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| 2019–20 retail strikes | |
|---|---|
| Title | 2019–20 retail strikes |
| Date | 2019–2020 |
| Place | United States; United Kingdom; France; Spain; Germany; Italy; Canada; Australia |
| Causes | Labor disputes over wages, scheduling, benefits, safety |
| Result | Local agreements, national campaigns, legal cases, ongoing organizing |
2019–20 retail strikes were coordinated and episodic labor actions by retail workers, organized labor unions, and consumer activists across multiple countries in 2019 and 2020. The actions involved employees at major multinational retailers and national chains, intersecting with broader campaigns by labor federations, political parties, and social movements concerned with workplace safety, compensation, and scheduling practices.
Retail walkouts drew on precedents from the Fight for $15 campaign, the Occupy Wall Street movement's focus on inequality, and organizing strategies linked to the Service Employees International Union and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Economic context included debates around the Great Recession recovery, discussions at the International Labour Organization about precarious work, and policy shifts in jurisdictions influenced by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and local minimum wage ordinances such as those enacted in Seattle and New York City. Specific triggers included corporate scheduling algorithms used by chains like Walmart, Amazon, Tesco, and Carrefour, and public health concerns raised by outbreaks of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which intersected with campaigns previously associated with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and Unite the Union.
Major actions began in 2019 with localized strikes at Walmart stores in the United States coordinated by groups affiliated with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and community organizations in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. In late 2019 and early 2020, strike waves spread to European retail markets, including demonstrations at Carrefour outlets in France and work stoppages at Primark stores in Spain and United Kingdom locations associated with British Retail Consortium-listed employers. In early 2020, spontaneous and organized walkouts at Amazon warehouses in New York City, New Jersey, and Seattle coincided with actions by activists from Amazon Workers International and support from politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jeremy Corbyn. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered further strikes at retailers including Target, IKEA, and Lidl in cities like Paris, Berlin, and Toronto over safety protocols and hazard pay.
Prominent labor unions involved included the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Unite the Union, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and Industrial Workers of the World. Grassroots organizations such as Fight for $15, Make Amazon Pay, and Labour Rising worked alongside political figures including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jeremy Corbyn, and local officials in Seattle and Philadelphia. Corporate actors targeted included Walmart, Amazon, Tesco, Carrefour, IKEA, Target, Primark, and multinational logistics firms like FedEx and UPS. Legal and policy stakeholders included labor boards such as the National Labor Relations Board in the United States and tribunals like the Employment Tribunal system in the United Kingdom.
Workers employed tactics drawn from the Civil Rights Movement sit-in tradition, the picket strategies of the Coal Strike of 1902, and contemporary digital organizing exemplified by campaigns at Uber and Airbnb. Actions included one-day strikes, rolling walkouts, coordinated sick-outs, informational pickets at flagship stores like Walmart Supercenter and Amazon fulfillment centers, and targeted consumer boycotts publicized on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Demands typically encompassed hazard pay, paid sick leave, predictable scheduling (often contrasted with algorithmic scheduling systems), higher base wages aligned with Fight for $15 goals, workplace safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and recognition of collective bargaining rights under frameworks associated with the National Labor Relations Board and European Trade Union Institute standards.
Governmental responses varied: municipal legislatures in New York City and Seattle enacted or proposed emergency measures on paid sick leave and hazard pay, while national authorities such as those in France and Germany debated workplace safety regulations within ministerial portfolios like the Ministry of Labour and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Germany). Corporations such as Walmart and Amazon implemented temporary hazard pay, capacity limits, and enhanced cleaning protocols, and engaged legal counsel including firms litigating before the National Labor Relations Board and equivalent bodies in the United Kingdom and Canada. Some firms pursued litigation over alleged unlawful work stoppages, invoking statutes and precedents from cases heard at institutions like the Supreme Court of the United States and national labor tribunals.
Outcomes included local collective bargaining wins at some retailers, temporary hazard pay policies at corporations including Target and IKEA, and increased public attention to topics advanced by Fight for $15 and Make Amazon Pay. The strikes influenced municipal policy debates in cities such as Seattle, New York City, Paris, and London, and contributed to organizing wins in campaigns that led to union recognition drives at outlets like Whole Foods Market and regional distribution centers affiliated with Amazon. The actions also precipitated research by institutions such as the Brookings Institution and Institute for Public Policy Research into precarious scheduling and workplace health.
Legally, the actions prompted cases before the National Labor Relations Board and employment tribunals in the United Kingdom and Canada, testing doctrines on concerted activity, essential worker classifications, and bargaining unit determinations. The intersection with the COVID-19 pandemic raised novel questions under occupational health frameworks like those administered by agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and national equivalents, and influenced litigation over temporary emergency orders, hazard pay mandates, and paid sick leave statutes such as those enacted under local ordinances in New York City and Seattle.
Category:Labour disputes Category:Retail industry