What Leaders Can Learn From Labor Unions

Labor unions are in the news and picketing in a city near you. 

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest labor unions in the United States representing roughly 1.4 million members, coined a hashtag on X, formerly known as Twitter, to describe the past few months: #HotLaborSummer. And with good reason: As 2023 rolls on, more than 650,000 American workers are either already striking or threatening to do so. More than 2,500 union representation petitions were filed with the National Labor Relations Board in 2022, a 53% increase from 2021 and the highest number since 2016. 

These petitions cross the finish line most of the time: In 2022, 72% of votes ended in favor of unionization. (To wit, at Starbucks, where workers have been voting to unionize since 2021, the approval rate hit 80%.)

More than 2,500 union representation petitions were filed with the National Labor Relations Board in 2022, a 53% increase from 2021 and the highest number since 2016. 

This trend has also captured the broader zeitgeist. The American approval rate for labor unions has reached its highest since 1965 at 71%. And according to Jobcase, a career services platform affiliated with MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, 70% of current non-union employees would consider joining a union — 41% of whom said they didn’t feel this way three years ago. 

All of this energy may create tension between employees and employers, tension that has been heightened by the rise of AI and a turbulent economy. Instead of feeling threatened, however, business leaders can use the technology as an opportunity to check-in with their employees.

Here’s what to know about running an organization that satisfies workers’ needs.

Ask Employees What They Want and Need

Look to history for the best path forward, suggests Robert Bruno, director of the Labor Education Program at the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations. 

Although union membership peaked in the mid-20th century, only about one-third of the private sector workforce was unionized. (Today, 6% of private sector workers and 33% of public sector workers are unionized.) “How was it that the middle class grew, there was less income inequality, homeownership expanded, and across every economic sector, everyone did so much better?” Bruno asks. “How did that all happen if only a third of the workforce was unionized?”

The answer is simple: Non-union companies understood that if they wanted productive and loyal employees, they had to meet the standards set forth by unions. 

Workers’ rights and benefits like competitive wages, healthy working conditions and job security were important back then and are equally as important now. “Ask workers: What is important to you?” Bruno says. According to Eisner Amper, a full-service business advisory and accounting firm, “If employers are not talking to their employees about their unique wants and needs, they’re fighting a losing battle.” 

Start Talking Now About the Role of AI in Your Workplace

The rise of AI has been polarizing. Unfortunately, some employees may not trust their employer to adopt AI with their best interests in mind and may also be afraid of AI taking their jobs. Nowhere has this been more evident lately than in Hollywood, where the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May 2023. Its sister union, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), joined the strike two months later.

Both are in an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over pay, working models and — newer to their list — the ethical use of AI in Hollywood. The two unions aren’t squabbling over a contract sticking point; they’re fighting for the existential foundations of entire professions. 

“When you sell a show, the studio executive asks, ‘Why are you the best person to tell this story?’ There’s no ‘why you’ with AI,” says screenwriter Michael Jamin, who joined the WGA in 1996, adding that, in his view, Hollywood is hoping to replace writing jobs with generative AI. And yet, Jamin explains, AI will never be able to truly replicate the nature of storytelling itself.

“The whole point of a story is to take what’s inside of the writer and express it in a way that moves people, that makes people feel like ‘someone gets me,’” Jamin says.  

On Aug. 22, the AMPTP offered a proposal to break the labor stalemate, which included “landmark protections” against artificial intelligence. However, the WGA rejected it two days later. From this example, business leaders can learn that open discussion around AI and its role in the workplace should start early. It should be a collaborative effort with employees — not only to improve efficiency, but to make their lives better.

Open discussion around AI and its role in the workplace should start early. It should be a collaborative effort with employees — not only to improve efficiency, but to make their lives better.

Create Team Cohesion

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently achieved the “best contract [in history]” with one of its members’ largest employers, UPS, according to President Sean O’Brien. They achieved this by creating a highly organized and centralized mobilization of rank-and-file members who act as the backbone of UPS’s daily operations. 

“There’s an appetite to get rewarded. It’s very motivating,” O’Brien told The Prospect before the contract was ratified. Standing together to create a united front and project one voice — from 340,000 contributors — was the union’s key to success. 

And this should be a goal of business leaders everywhere: Giving a voice to the voiceless promotes inclusivity and collaboration, which ultimately drives profits and growth. There is power in numbers only if those numbers count toward the same value.

As we celebrate Labor Day and #HotLaborSummer draws to a close, the significance of labor rights is top of mind, where it belongs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, union workers earn higher wages and enjoy more paid leave, safer workplaces, a tighter racial wealth gap and greater access to employer-sponsored retirement and health care plans. Today, union members account for only 10% of the labor market, which means there is plenty of opportunity for business leaders to mimic their best practices in sustaining a skilled and loyal workforce. 

“At the end of the day, if workers still want to join a union, managers should respect that choice,” Bruno says. The U.S. Department of Labor agrees: “The case for neutrality is clear: Workers and companies do better when worker choice is respected.”

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Indeed.