While that number is hardly historic if you compare it to strikes between World War II and the 1980s, it’s nonetheless unusual given the slow decline in union participation. If you ask establishment media what is going on, it tends to mumble something about low employment, gay rights, and COVID-19.

“Essential workers,” the TV pundits say, are tired and angry after their employers and society failed to recognize their sacrifices during the pandemic, never mind the fact that most of the laborers on strike — auto workers, actors, and screenwriters — were not considered essential.

The real reason is something establishment media doesn’t like to talk about, namely, the failure of President Joe Biden’s economic policies and the impact steadily rising inflation has had on American households.

[I tend to disagree. There are two issues driving the sudden willingness to go to the mattresses now. The first is that Biden can be counted on to intervene on the side of unions in most cases (railroad workers lost that bet last year, of course). The second is that the strikes help raise Biden’s profile with workers as an ally. The White House has certainly taken advantage of that, too, especially with the UAW strike. — Ed]