Are Starbucks employees happy? No, they are/were not happy. It was all Starbucks branding. And it worked for a long time - until Covid! 

This is according to our podcast guest, Professor Kate Bronfenbrenner, Director of Labor Education Research at the Industrial and Labor Relations School of Cornell University. 

She is the co-author and editor of several peer-reviewed books on union and employer strategies, and she has testified as an expert witness at Labor Department and Congressional hearings and is frequently quoted in the major news media. Professor Bronfenbrenner is the recipient of many awards, most notably, the 2020 George D. Levy Faculty Award for outstanding community-engaged learning, and, one of Cornell's highest honors, the Carpenter Memorial Advising Award, in 2012.

In this episode, Dr. Bronfenbrenner takes us through the history of labor unions in America. I learned a great deal from her. Starting with the very basics, I realized that there is no such thing as the golden age of labor unions. I had assumed that era existed from the 1940s to the 1960s. But she corrected me with a simple retort: depends on which group of workers you are talking about! 

The history of unions is intertwined with immigration, tightly so. And unions have been able to organize internationally, to blunt corporations' threats of offshoring work. These days, service industry unions are much more powerful and numerous than traditional unions in heavy industries, such as mining and manufacturing. But those traditional unions have also changed. Get this: they now advocate environmental causes and fight against climate change. 

At the conclusion of our conversation, I asked Dr. Bronfenbrenner about the latest news regarding labor unions. She explained that these are mostly organizing victories. They still have to get the contracts, and for that workers need broader support. 

I hope you enjoy this episode.

Adel Host of ThePeel.news podcast

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