Friday 19 August 2022 06:31 PM Young workers are forming unions all over the US egged on by Biden trends now
It began with 19 workers from a Buffalo Starbucks who were sick of understaffing and poor training.
Then came the Staten Island Amazon factory workers demanding better conditions and pay, egged on by Bernie Sanders and AOC.
Now, strippers in Los Angeles are petitioning to be recognized by the National Labor Relations Board and workers at two Trader Joe's stores have officially organized.
Indeed in the last year, the efforts of American workers to unionize have cantered at a pace the likes of which hasn't been for decades.
Between October 2021 and March 2022, the number of union election petitions filed with the NLRB jumped by 57 percent.
A new Gallup poll found that Americans' approval of union membership is now 68 percent - the highest it has been since 1965.
Young workers - who are driving the trend - are rejoicing in what they perceive as a unified effort to stick it to the man after being beaten down for years.
But for the woke companies who employ them, it's creating a moral dilemma - and a headache.
Indeed in the last year, the efforts of American workers to unionize have galloped at a pace the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Great Depression. Anecdotally, there are more examples of workers trying to organize than in there have been for years. It's a trend that's sweeping the country - from New York to California and states in between
Between October 2021 and March 2022, the number of union election petitions filed with the NLRB jumped by 57 percent
For years, Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, REI and Trader Joe's have reveled in their reputations as progressive companies. But with a surge in union demands, their ethics are being put to the test.
It can be from BLM or MeToo or Bernie Sanders... but certainly if you hear the President of the United States saying "Amazon shouldn’t be doing this"...it filters through. It would have been more difficult [for unions] during the Trump administration
Professor John Logan, PhD and Chair of the Department of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco University
They find themselves having to choose between acquiescing to their young, demanding workers or losing many of the so-called liberal principals which attracted staff to them in the first place.
'They'll take a position on abortion or BLM or LGBTQ or the environment and that's great, but then to say you believe in those things and then behave the way that Starbucks or some others have been behaving, it's intensely hypocritical,' Professor John Logan, Chair of the Department of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco University, told DailyMail.com.
Starbucks has been accused of denying workers' access to abortion or LGBTQ related healthcare if they unionize, by claiming they can't offer the same benefits in locations where organizing efforts are underway.
It's a position that has been widely scrutinized by among workers and lawyers, some of whom say it's illegal.
'This movement actually poisons the entire culture of the company.
'Now you have a situation where Starbucks is threatening to withdraw abortion-related healthcare or trans specific healthcare from workers.
AOC at a rally by Amazon workers on Staten Island on April 24, 2022. The workers voted 2,654 to 2,131 to join the Amazon Labor Union
Biden with Amazon Labor Union president Chris Smalls in the Oval Office at the end of May. He vowed to be the most 'pro-union president ever
Dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar submitted a petition with the federal government, beginning a process that could see them represented by performers union Actors' Equity, in what officials described as a first, this week.
The union already represents over 50,000 performers in and around Los Angeles.
The dancers say they're entitled to the same rights as anyone else.
'We like what we do. We would like our jobs even more if we had basic worker protections,' said Velveeta, one of the dancers from the club.
The union is embracing their request.
'Strippers are live entertainers, and while some aspects of their job are unique, they have much in common with other Equity members who dance for a living,' said Actors´ Equity Association President Kate Shindle.
'These dancers reported consistent compensation issues -- including significant wage theft -- along with health and safety risks and violations.
'They want health insurance and
