Workers at Big Brands Like Starbucks Aren’t the Only Ones Unionizing
The uptick in union organizing at brands like Amazon and Starbucks has rightly drawn attention from mainstream media. But worker organizing is underway at companies you’ve never heard of, too — and drawing little attention from outlets like the New York Times.
Performers at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in Buena Park, California, before their union vote on July 15, 2022. (Medieval Times Performers United / Facebook)
It’s big news for the labor movement: hundreds and thousands of workers organizing, filing to hold union elections in locations all across the country, including New York, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, California, and Oregon. The laborers are registered nurses, maintenance employees, housekeeping aides, counselors, cooks, case managers, and security officers working in the health care industry.
But you didn’t hear about this uptick in health care organizing, at least not in the New York Times and most other mainstream media.
What you likely did hear about in recent months are workers doing the same thing at companies with household names like Amazon, Starbucks, REI, Chipotle, Apple, and Trader Joe’s. Those efforts have provided a much-needed spark for labor organizing around the country and are the work of a patchwork of labor unions. The going is slow, though, and much more is needed to make an appreciable bump in the country’s dismal unionization rate.
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