Commentary | The year labor took the lead – By Bob Hennelly (Salon) / Dec 29, 2023
Workers found moral clarity in 2023 — in more ways than one
This past year, there’s been a lot written about the American labor movement’s comeback, particularly after the United Auto Workers’ strike which resulted in a 25 percent wage hike and the end of an exploitative tiered workforce which depressed younger workers’ earnings for a generation. Yet, what isn’t fully appreciated is just how corrupt the UAW had become before Shawn Fain’s election in 2023 that started the turnaround.
Hopeful minds might ask if the UAW can make a comeback with a bigger, bolder vision perhaps we can do the same as a country after the nadir of Donald Trump and a long-simmering insurrection that still grips our nation as we head into the New Year.
Just a little over a month after the UAW won it’s unprecedented six-week strike against all three big automakers, the union’s executive board voted to demand an immediate cease fire in Gaza. It had been a lot of years since the union had taken such a stand at a time when the nation’s most prestigious institutions like Harvard found themselves floundering for lack of moral clarity.
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