, when millions were cheering essential workers risking their lives to support people in need, many returned to jobs where they felt under appreciated, prompting them to organise and support unions…read more…HERE