DEVELOP THE GENERAL STRIKE

What is a general strike?

 

A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working and shopping, with the intent of applying maximum pressure to local and federal governments (and the corporations that fund their campaigns) to demand broad social, political and economic changes.

 

Who should participate?

 

When we fight together, we win. We are calling on all workers, all students, and everyone in between to participate in a general strike: stop working, stop shopping, and start participating in civil disobedience campaigns.

 

Who is calling for a general strike and why?

 

In 2025, we saw the federal government, under the Trump administration, increase the funding and power of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.

ICE has been terrorizing our communities by detaining people who are seeking a better life, harassing our Latino comrades, and even publicly executing Americans on our streets. Very few communities have had it worse than Minneapolis, which saw significant ICE mobilization, mass deportations, the killing of civilians, and even the use of force against school children and other residents. 

 

In response, labor and community leaders in Minneapolis called for a general strike on January 23rd, 2026 to pressure the local and federal government to stop funding, aiding, and deploying ICE in their communities. This strike was observed by tens of thousands of people. The very next day, January 24, 2026 ICE shot and murdered another person, Alex Pretti, in broad daylight. 

 

This cannot stand. We’re calling for ALL workers, all students, and all people to stand up and say:

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“NO BUSINESS AS USUAL UNTIL WE ABOLISH ICE AND THE FASCIST AGENDA!”

 

Can this work?

 

Yes, general strikes have been a historically useful tool to bring about political and economic reforms.  

 

• 1893 Belgian General Strike: The first major strike, involving a quarter-million workers, secured universal male suffrage, though full, equal suffrage for all (including women) came much later after strikes in 1902 and 1913 pushed for further reforms.

• 1892 New Orleans General Strike: The first interracial general strike in US history, it brought together Black and white workers in a powerful display of solidarity that defied the prevailing segregationist norms to secure better working conditions.

• 1920 German General Strike: After a fascist coup besieged Berlin, 12 million German workers answered the call to launch a general strike, forcing the fascists to flee the country in disgrace. 

• 1934 U.S. General Strikes (San Francisco, Toledo, Minneapolis): Catalyzed the rise of industrial unionism (CIO), led to union recognition, better wages, and paved the way for the National Labor Relations Act.

• 1941 Amsterdam General Strike: A strike in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, where over 300,000 people walked out in protest against the persecution of Jewish residents.

• May 1968 French General Strike: Millions of workers and students demanded social and political reforms while occupying universities and workplaces and halting the economy for several weeks. The strike was so successful that the French president fled the country fearing revolution or civil war, although this never actually saw fruition as the strike leaders were at that point more interested in reforms.

 

What happened with the National Shutdown on January 30th?

 

The National Shutdown on January 30th was a call by national organizations to try to expand the general strike. While we agree it’s important to keep a general strike in the working class consciousness, it wasn’t given the time to succeed. A general strike in 2026 is not something that can be called for by an Instagram post, it must be built brick by brick through education, agitation and through organizing. A one day action is great, but the only thing that can really force the federal government to get ICE off our streets is a prolonged nation-wide general strike.

 

How can I support the continued efforts to develop the general strike?

 

A general strike becomes exponentially more decisive as more people support and participate however they can. Right now the idea of a general strike in Las Vegas is still in its infancy stage with most of its support in community organizations. In Minneapolis, it was a coalition of unions, religious leaders, and community activists. The real struggle will be building up the support for a general strike with these existing institutions to help us launch a general strike. We have to apply pressure and build support for a general strike by pushing these issues inside of these institutions, especially if we are members in these organizations. Additionally, we need to build up the support for a general strike in our community through consistent distribution of flyers and passing out additional information.

 

Some of the things we’re working on right now are:

 

• Holding regular community meetings

• Building a strike coalition of organizations and community leaders

• Printing and distributing thousands of flyers and zines

• Talking to other workers and community leaders about a general strike and building up our network

 

When will another general strike happen?

 

The timeline on when a general strike can happen is entirely on us, the people. While there is preliminary groundwork that needs to be laid out beforehand, dozens of organizers have begun to help us in our work. While the actions we’ve already taken have been very well received with most people understanding and supporting a sustained general strike, it’s really going to take all of us working towards the common goal. With the thousands of flyers we’ve already distributed we’ve already seen some progress–more people becoming familiar with the call for a general strike, more people openly discussing the need for a general strike, and overall a shift in their consciousness away from the two party system. The sooner and more efficiently we propagate this idea out there and convince the other community organizers to join us in our call, the sooner we can realize a general strike that’ll truly be effective. 

 

Will a general strike actually bring about the change we need?

 

While a general strike can be utilized to bring about reforms, we are all aware that the situation needs massive, radical change. Will a general strike bring about a revolution which strikes down the capitalist system and brings far reaching social safety nets to meet people’s needs? No.
 

However, a general strike can act as a preliminary action that instills working class consciousness, demonstrates our collective power, and paves the way for greater cooperation in our political struggle for socialism. This is the first time in about 80 years that the working class of this country can start building a mass movement that works together to struggle for common interests and dispel the manufactured, nonsensical political polarization that has crippled our ability to act in unison, while leaving corporations to buy up every politician and dictate recent decision that has been made in this country. This can be the start of a new working class political culture based on class interests rather than a culture war. It’s long overdue that we put the people in power on notice and develop dual power for ourselves and the empowerment of our class.