While the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine have justifiably taken center stage over the past few months, union organizing efforts at companies such as Starbucks and Amazon, to name a few, have received substantial media coverage. (See today’s companion article). Upon closer inspection, it appears unions have shifted their focus away from traditional industries such as manufacturing and construction, opting instead to concentrate their efforts on a type of business — namely, one that espouses progressive values, ideas, and policies. The union’s mantra appears to be quite simple — if you are a progressive company, you should champion workers’ rights and support their desire to unionize. Period. Full stop. While being “progressive” does not necessarily include sympathy for unions as one of its core tenets, this new-found labor strategy of blurring the line between these two sentiments has surfaced in organizing campaigns at companies such as Starbucks, No Evil Foods, REI, “The New York Times,” Colectivo Coffee, and Beneficial State Bank.
As an initial matter, unions have embraced the world of social media, which has allowed them to reach a wider audience, including the potential support of numerous celebrities and politicians, with fewer resources. In addition, unions have seized upon the pandemic’s negative impact upon employees, including not only concerns over COVID-19 safety protocols (or lack thereof), but also growing frustration over changing...
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