Leading up to November’s election, both President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris courted a variety of unions to rally supporters. The largest union in the nation, the Teamsters, opted not to endorse either candidate for president after a long tradition of endorsing the Democratic candidate, which the Trump campaign counted as a win for their side. Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers endorsed Harris after endorsing President Joe Biden when he was still in the running.

Here’s a roundup of the influence unions had this year.

Unions that cost companies money

Boeing reported a net loss of over $6.1 billion in its third quarter as roughly a fifth of its employees, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, went on strike for seven weeks. They were employed at Boeing’s manufacturing factory, where its 737 MAX, 767, and 777 planes are produced. However, the latest losses “primarily reflect impacts of the IAM work stoppage,” according to Boeing.

The new contract included a 38% raise over four years and productivity bonuses. Still, Boeing announced in October that it would issue pink slips to 17,000 workers, or roughly 10% of its workforce. Less than two weeks later, Boeing laid off 438 Society of Professional Engineering Employees.

Nearly 80% of its employees belong to the American Postal Workers Union. This year, postage increased by 5 cents, for a total of 73 cents per stamp. Stamp sales help to fund the Postal Service, as it does not receive tax dollars toward its operating expenses. Almost 75% of Postal Service operating costs go toward employee compensation.

The agency is still looking to increase the price of its parcel service by 25% but has not received approval. This service has several competitors, such as FedEx, UPS, and others.

Strikes that did not bring about new contracts

Some 37,000 employees of the University of California started a two-day strike Wednesday, months after rejecting the latest offer. The strike across 10 campuses, five medical centers, and labs did not result in a deal for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 3299 union.

Roughly 500 workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport began a single-day strike on the Monday before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Service Employees International Union’s chapter in the airport includes ramp agents, cabin cleaners, lavatory and water agents, high lift truck drivers, and workers who escort travelers in wheelchairs. This union represents employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services, which voted to create the chapter last year. Its strike did not end with a contract.

Since May, a chapter of the Culinary Workers Union has initiated two strikes against Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Some 700 union workers went on strike after their contract expired almost a year ago. Their union has been in negotiations with Virgin Hotels for five months without an agreement on a raise for workers’ wages. The hotel surpassed one strike deadline before missing the most recent deadline, prompting the first strike. Then, upon receiving “an economic offer on the table that was miles apart,” a second strike sprouted and is ongoing.

New unions formed in 2024

The Center for American Progress reported that 74% of company elections resulted in a union this year, which was a little less than 10% higher than in 2020. This comes on the heels of last year seeing another 15-year record of 1,777 elections, with not as many agreeing to a union.

In 2010, there were over 1,900 elections surrounding unions. Roughly 62% of them resulted in union certification.

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Meanwhile, the Freedom Foundation reported 13,000 employees are now former union members, which included a steady decrease of over 4,000 every month as of the third quarter of this year. Between Sept. 10 and 16, a record of 1,390 opt outs were reported. The previous single-day record was beaten with 445 in one day.

Membership among public-sector workers is five times higher than the rate of private-sector workers, at 33.1% versus 6%, respectively. Out of all union members in the workforce, private- and public-sector employees are almost equal in number at 7.2 million and 7.1 million, respectively.