If 2023 was a historic year for workers with gains in pay and new contracts, how much longer can the momentum last in an economy that can’t decide if it is roaring or trudging along? From a 148-day Hollywood writers strike to a United Auto Workers walkout to the ongoing contract negotiations from air carriers under contract negotiations, unions found power in 2023 they haven’t had during decades of shrinking union membership and rollbacks in worker pay and benefits. “It’s been a tremendous, even historic, year for union workers with unprecedented victories,” said Benjamin Sachs, Kestnbaum professor of labor and industry at Harvard…
