I just found out about it today from twitter and tiktok and so far it seems incredibly unorganized. From my brief understanding I guess it’s supposed to be a nationwide strike against paying rent and bills. Some believe this strike is a psyop as one of the organizers is using odd and even coded language that may suggest they’re a conservative/right-wing in general. It also feels like it came out of nowhere, to me for a strike like this to work there must be months and months of planning and setting up mutual aid because without that the strikers will suffer immensely especially those with disabilities.
Anyway I just wanted to know your thoughts and if you’ve even heard about all this.
Edit: here is the website for the strike!
Basically every year there’s a nebulous, decentralized call for a general strike, and everyone who posts about it is just hoping that they can manifest it into being and everyone will go on strike. There’s no preparation, no planning, no demands, no nothing. Just screaming “I declare… general strike” into the void like Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.
If there aren’t years of planning and organization I don’t trust a general strike. Maybe it’s genuinely intended. But that’s not the point. A psyop where everyone stops working or paying rent until demands are met is still a strike. A genuine push for people to strike where 20 people across the country participate is 20 evictions/firings. Strikes work because we work together, but in order for it to happen we have to trust everyone will do it and hold true to it.
Sounds like you’re agreeing with OP that this is at best an utterly poor attempt at a strike and at worst a troll trying to get people in trouble?
Definitely sounds most likely. A week of prep for a general strike is beyond pathetic for any serious organizer.
Never heard of it. On a cursory search I couldn’t find much about it. Is it in the USA? The dontpay.uk campaign may be a relevant recent pay strike to use as a case study.
If it materialises it could be cool to co-opt or develop further, but I’d like to read more about it beforehand.
I think several of my coworkers would have a stroke if the Union decided to announce a strike on a week notice, on TikTok
Correct me if I’m wrong but I heard that social media announcements are the very last step in a strike.
Depending on local laws, it might not be a great idea. There’s no general ‘right to strike’ in most places. Usually there are (thin) legal protections for participating in lawful industrial action. Without those protections, employers may be permitted to enact whatever punishment they like (lost wages, laying off, etc). Sometimes – especially outside lawful industrial action but sometimes within it, too – it’s even possible to be sued for losses suffered by the employer due to the worker’s action.
On the one hand, such anti-trade union laws make it harder to organise. On the other hand, the same laws make effective and organised industrial action a pre-requisite, so there’s a silver lining.
Personally, I think the only way there is going to be anything like a successful general strike in the west (that’s actually pulled off and ends up being effective) is by co-ordinating trade unions. There are some signs of that happening in some places; it’s inevitable once a tipping point of unions begin to grow and take action. It will take time.
Western unions are just starting to wet their feet again. They have to re-learn how to organise and build institutional capacity after four or five decades or more of atrophy. But they’re getting there. Stay fast and be careful comrade(s)!
I have not heard of it and also struggle to find anything on Google. This does sound interesting though, got any articles abt it?
Wikipedia may be a bit hit or miss sometimes, but here’s an article talking about rent strikes in general: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_strike So the phenomenon of rent strikes has been around for some time now.
I managed to find the website for the strike so I’ll link it here
Here are some tiktok videos about the strike:
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMjJJgW2a/
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMjJeRvsp/
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMjJJt62h/
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMjJeeAkD/
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMjJJ35xJ/
Honestly that website looks so trash that I don’t think it’s even related to this whole thing. At no point do they reference the 1st of September, and by looking at the archive they seem to have been around since January.
They also have no tangible demands and don’t clarify what kind of strike this is even supposed to be.
But on the tiktoks (God do those make me feel old), they also seem to not have any clear cut demands or strategy and to have only popped up recently. I doubt something like that on such a large scale could catch on in some 2 weeks, specially with no organisation support.
They also have some liquid nitrogen takes on striking (“this is not a political thing” or “use the strike to think about life”) that really reduces the credibility.
Doesn’t look like anything of value will immediately come out of this, but seems like yet another signal for the left parties (CPUSA, PSL, DSA) to start organising better general strike plans. A good place to start on demands would be just updating the BPP 10 point program to 21st century language, cuz I’m pretty sure a majority of Yankees agree with at least 7 of those 10, and not only just for black people.
Then set the date to a slightly further date like December. Christmas is always a great time to strike ;)
I linked the website because all the September 1st people are linking to it.
Oh yeah, I’m not blaming you. It just looks like they did a really bad website for something like this. No plan, no demands, just “strike now.” I can think of a myriad of reasons Stadians should be thinking of a general strike, but their reasons are just not tangible enough.
They have no solid foundation whatsoever. This “strike” will just put people in danger if they try to go through with it.
See that’s the thing, I’ve only seen it on tiktok and once on twitter (but I’ve been avoiding it more and more) so I can link some tiktok videos of it if you’d like.
Edit: also I am well aware of rent strikes and I’m fully supportive, it’s just this strike for September 1st is very unorganized and seems to have come out of nowhere. It looks like a general strike as in no rent, no bills, no shopping, no work, no school, etc.
Oh wtf xDD I’ll gladly accept any tiktok link u can offer, seems entertaining. What kind of ideology is that; no school, no shopping?Anarcho-Capitalism? Literally never heard of anything like it. Especially if it’s gaining in traction i’d like to know abt it at least o.O
Striking isn’t a political slant all on its own, outside of a “leftward” slant because it’s siding with workers. Though “the left” includes a HELL of a lot of not very left ideologies right now because the Overton Window is dangerously far right right now.
