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Guest column by Tina Smith

Last year, scenes of striking workers and picket lines dominated the news. Workers from all corners of the American economy — from writers and auto workers, to teachers and health care professionals — came together to fight for their fair share.

The labor movement had a big moment in 2023. I hope we can say the same in 2024.

In the fall, I went to Hudson, Wisconsin, to stand in solidarity with the striking members of Local 722 of the United Auto Workers. About half those workers in Hudson are Minnesotans.

On that rainy day, amidst a small tent with snacks and drinks, I talked with one longtime worker who told me he was worried. His wife stays home with the kids so he’s the sole breadwinner, and it’s tough for the family to go without an income. The union helps, of course, but he was worried that the Big 3 CEOs were going to hunker down and wait them out.

But then he said, “It’s scary. But sometimes you just have to stand up for what you know is right.”

And it’s not right that these companies are making billions in profit while the people whose labor is producing all that profit can’t even afford one of the cars that they make. Later that day, a reporter asked if I was worried that the strike would hurt the economy. Here’s what hurts our economy: when the rich get richer and regular middle-class people can’t afford health care or childcare. When workers can’t make enough money to buy a car, buy a house or pay for a short vacation.

What hurts our economy is the growing concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few people.

Unions helped build a strong middle class in this country. After World War II, one in three American workers belonged to a union. Through collective power and advocacy, unions helped make sure workers had a fair wage that could support their families, send their kids to school, and afford homes, cars and other hallmarks of the middle class.

But a few decades ago, employers began fighting back. With the help of Republican politicians and their corporate lobbyists, they shepherded through powerful legislation like right-to-work laws, which made it harder for workers to organize.

Unsurprisingly, the steep decline in union membership over the past half century has coincided with skyrocketing inequality. Today, just three billionaires collectively hold more wealth than the bottom half of all Americans.

But thanks in part to the Biden Administration — the most pro-union administration we’ve ever had — the tide is shifting.

In November, SAG-AFTRA actors union won a big victory for their members, which will mean fairer wages and better protections for actors in the age of streaming services and artificial intelligence.

Just a few weeks later, the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) secured a huge victory for workers. After workers gave up benefits and pay to keep automakers afloat during the Great Recession, GM, Stellantis and Ford all saw record-setting profits. Now, thanks to their union, workers are finally getting their fair share with the largest pay raise in decades.

We’ve seen similar victories for workers in all sorts of industries. In Minnesota, over 15,000 nurses carried out the largest nursing strike in U.S. history.

Through their union, the Minnesota Nurses Association, they won the largest pay raise in over two decades. The writer’s strike, which drew picket lines from New York to Los Angeles, resulted in their largest wage gains in 100 years. UPS workers won higher wages and new protections against working in dangerous conditions thanks to their union negotiations — and for the first time, they’ll be getting air conditioning in their notoriously hot trucks.

These wins aren’t just nice for the hundreds of thousands of workers at these companies. They help grow the middle class and boost the entire economy. And importantly, these union wins are shifting the balance of power in our economy.

For too long, CEOs and their Republican allies in power have been selling failed trickle-down policies that line the pockets of the rich and strip power and wealth from working people. Now, thanks to President Biden’s policies and a surge in union wins, we’re beginning to see a shift toward a more sustainable and powerful form of economic growth — growth that starts from the middle-out.

These stories show us the power and promise of American workers and labor unions. They are standing up to corporate greed, calling out profiteering and inequity, fighting for economic justice and showing us there’s a better way.

Unions remind us that work has dignity, that workers must be respected and protected, that everyone has the right to a fair wage, a secure retirement and the chance not just to work, but also to enjoy the pleasures and joys of life.

That is what organizing is all about. Listening, working, building power and then using our power to deliver results and improve people’s lives.

This is why the labor movement in America should give us all hope, and inspiration — for a stronger democracy, and a country that works for everyone.

Tina Smith, D-Minn., is a U.S. senator.