By Ben Klayman

(Reuters) – Thousands are still on strike in the United States, demanding better pay and conditions despite Hollywood’s deal with camera operators and make-up artists over the weekend. They have been encouraged by the tight job market.

Kevin Bradshaw works at Kellogg (NYSE 🙂 Co’s Memphis cereal plant, Tennessee. This is where the majority of North America’s Frosted Flakes come from. He’s not thrilled about the reductions in health care coverage, retirement benefits, vacation time, which union officials state they want from around 1,400 striking workers at four plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania since October 5.

Bradshaw, the vice president for Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, 252G, said that enough was enough. “We cannot afford to continue giving things away to a business that has achieved record-breaking financial returns.”

On Saturday, some 60,000 workers behind the scenes at TV and movies avoided joining the Kellogg strikers. However, the union members protested against the Kellogg strikers with a near walkout. They claim they have had enough of the meager pay and givebacks. Kellogg executives could not be reached but said their compensation was among the highest in the industry.

Labor activists claim that although many of their members were considered essential in the COVID-19 crisis and are now treated differently by employers. Unions will test the resolve of companies with a White House administration they consider sympathetic.

Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker shows that at least 176 strike actions have already been taken this year.

Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO (the nation’s largest labor federation), said that “workers are on strike to get a better deal” at last week’s SABEW journalism conference.

She said that “The pandemic truly exposed the inequities within our system” and that workers are refusing return to poor jobs that could put their health at danger.

Although there have been setbacks such as the unsuccessful organizing drive in Birmingham at Amazon.com (NASDAQ.) earlier this year, union leaders are optimistic that they will make significant gains.

Professor emeritus of labor, University of California Berkeley. “We are entering a new age in labor relations.” Workers feel like they are in control and have a lot of ground to cover.

He said, “What we are seeing is a struggle to return or at minimum stay in the middle-class.”

SUPPORT IN THE BLACK HOUSE

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership has fallen steadily over recent decades. It is now less than 11% of all employed Americans, down from 20% in 1983.

According to Gallup, 68% Americans approve of unions. This is the highest percentage since 1965.

Organizations are overwhelmingly convinced that Joe Biden, the president who is most supportive of the union, is a good thing. The Democrat established a task force in April to support labor organizing.

He had defended the rights of workers to form unions during the period leading up to the failed attempt to organize Amazon workers from Alabama two months prior. Teamsters pledge to work on organizing the warehouse operations of Amazon.

Beaumont, Texas has also been a setback. Exxon Mobil (NYSE) – In May, the company locked out 650 employees from its refinery in Texas and a nearby plant. This was after the local United Steelworkers union declined to submit a proposed contract. Although union leaders plan to hold a vote on Tuesday regarding the contract, they urge members not to accept it.

Exxon claimed that the lockout was necessary in order not to disrupt a possible strike. It also stated that changes to seniority it wanted to make were required to maintain profitability. Some union members are attempting to decertify their union.

In some sectors the discontent has been striking: 90% of Deere (NYSE:) & Co’s hourly workers, represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, rejected the company’s contract offer last week and went on strike.

The 10,000 farm machinery manufacturer’s workers want higher wages, retirement benefits and, according to Mitchell Smith (UAW Region 8 Director), “a better slice of the pie.”

Deere did not respond to our request for comment but UAW members voted in favor of striking. The company stated that it wants to keep its position as one the most highly paid companies.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees represented behind-the-scenes workers at Hollywood.

Although Hollywood workers managed to avoid a strike the picket lines might still get more crowded.

This month, more than 28,000 workers in healthcare at the 13 Southern California Kaiser Permanente hospital and the hundreds of other medical centers approved a strike. To reduce the effects of pandemic burnout, they want higher wages and more staffing.

This demand has been echoed by almost 2,000 healthcare workers, who are on strike since Oct. 1, in Buffalo (New York).

Kathy Kelly (a 38-year-old nurse at the Catholic Health System Mercy Hospital) said, “We have been working very little at Mercy for five year,” while taking a break from picketing. It’s time to stop. There is only so much we can give.