YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Over the decades unions pushed for an eight-hour workday, overtime pay, vacation days, child labor laws, paid family and medical leave, and safer working conditions.

 

But the union's strength and power began to fall after the North American Trade Agreement, or NAFTA went into effect in 1994.

 

Then with subsequent trade agreements, and special trade status with China passed, the unions lost in number and strength as the economy and competition for jobs became global.

 

Jose Arroyo, Vice President of the Mahoning Trumbull  AFL-CIO, and Staff Representative for USW believes this resurgence of support is because labor unions fight for liveable wages, dignity in aging with pensions, and health care benefits that help make the American Dream possible. 

 

"They are the true and tested method of bringing up the middle class for everybody and it's a new generation discovering collective bargaining and what it can do for the working people," Jose Arroyo said. 

 

The pandemic led to the great resignation with 50 million exiting the workforce, it also showed a need for manufacturers in the US. 

 

"For years there was a deterioration in wages and working conditions. Now with a thin labor market, it is now put some of the leverage on the side of the working man,"

 

Recently Teamsters won a historic contract with wage increases from UPS totaling $7.50 an hour which will bring those with top pay to $49 dollars an hour over the 5-year contract.

 

Existing part-timers' pay increased immediately to 21 dollars an hour.  

 

The Teamsters also won and eliminated the two-tier wage structure.

 

Unions say more healthcare workers are joining unions and even office workers.

 

"It's a good time to be in the labor movement, and it's an exciting time for us," Arroyo said. 

 

In less than two weeks United Auto Workers could strike GM, Ford and Stellantis when their national contract expires. 

 

The big three automakers made a combined 21 billion dollars in profits in the first half of this year. 

 

The UAW is asking for a 40% pay hike over 4 years, an end to the tiered system of employment, and regular cost of living adjustments