DETROIT — Low unemployment, high rates of inflation and lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to a boom in union and strike activity in the past couple of years. And after a summer full of strikes, this fall could be no different.
More than 100 strikes took place from June through August across the United States, according to the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relation's labor action tracker — nearly as many as last year's 116 and significantly more than 2021's 64 in that same time period. Workers feel empowered, according to experts.