The Strike Is Coming
31 comments
·February 1, 2025chias
liotier
"S.M.A.R.T" goals - applicable to strikes too... The sort of detail that separates competent labor organizers from mere agitators.
UncleEntity
"There are four boxes to be used in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
Not sure how a general strike fits in that framework but to each their own...
jonahbenton
Faceless. Many of the "partner" orgs have copy from 2023.
A general strike is potentially useful tool in the US but the sketchiness factor here is high.
alephnerd
It started off as a general strike in opposition to US support of Israel during the Israel-Hamas War.
Their social media aspect (at least their IG) is definetly sketchy, because a lot of it veers away from standard economic demands to only Israel-Gaza related topics.
DSA and most mainstream unions do not appear to be affiliated with this either, and some of their advice around the NRLA seems wrong and could leave strikers open to dismissal for cause.
I definetly think it's being partially promoted by unauthentic accounts, because it just doesn't feel organic. My hunch is probably Iran, as Iran has been instigating Israel-Gaza protests and discourse for the past 1-2 years now [0] in retaliation for the 2022-23 Iranian protests.
[0] - https://apnews.com/article/gaza-war-protests-iran-foreign-in...
shermantanktop
This site is pretty much silent on what the specific goals or demands are.
comeonbro
You already know.
https://generalstrikeus.com/aboutus
> What are your demands?
> Our broad list of demands includes, but is not limited to: Climate action. Universal healthcare. Racial justice. Reproductive rights. LGBTQIA+ rights. Living wage / raise the minimum wage. Immigration reform. Education reform. Gun safety. Tax the rich. Affordable housing. Disability rights. Welfare and child support reform. Voters rights. Constitutional convention. Paid family and medical leave. Criminal justice system reform. Workers’ rights. Permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
> Specific demands will come from leaders and experts of existing fights for racial, economic, gender and environmental justice.
nozzlegear
I don't want to disparage any of these specific demands, I agree with a lot (not all) of them, but put together they're so overly broad as to be a pipe dream. They might as well say they want to start a new political party that's slightly to the left of the Democrats.
The one thing that does stick out to me though is the Constitutional Convention. This is a bizarre ask, and it must be how they see their demands being passed into, not only law, but an amendment to the Constitution. The problem is calling a convention is so difficult† that their strike will last, essentially, forever. The last and only time we had a convention was in 1787.
† This graphic illustrates the difficulty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_to_propose_amendmen...
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umeshunni
When you see racial/women's/LGBTQ rights and Gaza in the same sentence you know how out of touch these organizers are.
horsebridge
With such a wide set of goals, this won't go far. They are limiting themselves to people that agree with all of that.
c0brac0bra
Is it just "We refuse to work until the country conforms to our left-wing ideologies"?
null
rufus_foreman
"> Our broad list of demands includes, but is not limited to: Climate action. Universal healthcare. Racial justice. Reproductive rights. LGBTQIA+ rights. Living wage / raise the minimum wage. Immigration reform. Education reform. Gun safety. Tax the rich. Affordable housing. Disability rights. Welfare and child support reform. Voters rights. Constitutional convention. Paid family and medical leave. Criminal justice system reform. Workers’ rights. Permanent ceasefire in Gaza."
Lol.
"Hey, Johnny, what are you striking against?"
"What've you got?"
nejsjsjsbsb
Does this kind of big bang organisation work versus something more organic?
What I mean is this idea you get 11M to commit then they'll do it and not chicken out.
arnonejoe
At best you would get a few random people from each company to strike with less of an impact to workforce participation than the seasonal flu.
qntty
Collecting names without revealing theirs and vague demands. Seems like a fed honeypot.
britch
This is some nonsense.
I think this funimendimentally misunderstands what a strike is and how it works. When collective bargaining works, it's because you can force a negotiation with an owner or boss. A group can prevent the business from making money until the owners come to the table.
Having a bunch of people walk off the job for a day might make some kind of statement, calling it a general strike is a bit embarrassing from my perspective. This is a protest of a sort, but with no clear message or goal
7thpower
I’m getting some strong Kony vibes here.
sandboxdev
You can't just demand a general strike, you have to work for years with actual labor unions. Tech workers largely aren't unionized (and have no incentive to do so)
so good luck, but unless you do the sustained ground work it'll be the same call i've seen for the past decade with no meat behind it
pfdietz
Wow, this is some new kind of silly.
Let me know when the strike is supposed to happen so I can laugh when nothing happens.
moralestapia
This reeks of manipulation and propaganda.
I'm not opposed to the idea of strikes but ... why would I join a movement when it's not clear to me what I'm signing up for.
Check it out, nowhere in their site, nowhere in their media, nowhere in their comms do they lay out exactly what such demands are.
>Research shows We need 3.5% of the population, OR 11 million Americans, to be successFul
(typos from the original source)
What does it mean "to be succesful"? Who gets to win what, how, and why?
>A strike of 11 million people means people of every race, gender and ability must come together to win.
(from their "Values" page)
Again, what exactly does it mean to win?
These questions should be answered in the opening paragraph of the site. If they don't do it it's because they are either extremely incompetent or have a covert motivation. Both reasons make me want to stay away from this movement.
yonatan8070
"You couldn't get 11 million people to strike at once"
"50$ I can."
2OEH8eoCRo0
Probably backed by some adversary IMO
KaiserPro
ok, but what are you striking for?
I mean I can guess, but the site doesn't make it clear.
I would gently suggest that you need to focus on your messaging more. You need, like MAGA a key goal.
> As we near our critical goal of 11M strikers we will finalize our demands and prepare for Strike Day.
If you're going to ask 11 million people to commit to striking, shouldn't they know what they're striking for? Committing to a strike is an enormous commitment and risk - how can I possibly sign this if, when push comes to shove, the demands end up being like "coal workers will get a $0.10 raise through additional subsidies" or something. They don't seem to even have a hint of what they will demand.
The idea of a general strike has enormous power, but this in particular seems like a recipe for disappointment.