Year in Review: Top Stories of 2022

, It was a remarkable year for the American labor movement. Here is a rundown of the biggest stories of 2022!

UNIONS NEAR RECORD HIGH APPROVAL RATING

One of the year's biggest stories of 2022 came in August when Gallup released the results of its annual Work and Education survey. The poll found that seventy-one percent of Americans approve of labor unions – the highest approval rating since 1965 and just four points away from an all-time high. Moreover, unions remain most popular with Americans aged 18 to 34.

UNION REPRESENTATION PETITIONS REACH A SIX-YEAR HIGH

More importantly, the movement's sky-high approval rating translated into thousands of workers joining and forming unions. In October, the NLRB announced that 2,510 union representation petitions were filed with their 48 field offices in the Fiscal Year 2022 – a fifty-three percent increase over the previous year. Locally, we saw more than 100 Starbucks workers at five different stories join Workers United. The Ohio Federation of Teachers organized Menlo Park Academy, achieving a ninety-four percent vote despite school officials using taxpayer dollars to attempt to thwart the organizing drive. Teamsters Local 507 organized workers at Metrohealth Medical Center, and plenty of active campaigns are ongoing, including CWA Local 4340s efforts at the Lake County Clerk of Court's office. 

AMAZON LABOR UNION VICTORY; CHRIS SMALLS VISITS CLEVELAND

On April 1, two years after Amazon fired him, Chris Smalls led the Amazon Labor Union to its first victory at the JFK8 Amazon Fulfilment Center on Staten Island. In June, he spent several days in Cleveland, beginning with a forum at UAW Local 1250 in Brook Park. Several hundred union members and allies attended the Forum on Organizing for the 21st Century and Beyond. Smalls shared his long-term vision with attendees on workers-first organizing and uniting workers across on shared interests rather than political affiliation. The following day, he visited Cleveland-area Starbucks stores, taking pictures and encouraging workers.

WORKER ACTIONS ON THE RISE

2022 saw tens of thousands of workers across the United States come together to demonstrate their collective power. The same was true in Cleveland, where solidarity delivered results for working families. Most notably, the Federation brought local unions, non-profit organizations, and political allies together in March to break the lockout of IATSE Local 160 projectionists at the Cleveland International Film Festival at Playhouse Square. SEIU District 1199 was busy this summer as essential workers picked and won adequate wage increases and a little more dignity on the job at Frontline Services and Menorah Park Nursing Home. AFM Local 4 members secured a first contract with the Cleveland Ballet. AFSCME Local 1746 secured raises social workers at the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services.AFSCME Local 3631 attorneys saw wage increases, too.

Other actions brought attention to the needs of working people, including SEIU's rally at Playhouse Square to urge management to use responsible security contractors.AFA-CWA Local 63's picket at Cleveland Hopkins Airport demanding United Airlines fix their operational disruptions. Teamsters Local 507 and Labors Local 860 held a protest outside Cleveland city hall last month, calling for equitable wage increases with other essential workers. During the peak of Starbucks coffee sales in December, Workers United members had multiple strikes throughout Greater Cleveland, bringing attention to the shameful conduct of management as workers fought to win their first contract. 

The Federation supported non-affiliates, too, including Ohio Education Association (OEA) teachers at Euclid and Garfield Heights schools who issued 10-day strike notices. Fortunately, both strikes were averted, and workers earned fair wages and workplace safety improvements. 

ELECTION CHALLENGES

There were unprecedented challenges in 2022, too, including Ohio's redistricting crisis which ultimately led to elections using unconstitutional maps. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected Republican-drawn maps seven times, causing a bifurcated primary and eventually running out of time to draw fair maps. The final map created 54 Republican-leaning seats and 45 Democratic-leaning seats in the Ohio House, and 18 Republican and 15 Democratic districts in the Senate. The Ohio Supreme Court argued that 16 of the 45 Democratic-leaning seats were toss-up districts – and they were right. On election night, Republicans won 12 of the 16 seats.

AFL-CIO BATTLEGROUND STATE

The national AFL-CIO designated Ohio as one of its eight battleground states in 2022, announcing a 9 Point Plan to Win at a June kickoff event. The Labor 2022 Political Program grew to include more than two-dozen affiliate unions and nearly 280 staff, release staff, and volunteers. Crews wrote and mailed about 40,000 postcards to fellow union members, and 40,000 canvassing attempts were made in the field, with Cuyahoga County finishing first in attempts in the state. Exit polling suggests that those living in a union household played an outsized role in voting, representing twenty-one percent of the vote share despite only representing thirteen percent of the population. Despite losing statewide, union members supported Tim Ryan by double-digits. 

KEY LOCAL ELECTION VICTORIES

The efforts of our Labor 2022 Political Program contributed to local candidate victories. As a result, 32 of our 35 endorsed local candidates won their races, including Shontel Brown for US Congress in District 11, Bride Sweeney for Ohio House in District 16, Kent Smith and Nickie Antonio for Ohio Senate in districts 21 and 23, Chris Ronayne for County Executive, Michael John Ryan for Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals, Tom Jackson for Ohio Board of Education in District 10, and Anne McDonough for Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division. Four union members also won their races, including North Shore Delegates Jennifer O'Donnell for the Court of Common Pleas (AFSCME Local 3631) and Tom Patton for Ohio House in District 17 (IATSE Local 756). In addition, SMART Local 33 retiree Dan Troy won re-election to the Ohio House in District 23, and OEA Member Sean Brennan won election to the Ohio House to represent District 14. 

LEGISLATIVE WINS: Butch Lewis

There were significant legislative wins, too. Most notably, the Butch Lewis provision of the American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021 began to deliver, restoring the pensions of hundreds of thousands of workers nationwide. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) restored the pensions of 2,000 Ironworkers Local 17 members. Local 17 retirees who saw their pensions cut by as much as 60% in 2017 will see a complete restoration of benefits. Members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 4 celebrated pension relief in June. Four hundred fifty members of Local 4 faced 25 to 35% cuts. The PBGC also restored the pension of 800 Teamsters Local 52 members and at least 350,000 Teamsters nationally, with $36 billion going to the Central States Pension fund.

LEGISLATIVE WINS: Postal Reform Act, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS & NLRB Funding, Wage Theft

When President Biden signed the Postal Reform Act in March, it was a major legislative victory came for NALC and APWU members. The law repealed a mandate to pre-fund retiree health care for decades in advance, codified six-day delivery, and maximized Medicare integration. In addition, the CHIPS & Science Act, signed into law in August, invests in domestic manufacturing jobs and the technology that will restore our global economic status. It also mandates that union members be at the table as the federal government invests billions in innovation research and economic development. 

The Inflation Reduction Act passed in August will reshape the future and is already delivering real help to working families. It enacts clean energy incentives with labor standards to support working families and create good-paying jobs in construction and manufacturing. It also tackled our tax system and will reduce climate pollution by 40%. In addition, Congress passed its spending package in December, which included the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act which set workplace standards that require reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers to pump while on the job. It also included a $25 million budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to protect workers' fundamental right to form a union.  

In a major local victory, Cleveland City Council passed an ordinance banning the city from entering into contracts with or providing financial assistance to companies who commit wage theft. Wage theft affects 213,000 Ohioans annually. The majority of wage theft victims work in leisure & hospitality, construction, agriculture, and financial activities. 

We have plenty to celebrate and a ton of momentum going into 2023. Happy New Year!