I don't know.
saiah Thomas was 7 years old in 2008 and he was aware of his family's difficulties. He noticed that his parents were not around as much as they used to be. The lack of family time left an impression on Thomas as they were being forced to pick up extra shifts at work. He said that it affected him because his parents worked for a living and lived paycheck to paycheck. When we experienced that with our parents, we were like, 'Fuck that.' We do not want to go through that.
Thomas has his work cut out for him as he works to organize an Amazon warehouse in deep red Alabama. He wants to make his workplace better and make sure future generations don't have to miss out on time with their parents because of job pressure. There are other people in his activism. A growing number of labor organizers and reformers in their 20s are working to change the workplace. At a time when college degrees don't promise job stability and economic anxiety is high, workers born between 1997 and 2012 are coming of age.
New entrants to the workforce prioritize fair treatment on the job and refuse to bend to exploitative or outdated corporate standards. Gen Z is going to organize to stand up to corporate bosses. Gen Z workers have been involved in recent union drives at Starbucks, Home Depot, Minor League Baseball, and even North Hollywood's Star Garden Topless Dive Bar.
Young workers are not lazy, entitled, or keen on slacking off, but they are choosing to reject some of the practices that previous generations were forced to accept. Gen Zers are less likely to go along with long hours, domineering bosses, or a lack of boundaries between the personal and the professional, according to surveys. The behaviors that make the workplace toxic are being pushed back on by this new wave of workers.
When Laila started working at Starbucks, she didn't understand why she had to deal with the treatment she was given. It doesn't matter if you're in the food industry, retail, construction, healthcare, or any other field, we all deserve to have better working conditions.
When she would complain about being disrespected on the job, others would say it was the food industry. What do you think you'll get? She and her peers are not comfortable with that mode of thinking. Quality of life, employer flexibility, and corporate social responsibility were found to be Gen Z's top priorities when choosing an employer, according to a recent National Society of High School Scholars survey. They are more likely to leave jobs that don't meet their needs and find better-paying jobs elsewhere. Young workers aren't afraid to seek out better things than their parents have. Jade said she wants to be in a role where she can grow as a person. I don't want to be stressed or depressed.
Climate disasters, as well as the erosion of reproductive rights, have been faced by younger workers. According to Rebecca Givan, an associate professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University, they were much more likely to speak out against injustice. She said that they understand the deep flaws in the system and hold power accountable. The workers are demonstrating that they will not accept a lack of voice in the workplace or employers who pay lip service to progressive values.
Jun Shin, a labor activist in Honolulu, said there was a point where enough was enough.
Many young workers choose to create change from within instead of quitting, even if they can't afford it.
According to a new report from the Center for American Progress, Gen Z has spent the past two years flexing their collective muscle on the picket lines and at the bargaining table. "A lot of us in Gen Z are saying we need an alternative, something that gives us a voice, something that's a mechanism to implement some kind of change," Thomas said. The unions are the way to go because the companies aren't giving us anything.
The rise in union- election petitions is a sign that the young generation is turning to labor organizing as an outlet for its political energy, according to the former national labor organizer for Sen. There have been a lot of new filings at the National Labor Relations Board. The data shows that 2,510 union-representation petitions have been filed in the year 2022, which is the highest number of petitions filed in the last two years. In September, Gallup found a large number of adults approve of unions. The current organizing wave has been led by members of the "pro- union" generation.
"Not only are young workers pro-union, but they're turning to the National Labor Relations Board to assert that stance, which is pretty unheard of," he said. Gen Z was turning to union-authorization cards and unfair-labor-practice charges in order to challenge the status quo.
While race, gender, and country of origin have long been used by employers to drive divisions in the workplace, Gen Z isn't biting. According to the Center for American Progress report, the racial and ethnic diversity that characterizes the generation has contributed to an increase in support for unions, and even across a highly political divide, Gen Z's gap in union support between Democrats and Republicans is the smallest of any generation. According to Thomas, a union makes it clear that bigotry is meant to divide us so that the employer class can keep making money. He said he wouldn't stop fighting soon.
Gen Z has made it clear that it is on either side of the powers that be. It's saying no to exploitation and standing up against corporations that want to grind them down the same way they did with their parents and grandparents.
Since Gen Z is America's most online generation, it's no surprise that young organizers have found success using platforms like Twitter and TikTok to educate labor-curious workers. "We're tired of the lack of political action from those who are supposed to represent us," said the young woman. We shouldn't be giving our life away to a CEO.
Gen-Z for Change is a youth-led nonprofit that works with a network of 5,000 online creators and activists to promote civil discourse and political action around issues such as the climate crisis, reproductive rights, voting, and workers' rights. Corporations have been taking on the organization. Sean Black, a digital strategist, wrote a script of code that was used to flood Kroger's careers website with fake applications in order to keep the workers from going on strike.
We're using creative tactics that we've learned from growing up in the digital age. TikTok has proved to be a powerful tool for spreading pro-union messages and educating their peers about their rights as workers.
Younger workers understand the need to bring in as many workers as possible, unlike older union members who prefer to focus on "bread and butter" economic issues. Gen Z organizers realize that economic well-being comes from more than a paycheck and are fighting for racial justice, trans rights, and reproductive freedom. It's obvious to Gen Z how all of the issues are connected, and how in order to combat one issue, we must address them all.
This surge in youth-led organizing is a significant moment for labor, and one that may have a lasting influence on the workforce as Gen Zers continue in their careers. She said that many of them may organize in their next job.
Gen Z's contributions have strengthened the US labor movement. The future of the American working class is brighter now than it was a few years ago. If there is one quality that Gen Z has in spades, it is audacity.
The Irish socialist and trade unionist James Connolly said, "For our demands most moderate are, we only want the earth."
Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor was written by Kim Kelly.
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