Jason Bailey heads up KCEP, a left-leaning think tank that tracks economic trends in the state. He says unions and those curious about starting or joining them are beginning to show a little renewed muscle.
"The last couple of years, we've seen growth in union membership in Kentucky. We're also seeing more labor actions, more strikes and protests. We're seeing more workers filing for and winning union representation elections," Bailey says. "So it's an interesting change in the trajectory and it could reflect a number of factors including a tight labor market giving workers a little more leverage."
Bailey listed the long-term effects of stagnant wages, challenging job conditions, and a reinvigorated national labor relations board as other potential drivers.
Still, states like Kentucky have set up a number of barriers — including right-to-work laws, that prevent unionized workplaces from requiring that all benefitting members contribute to the cost of negotiations.
"It's ultimately up to workers if they want to band together and form the unions, they can do that despite right-to-work. And we're seeing that with Starbucks employees. We're seeing efforts in the auto industry in the south," Bailey notes.
But speaking of the auto industry, Kentucky’s largest auto-related project — the Ford BlueOval SK plant — will not be unionized. That’s part of an agreement between Ford and United Auto Workers.
Recent data show less than 10% of workers in most of the south have union coverage, but proponents say they’re seeing renewed momentum they haven’t seen in decades.
