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WDRB: Kentucky union worker share grows for second straight year

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Thanks to Dustin Reinstedler for sending us this.

Unions were on offense in 2023 with contract fights at UPS and Ford.

By CHRIS OTTS

Thanks to Dustin Reindstedler for sending us this.

Unions were on offense in 2023 with contract fights at UPS and Ford.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Kentucky unions flexed their muscle last couple years with high-profile contract fights against United Parcel Service and Ford Motor Co., and they brought young service-sector workers into the fold by organizing coffee shops like Heine Bros. and grocery stores like Trader Joe’s.

The share of union workers in Kentucky ticked up for the second consecutive year in 2023, bucking the national trend, according to an annual federal survey released this week.

Labor leaders said the figures reflect renewed energy in unionism, which has generally declined in Kentucky and the nation as a whole since the 1980s.

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