The labor strike of 45,000 dockworkers, represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), began at midnight on September 30. After reaching a tentative agreement of a 62% increase in wages over six years, the strike has since been suspended until January 15.
The strike dominated the news cycle, threatening supply chains and the global economy, with looming costs of $7.5 billion for every week of delay. It was the first large-scale union strike in 47 years, landing on the precipice of a highly tumultuous primary election season in the U.S. and the upcoming holiday shopping season, causing companies across sectors to jump into action.
The headlines and threats to supply chains and global operations sparked a sense of deja vu for businesses. So far this year, Signal AI has analyzed FMCG companies impacted by the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and retail companies that altered course to avoid the ripple effect. The threats of supply chain disruption also harkened back to the Suez Canal container ship blockage in 2021, which held up $9 billion a day in global trade.
The data shows that labor strikes have surged in visibility this year, driven by key factors like political instability, trade union activism, and disputes over employee remuneration. Understanding the root causes of these strikes—whether political, union-driven, or compensation-related—can reveal critical insights into how they impact a company’s reputation, employee satisfaction, and, ultimately, the bottom line.
Through our Signal AI analysis across the risk landscape using our AI-powered solutions, we dig into the industries and organizations most associated with this year’s labor strikes and explore how the events make a lasting impact, ultimately shaping public perception.
Labor strikes gaining visibility
A report from Forbes last week stated that between 75 and 100,000 American workers were on strike, but this has proven to be a global trend. So far in 2024, the labor union movement has spread far and wide, as a very long list of risk events disrupting shipments, supply chains, and beyond:
- From all corners of the globe: From United Auto Workers deals struck in America; to Samsung Electronics workers in Asia; to workers at this year’s Paris Summer Olympics;
- Across unions: from railway workers in Canada and at Deutsche Bahn in Germany; to mass travel disruption across Europe.
- In various roles: from junior doctors against the National Health System in the UK; to Hollywood screenwriters, actors, and video gamers represented by SAG-AFTRA
- With similar agendas: Boeing machinist strikes in the Pacific Northwest; as well as dockworkers in the East, from Maine to Texas.
With peaks starting from last year’s United Auto Workers strikes in October 2023, the headlines have continued throughout 2024. The key stories with the biggest impact were:
- October 2023: United Auto Workers deals targeting Detroit automakers, affecting 150,000 workers
- January 2024: the longest-ever NHS strike,
- June 2024: the first-ever strike from workers at Samsung Electronics,
- September 2024: and the most recent dockworkers strike from Maine to Texas, the largest in 47 years.
What topics are most associated with strikes?
What’s the reasoning behind the strikes? In most cases, the reasons for striking include union recognition, fair wages or wage increases, improved working conditions, job security, and negotiations over contract terms.
Signal AI analysis found that the three main associations are employee remuneration, political instability, and trade unions. This theme landscape also shows resonance with other key topics, including ‘The Great Resignation,’ a term coined in 2022 to explain the rise in employees quitting their jobs, likely due to dissatisfaction, low pay, no room for advancement, and feeling disrespected.
Considering the Labor Market, in the most recent stories about dockworkers and the SAG-AFTRA strikes, as well as about machinists at Boeing, workers are fighting against the threats of automation as they look for job security. Where AI will continue to play a role in labor strikes remains to be seen.
Figure 2: Key Topics Associated with Strikes by Signal AIIndustry landscape on the topic of labor rights
When analyzing across industries, we see that the Automotive, Travel, and Fashion industries have the highest coverage on the topic of labor rights. When looking at net sentiment, we see that the Automotive, Fashion, Aerospace and Defense, and Chemical sectors took the biggest hits.
Fig. 3: Volume and Sentiment of News Coverage on Labor Rights. by Signal AIInterestingly, though they received a high share of coverage on the issue of labor rights, both the Travel and Tech sectors seemed to get away unscathed. In September, about 10,000 hotel workers across Marriott, Hilton Worldwide, and Hyatt, went on strike, with Unite Here (the hospitality workers’ union) strikes in San Francisco escalating labor action to involve nearly 40,000 workers as contracts were ending.
While the Travel sector looks good for now, there are planned strikes across European airline, bus, tram, and rail companies in October and beyond.
For the Tech industry, we analyzed how layoffs and workforce transformation in the age of AI impacted Tech and Finance. Read more on that here.
As the automotive industry has received the largest share of coverage, what happens when we zoom into the competitive landscape for auto companies?
Looking further into the competitive landscape of the auto industry
What are the damage costs of a labor strike? Figures are up in the billions.
The ongoing strike by 33,000 Boeing machinists has cost the company, employees, and supplies an estimated $1.4 billion in just the first two weeks. A prolonged strike with drawn-out negotiations can lead to significant damages, including lost revenue, production delays, and reputational damage, impacting suppliers, local economies, and effects on national GDP.
But those are just the hard-line costs. What’s also in consideration is the more intangible cost of reputation. Even though the UAW strikes against Detroit automakers – GM, Ford, and Stellantis – peaked in Q4 of last year (Fig. 1), there are still negative repercussions.
Fig. 4: Leading Auto Companies Associated with Labor Rights. by Signal AIThe competitive landscape across the automotive industry shows Honda and Stellantis with positive sentiment in association with the topic of Labor Rights, and with Volkswagen, Tesla, General Motors, and Toyota in the highest risk quadrant.
However, the landscape is constantly shifting, arguing the need for constant vigilance and real-time risk tracking. Most recently, as of October 7, Stellantis filed a lawsuit against the United Auto Workers union, which could cause shifts in their public perception standing.
As workers walk off, employers need to step up
It’s clear that rising costs of living, AI automation causing fear of job displacement in the labor market, and untenable working conditions are raising tensions between employees and employers.
Companies need to prepare for more activism on the horizon. Many retail companies, such as Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, and Home Depot, are already beginning to prepare for risk events that could affect their supply chains, such as strikes. Many manufacturers and large retailers, especially those preparing for the holiday shopping seasons like Black Friday and more, are proactively importing products earlier and could divert cargoes to alternate ports in case of a strike.
While labor strikes and organizations like Teamsters have a megaphone when fighting corporate giants like Amazon, quieter cultural movements and trends on social media are still circulating—such as ‘act your wage’ on TikTok or ‘quiet quitting.’ These trends may be serious dissatisfaction bubbling beneath the surface. Movements like these show signs of broader sentiments of employee dissatisfaction, which companies need to be vigilant about.
Businesses often face unexpected risks that can harm their reputation, operations, and finances. With a global 360-degree view, you can better surveil the global risk landscape for emerging and external threats across your industry or for your competitors before they impact your company. Learn more about Signal AI’s reputation and enterprise risk management tools here.
Research Methodology
Signal AI ingests and analyzes data from over 5 million documents daily, spanning 226 markets and 75 languages. Our AI-powered web app delivers actionable insights, offering companies access to media coverage, key industry trends, 100+ trained topics, and events. Learn more here.
Timeframe: September 2023 – September 2024
Corporate analysis: When looking at overall industries, this report includes data from the Signal AI 500 reputation ranking, which looks at 500 of the most talked about companies across 20+ industries.
This analysis includes, in no particular order, Honda (rank 19 of 500), Stellantis (rank 20 of 500), Ford Motor Company (rank 94 of 500), BMW (rank 24 of 500), Mercedes Benz (rank 26 of 500), Hyundai (rank 5 of 500), Toyota (rank 9 of 500), Tesla (rank 163 of 500), General Motors (rank 90 of 500), and Volkswagen Group (rank 50 of 500).
