'People have had enough': Labor Day highlights unions' push for more
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There was a new energy in Pittsburgh's Labor Day Parade this year as workers around the country are flexing their muscles, getting favorable contracts and showing their willingness to strike.
After years of declining union membership and diminishing power, workers in Pittsburgh and across the nation are once again demanding more and are willing to walk if their demands aren't met.
"People have had enough," said Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council.
Since the end of the pandemic, high-profiled strikes like SAG-AFTRA's writers as well as threatening actions by the autoworkers and flight attendants have ushered in a new era in labor-management relations.
"I think everyone realizes now that this country was carried over the finish line by its workers. What they would have settled with before, they will not now," Kelly said.
"You're seeing labor on display," said Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Across the country, unions are gaining new members and getting favorable contracts. In one of his administration's first acts, Shapiro awarded two state unions 20 percent raises over the next four years.
"We did it because we believe in our state workers and we value them and we want them to come to work feeling fulfilled every day. You got to pay people in order to show respect for their work and make sure they're coming to work every day ready to do their job," Shapiro added.
With many leaving the workforce during the pandemic, industries are facing a shortage of new applicants and a need to hold onto the workers they have, giving those workers new leverage across the nation and in the Pittsburgh region. Workers feel their time has come.
"We're the people who made the steel that built this country. We have a proud labor history. Workers are asking for more on the job and they should," said U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-17th District.