Blue collar workers won big in 2023, defying bleak predictions

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ECONOMY

Blue collar workers won big in 2023, defying bleak predictions

The year began with a recession forecast but ended with substantial wage growth and record union contracts for hundreds of thousands of workers

By Lauren Kaori Gurley
December 30, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST



UAW workers picket outside of Ford's Wayne Assembly Plant on Sept. 26 in Wayne, Mich. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A year that started out with bleak prospects, including a widely predicted recession, shaped up to be a boon for the average American worker — and one of the most triumphant for organized labor in a generation.

More than 525,000 workers in the United States walked off the job in 2023, according to Bloomberg Law’s database of work stoppages, making it one of the three biggest strike years since 1990. Many of those strikes led to big concessions from employers, such as the landmark deal reached by the UAW in October.

Employers agreed to pay more for workers because of a historically tight labor market, meaning it proved more economical to boost wages and benefits than to try to find new workers or risk losing current ones.

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