The rising tide of labor organizing accelerated in 2023, as workers from the Hollywood actors’ and writers’ guild and the auto industry earned significant successes.
The food sector was less active on the strike front—aside from the Culinary Union strike in November—but workers earned some significant improvements after the large number of strikes that shook up the industry in 2022. This year saw Chicago abandon the tipped minimum wage, New York City implement a minimum wage for gig delivery workers, and California tussle with the fast food industry by trying to set a minimum wage and revive a regulatory council to support workers.
All is not well in the world of food and farm labor, however. Over the course of the year we reported on industry efforts to roll back hard-won gains on the minimum wage and efforts to build paths to citizenship for immigrants, risks from extreme weather due to climate change, and the perilous nature of work in seafood and animal agriculture. Here are some of our most important stories of the year about the people behind our food.
Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Farmworkers Finally Won Overtime Pay. Now the Industry Wants to Repeal It.
As Washington and Oregon move to implement historic overtime laws, ag industry leaders are pushing for exemptions that are leaving them at odds with farmworkers and their advocates.
Congress Killed a Bill to Give Farmworkers a Path to Citizenship. What Comes Next?
A look inside the complicated failure of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
All Eyes on California as Fast-Food Worker Rights Land on the 2024 Ballot
The state’s landmark law giving fast-food workers a greater voice was set to start in January—until opponents stalled it with a ballot referendum.
California Farmworkers Are Underwater in More Ways Than One
Farmworkers who can’t work in flooded, damaged fields are losing out on weeks—or months—of wages.
Illustration credit: Tina Zellmer
The True Cost of Tuna: Marine Observers Dying at Sea
The harassment, abuse, and sometimes death of the marine observers who uphold sustainable seafood standards are the industry’s worst-kept secrets. Critics say the people and companies that earn the most money on tuna aren’t doing enough to secure their well-being.
Cheap Imports Leave US Shrimpers Struggling With ‘Starvation Wages’
Unable to compete with imports, Louisiana’s shrimpers are calling for emergency action to shore up their shrinking industry.
