After an uptick in labor rights actions in 2024, big actions and organizing efforts are brewing this year, but organizers both locally and nationally will be dealing with new headwinds.
With the incoming Trump administration and a shakeup on the cards at the National Labor Relations Board after the Democrats in Congress failed to renew Democratic board member Lauren McFerran’s term and preserve their majority on the board, organizers will likely be working in a more conservative labor environment. It will be a struggle to further the headway they’ve made over the last few years.
Nationally, large labor organizing drives from Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) at Starbucks and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at Amazon continued to pick up speed last year, as they fought – unsuccessfully so far – to win union contracts. To push Amazon to engage in contract bargaining, several of the Teamsters’ local Amazon unions staged a five-day strike at fulfillment centers in New York City, Southern California, San Francisco, Atlanta and other locations in late December, which ended on Christmas Eve.
Meanwhile, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) went on a three-day strike in September at ports including Savannah over stalled contract negotiations, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) launched a new push to unionize non-union autoworkers, particularly in the South.
Locally, the Union for Southern Service Workers (USSW) worked with Waffle House workers at several stores across metro Atlanta to push management for safer workplaces, while Delta Air Lines baggage handlers and other employees continued longstanding efforts toward unionization. At Emory University, grad student-workers who unionized in November 2023 with EmoryUnite! are renewing their efforts to win their first contract with the university.
In Georgia, we’ll see unionized Starbucks workers continue its three-year campaign to push Starbucks to the negotiating table for a contract, ongoing efforts from Amazon and Waffle House workers to win fair and safe working conditions – and potential strike actions. D
Unionized dockworkers in Brunswick and Savannah could strike again, depending on how the ILA’s contract negotiations go with the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), and Kroger employees may walk off the job as well.
In preparation for what’s sure to be an interesting year in labor organizing, here’s a round up of what you can expect in 2025.
Starbucks strike looms
In December, fully 98% of SBWU members voted to strike, if necessary, to push forward long-stalled negotiations with Starbucks corporate over raises, benefits, and staffing. The vote capped off a tumultuous year in relations between SBWU and Starbucks.
The two parties agreed to “find a path forward” in early 2024, and then engaged in many hours of negotiations to hammer out a mutually acceptable framework for local contract negotiations. But on Dec. 24, unionized workers walked off the job in what SBWU called an unfair labor practices strike. SBWU said over 300 stores went on strike, but Starbucks said it was only about 170 stores, according to NPR.
The union said the strike was because Starbucks backtracked on its commitment to negotiate the foundational framework for collective bargaining, but Starbucks said SBWU walked away from the negotiating table just before the strike.
Starbucks switched out CEO Laxman Narsimhan for Brian Niccol in September, so it remains to be seen whether the new leader will continue moving forward toward a collective bargaining framework that results in actual negotiations. If none materialize, we may see all 12,400 SBWU members go on strike in 2025.
Amazon, Waffle House workers seek safer conditions
Employees at large employers like Amazon and Waffle House will keep pushing for safer working conditions this year. In Atlanta, the USSW, along with the Teamsters, United4Respect, and the Democratic Socialists of America’s local chapter have been working consistently with metro-area Amazon employees to protest, picket, and push for better working conditions. Much of this work has revolved around Amazon’s ATL6 Sortation Center Warehouse in East Point.
Contract fights for EmoryUnite! grad students, Kroger workers
Over a year after voting by a landslide to unionize, EmoryUnite! grad students are still at the bargaining table with Emory University administrators. Their demands include higher wages amid rising housing costs, better healthcare coverage, and paid medical and parental leave.
EmoryUnite! organizers just released a Jan. 7 letter to the editor of Emory’s student newspaper, the Emory Wheel, reaffirming their mobilizing strength. Over 200 grad students turned out on Nov. 13 for the union’s first general body meeting, according to the letter. “EmoryUnite! will not relent until the University meets its responsibilities to graduate student workers,” the organizers wrote.
While Emory grad students are trying to land their first union contract, Georgia Kroger employees who belong to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 1996 have a contract that’s expiring in March. That’s over 20,000 employees who may be pushing for a strike in a couple of months, if Kroger leadership can’t strike a deal.
Will ILA dockworkers strike again?
After about 45,000 ILA dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts went on a three-day strike last October in opposition to a tentative contract agreement with port owners represented by USMX, many assumed the issues that had stalled contract negotiations were resolved.
In a win for the dockworkers, the tentative agreement was updated to grant workers a 61% wage increase over the six years of the contract – by $4 per hour each year. That had been a major sticking point in negotiations. However, it wasn’t the only issue. Dockworkers still wanted assurances that they would be protected from losing their jobs, due to automation.
The ILA dockworkers’ current contract with USMX now expires on January 15, an extension put in place post-strike to allow the ILA and USMX to negotiate outstanding issues. If workers and owners can’t come to an agreement over automation, we may see the extended dockworker strike that was narrowly avoided in October. Since Georgia has two major ports in Savannah and Brunswick, that could disrupt supply chains statewide.
This story has been updated with information about unionized Starbucks workers going on strike in late December and to correct the year when the union and Starbucks agreed to “find a path forward” to 2024.