As the supply chain crisis becomes more and more serious, coupled with higher prices caused by high inflation, American workers who have to endure low welfare with meager wages finally can't stand it and say that they want to fight for better treatment through "fighting", which is to put it bluntly, a strike. While worker strikes often occur in the United States, this time it seems to be on a particularly large scale...
According to the media news on October 18, in the past two months alone, nearly 40 factories in the United States have broken out on strikes, which is almost twice the number of the same period last year; these factories involve industries such as machinery, food, medical care, entertainment and so on. To exaggerate, workers in all walks of life in the United States are or are preparing to strike. Statistics from the U.S. media also show that about 100,000 workers across the United States have joined the strike wave.
Workers strike mainly to raise wages and benefits, such as the strike of more than 10,000 workers at the Us machinery and equipment manufacturer John Deere, demanding a 5%-6% increase in wages in the new 6-year contract; 1,400 workers on strike by American food entrepreneur Kellogg's demanding changes to the 7-day work system and retirement system. At present, 60,000 of the 100,000 workers who have gone on strike have reached agreements with enterprises.
However, in the context of high inflation, even if companies agree to raise wages, they will not be able to keep up with the speed of price increases. In September, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), one of the most important indicators of inflation, rose 5.4 percent year-on-year, while wages rose only 4.6 percent, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.
There is also the view that in the case of labor shortages, workers gradually take over the bargaining power, and wage increases will soon exceed price increases, but this will bring more persistent inflation problems.
In addition, the workers' strike will exacerbate the plight of labor shortages in the United States. In July, U.S. job openings reached 11.1 million, the highest in 21 years, and while that number fell in August, it remained high. In addition to the workers' strikes, many others chose to resign, with 4.3 million resignations reaching 4.3 million in August, a record high of 2.9 percent.
Keep in mind that labor shortages are one of the main factors hindering the recovery of the U.S. economy, because it is at the heart of supply chain problems. Taking the container problem as an example, according to the data of the Shipping Exchange, due to the lack of manpower, the unloading speed is slow, as of October 15, there are 147 ships stranded in the port of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach, of which 88 are still in the waiting area, which is also an important reason for the shortage of a variety of goods in the United States.
Although under the appeal of the White House, these two ports have entered a 7/24 hour operation mode, that is, "007", but the Port of Los Angeles has complained that if it wants to operate around the clock, it must first recruit enough manpower.
Why is there a labor shortage in the United States? There are two main reasons, one is that the industry that needs manpower does not match the job seekers, and the survey data of the job search website shows that 48% of the job seekers cannot find the right position; the second is that a large number of people have moved during the epidemic, but the work has no way to "move", such as the population "outflow" in New York, San Francisco and other places, resulting in a large number of vacancies in the service industry.
In addition, the government has previously "thrown money" in order to stimulate the economy, so that many workers receive more benefits during unemployment than they earn at work, which is also an important reason for their reluctance to return to work.
Text | Li Yinsu title | Zeng Yunzi Figure | Lu Wenxiang | Lee Ze-plutonium