So far this year, we’ve seen in numerous examples around the world that unions have the upper hand in labor negotiations, and they have no qualms making supply-chain problems worse.
Here’s a quick update of how things are going.
In the U.K., passenger-train operators are set to strike again, in what Bloomberg describes as an “escalating crisis”:
UK rail travelers face more misery this summer as train drivers said they’ll strike on July 30, three days after a separate walk out and only weeks after earlier labor action shut down much of the network.
The Aslef labor group said Thursday that members will stage the day-long stoppage after failing to reach a pay deal with employers. Two other unions, including the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers that led the worst strike in three decades last month, will stage a 24-hour walkout on July 27.
In Germany, dockworkers are striking again, according to the Journal of Commerce, after the sixth round of negotiations wound up fruitless:
Germany’s busiest ports are preparing for a 48-hour “warning strike” as the country’s dockworkers union escalates industrial action following another failure to reach a settlement in its long-running wage negotiations with port employers.
Container terminals in Hamburg, Bremerhaven, and Wilhelmshaven will shut down for 48 hours from 6am July 14 until 6am July 16. Maersk told customers in an advisory Wednesday that it will stop all rail, road, and ocean freight for both imports and exports across its German terminals for the duration of the planned strike.
The pilot strike for Norway, Sweden, and Denmark’s flag-carrier, SAS, is in its eleventh day, according to Reuters:
SAS and unions were locked in more talks on Thursday to end a strike among most of its pilots at the peak of the holiday travel season, over conditions related to the Scandinavian carrier’s rescue plan.
“The strikes … threaten the company’s ability to ultimately successfully raise critically needed near-term and long-term capital to fund the company’s successful reorganisation,” SAS said in a statement. . . .
SAS said the strike so far had caused 2,550 flight cancellations, affecting 270,000 passengers, and cost it between $94 million and $123 million.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has voted to approve a strike. That does not mean a strike will occur, and there are still many more legal hoops to jump through before one would. President Biden is expected to use his power under the Railway Labor Act to appoint an emergency board to help resolve the dispute. When he does, the earliest date a rail strike could legally occur would be September 16.
If such a strike did occur, it would be disastrous for the U.S. economy. Approximately 125,000 workers are covered under the bargaining process, and a strike could effectively immobilize the freight-rail sector. The Railway Labor Act has a long history of effectively resolving rail disputes, and President Obama appointed an emergency board in 2011 that got the job done.
That being said, the U.K., Germany, and Scandinavia have also had few strikes over the past 30 years. This is the first time in most workers’ careers that inflation has been a significant factor in wage negotiations. Workers in transportation just came out of a pandemic where they were considered “essential,” and many worked longer hours than ever before.
After reaching a tentative agreement for a 14 percent pay raise last month, United Airlines and its pilots’ union are restarting negotiations. After United’s tentative agreement was announced, American Airlines pilots were offered a 17 percent raise. If they get raises that large, what’s to stop other unions from insisting on the same ask?
Transportation is one of the last sectors with significant unionization in the United States. Labor action can occur in waves, as we’ve already witnessed around the world. Whether the wave will hit our shores remains to be seen.