Saint Joseph the Worker and the State of Labor

On May 1st, Catholics celebrate the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. It’s a good opportunity to take a look at the general state of labor and workers’ rights in our country right now.

In early April, Amazon workers in Bessamer, Alabama, voted on whether or not to form a union, in what an article in the Insider calls “one of the most high-profile union — and anti-union — campaigns in recent history.” The effort to unionize was overwhelmingly voted down, by a reported 71% against. But that is not necessarily the whole story, according to the Insider.

But eight labor experts told Insider that focusing on the vote tally misses the bigger takeaway from this saga: that American workers are demanding better workplaces and a voice on the job, and America’s current labor laws simply aren’t designed to help them accomplish that goal.

In the US right now, unions enjoy a 65% approval rate — the highest it has been in twenty years — according to some data. Current labor laws may not favor workers, but it appears that public opinion does. And some labor experts see this as a sign of hope.

“Given the pro union sentiment in many areas, as well as the clear backing of the current administration, it would still not be surprising to see successful efforts to unionize businesses in other areas, and eventually, even at Amazon itself,” Joseph Seiner, a labor and employment law professor at the University of South Carolina, told Insider.

Insider, April 10, 2021

Indeed the current administration has been more actively pro-worker than its predecessor. President Biden expressed his support of the Bessamer union effort; he ordered a $15 minimum wage for all federal contractors and has established a White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment.