Wisconsin Sees Uptick in Union Activity in Recent Years

Sunday, February 4th, 2024 -- 1:00 PM

(Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin has seen an uptick in union activity in recent years, and labor leaders hope to carry that momentum through 2024 and beyond.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, there have been 16 strikes and 30 labor protests in the state since the start of 2021, according to data from Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker.

That data includes a slew of strikes that happened across the state last year. Case tractor factory workers in Racine started 2023 on strike. In July, Leinenkugel’s Brewery workers in Chippewa Falls went on strike for the first time since the 1980s.

In August, unionized service workers at ThedaCare in the Fox Valley gathered to demand better pay and in November, United Auto Workers locals in Wisconsin joined in that union’s national strike. The state also saw efforts by workers to form new unions in Wisconsin.

That includes beer vendors at Lambeau Field organizing, Planned Parenthood workers starting efforts to unionize, journalists at Wisconsin Watch forming a union and video game testers in Milwaukee unionizing.

Workers at Colectivo Coffee in Madison and Milwaukee ratified their first union contract with the company after organizing efforts began in 2020. In June, Starbucks workers in Madison voted overwhelmingly to form a union, becoming the state’s sixth unionized Starbucks and the second in the city.

This surge in union activity comes as labor markets in Wisconsin and nationally remain tight, which experts say gives workers more leverage to negotiate for better wages and benefits. And public opinion data shows unions today are viewed more favorably than they were a decade ago.

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