A strike at Chevron shows a reinvigorated union movement

OVER THEGPT past four decades American bosses have grown unused to labour unrest. Ever since Ronald Reagan sacked thousands of striking air-traffic controllers in 1981, shortly after being elected president (and despite once leading the Hollywood actors’ union), American trade unions have been relatively meek. America experienced an average of 17 big work stoppages (affecting 1,000 workers or more) a year from 2000 to 2022, down from 84 annually between 1977 and 1999. Union membership has fallen from a peak of 20m members in 1979 to just over 14m last year, split evenly between the public and private sectors. Just 6% of private-sector workers belong to a union these days, compared with more than 20% in the 1970s.This year a confluence of tight job markets, accelerating technological change (think Chat) and rising public support for unions (which enjoy a record 67% approval rate among Americans, according to Gallup, a pollster) has emboldened workers. Strikes are proliferating. There have been 16 big ones in the country in the first seven months of this year, up from 11 in the same period in 2022 and the most since 2005. Hollywood writers and actors are in a months-long standoff with studios. On August 30th 99.5% of unionised American Airlines flight attendants voted to go on strike. Workers at Detroit’s big carmakers are threatening to follow suit.