Why workers in Kansas City and around the country are going on strike: 'We want our fair share'

Between auto workers, Hollywood, and baristas, it seems like workers are walking out on the job more often this year. Experts say wealth inequalities, inflation and a cultural shift in expectations from jobs are contributing to a more active labor movement.
Auto workers. Hollywood actors and writers. Starbucks employees. The last couple of years have been big ones for the labor movement — the number of workers who went on strike was 50% higher last year than in 2021, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And that's not counting work stoppages, a protest by employees who aren't unionized — such as the one by CVS pharmacists in Kansas City over their working conditions last week. Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relation's Labor Action Tracker has counted nearly 300 instances of labor action so far this year.

Sirisha Naidu, an associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said that there's a variety of factors at play. Inflation is making it harder to live, and significant pay gaps between corporate executives and employees, as well as a culture shift that started in the pandemic are playing a role as well.