While strikes and boycotts are not a new thing, many would tend to think about these actions in the past tense. Their mind may go to the bus boycotts during the Civil Rights Movement and/or other events that they read about or talked about in a history class, though many would unlikely think about current strikes/boycotts and their effect on large corporations.
One of the, if not the most, mainstream strikes in the United States was through the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) organizations. Participants of these strikes protested for better work environments, higher wages and residuals (when a work is reused) and protection with growing artificial intelligence. The lack of agreement between television networks, producers and said organizations on these topics led to months-long strikes in which writers and actors refused to work and delays in many movie and television series productions.
Like the WGA and SAG-AFTRA participants, transportation workers across Germany have held many strikes for better working conditions as well as higher wages. The Associated Press news reported that over 90,000 members of the Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (Ver.di) trade and transportation unit walked out of work throughout the month of February and into March. Not only were the effects of these strikes felt in Germany, as impacts were felt worldwide.
For Theodore Roosevelt High School junior Ivan Hyde this was the case. Hyde and many others had paid to visit Europe during their Spring Break with an emphasis on Italy, as it was for an Italian class. The students were supposed to fly from Des Moines to Chicago, then to Germany and Switzerland, and then reach their Italian destination. Due to the strikes within the German transportation field, though, their trip was canceled as no flights to Europe were available from the Chicago airport.
In regards to the rescheduling of the trip, Hyde stated “I’m not really sure what’s going to happen to be honest. There’s talk about rescheduling but that would be for months so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” before concluding with “they’re talking about doing it until next Spring Break.”
As seen in the disruption caused throughout due to these strikes, social studies teacher Clint Albertsen explained that these disruptions are the reason as to why strikes work in the favor of the groups executing them. He furthermore stated that though strikes are far less common in this day and age, their impacts are still seen throughout, and that it is all a matter of perspective on whether or not strikes are necessary or in some cases worth the instructions they cause. In the case of Germany’s transportation workers, agreements on pay wages and work hours are yet to be set, and plans of future strikes and other protests continue to be planned.
On the side of boycotts, through the help of social media and its speedy nature in shares, boycotting has become easier in organizing. Though many would believe that one’s actions, particularly those of boycotting, do not and will not have any substantial impact on big companies.
An example of this is the boycotting of famous coffee company Starbucks amidst the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. After claims that stated that the company was funding the Israeli government, a worldwide boycott started against the purchasing of Starbucks drinks, food and merchandise with the biggest impacts being made in locations in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.
Though many believe that actions as small as choosing another option of coffee in the morning may not hold a big impact on corporations or the world as a whole, Albersen explained that both strikes and boycotts “have played a significant role in the labor movement gaining concessions from employers and changes being made to [United States] labor laws throughout…history.” Though not being boycotts relating to labor, said Starbucks boycott has resulted in the company losing about $11 billion as of December 2023 according to the Times of India. While the company went on to give a statement denying their involvement in said funding, the boycotting of the company continued throughout the world.
Though many would think otherwise, an impact can be seen to be made with actions as small as skipping a chain coffee restaurant to shutting down a country’s transportation system.
Other sources:
https://www.today.com/popculture/hollywood-actors-sag-strike-2023-explained-rcna94122
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-05-01/writers-strike-what-to-know-wga-guild-hollywood-productions#:~:text=The%20WGA%20and%20AMPTP%20had,an%20agreement%20wasn’t%20reached. https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/03/19/europes-summer-travel-strikes-when-where-and-what-disruption-you-can-expect-in-august
