Why are there so many strikes in the US?

STORY: It’s a summer of strikes in the United States.

From UPS workers on the verge…

to Hollywood writers and actors like Susan Sarandon…

“…if we stick together, then we can get justice. And that's why we're here for.”

Workers are demanding better pay, working conditions and LGBT rights.

But why are so many of them demanding it now?

[Who is on strike?]

The world’s largest delivery company - UPS - could see some 340,000 drivers, package handlers and loaders in the U.S. head on strike in a matter of days.

That could roil supply chains and hurt the economy.

The Teamsters-represented workers’ contract expires at the end of July.

But union head Sean O’Brien has said time is on the union’s side.

“We are in a position of strength and leverage, and we've got the strongest weapon in our tool case. That's the 340,000 rank and file members that go to work every single day…”

Meanwhile, Hollywood is grappling with strikes by writers and actors.

And thousands of workers at major companies such as Starbucks… McDonald’s… and aerospace lynchpin Spirit AeroSystems have either gone on strike or protested what they describe as unfair labor practices.

There's more looming.

Union contracts for 150,000 autoworkers at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis expire in September.

[Why are workers striking now?]

Cornell University research suggests more people have gone on strike this year compared to all of 2022.

Cathy Creighton is the director of its School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

“And when you look at who is striking, you see some trends, you see, in some cases, essential workers, who worked during the pandemic, who are kind of fed up.”

Sharon Block is a professor at Harvard Law School.

“We are at a moment of an unusually tight labor market, a very resiliently tight labor market. And I think that sends a signal to workers that they have an unusual, certainly over the past few decades in this country, an unusual moment of leverage to exercise some power on behalf of what they see as getting a fair deal.”

Block says multiple polls have shown that the public supports unions and working people want to be in them.

And organizers are doing what they can to keep it that way… with events like this barbecue near an Amazon warehouse.

Here’s organizer Chris Smalls:

"Right now, there's a lot of strikes going on in the country, and labor is really rising as far as people getting involved, but we still got a long way to go. You know, it's good to see all this stuff happening over the summer, but we know that this is just a long fight that's just getting started.”