Union membership had been on the decline during the pandemic but may suddenly be in the midst of a revival.
A wave of self-organizing efforts by workers at national chains and some local shops has helped fuel the shift. The National Labor Relations Board saw a 57% increase in petitions for union representation in the first half of fiscal 2022 over the same period the previous year.
What’s fueling the movement?
In this week’s cover story, Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, believes it’s tied to inflation and labor shortages that are emboldening workers. While she thinks the movement will ebb, she says hiring challenges are so severe that some employers may rethink traditional resistance to unions.
But the best defense against a potentially disruptive unionization effort is the same as it’s always been, says Timothy Cavazza, a management-side labor attorney and adjunct professor at Roger Williams University law school: “Don’t give [employees] a reason to seek out that representation.”