It's against federal law, for one (as has been explained here and nauseum) and as the article linked below so clearly explains just "calling a strike" is insufficient.

Can you get 10 people, at a minimum,at your job to go on strike with you? Do that, organize your own workplace, then you can start telling people to go on strike.

https://www.reddit.com/r/union/s/wF5Vg7U6te

Just a quick tip to all you ex-Twitter kiddies who think a general strike is The Answer:

You are never going to get a general strike in the foreseeable future.

Getting millions of workers all across the workforce on board with striking together would take an enormous act of organization, the likes of which has not been seen since the early 20th century. I'm not talking about the labor movement, which absolutely dwarfs anything that's being done today, but the WW2 mobilization. (Which, to be clear, was driven by the government with support from the media and companies who stood to gain from wartime production demand, absolutely none of which you will have on your side as you attempt to organize a general strike.)

As I understand it, only 6% of private sector employees are unionized. Only 6%! That's your indicator for the strength of worker organizing in the US right now. The recent uptick in union activity has not substantially changed that number - in other words, no matter how much you think people are "waking up", in actual fact the needle hasn't perceptibly moved.

Even those 6% are not organized as a bloc. Not all the unions are on board, there's no single plan or date set, they can't get all the contracts to line up and there are legal barriers to striking while some of those contracts are in force, etc. This is even more true for public sector union members who don't have market dynamics/profit motive on their side and who are much more likely to have their rights voted down or legislated away at a moment's notice.

Not to mention that many of those union workers don't necessarily want to strike for some abstract political project. A general strike may make perfect sense to you, but it doesn't to millions of people who just want to do their job, get paid, and live their lives - and it's not a magic wand that will somehow get rid of all the corruption, put corporations and the wealthy in their proper place, and deliver some barely-imagined quasi-socialist utopia. What are you even striking for? What are your demands? I think you will find, once you have to actually list them, that most of you don't actually know what your demands are, nor do you collectively agree on what they should be. In any case, that conversation has not been had with all the unionized workers, and it is not being had now.

Then there are the other 94% of private sector workers who are, in effect, not organized at all. There's zero chance of them striking, aside from a few young lefty edgelords with nothing to lose. Most workers couldn't afford to strike anyway; how will you support them and their families while they walk off the job, and how can you ensure their job will still be there when the strike ends? Oh right, you can't do any of that.

As you contemplate organizing this population, keep in mind that most Americans have spent their entire lives inside the largest, loudest, best-funded right wing propaganda machine since the end of widespread rule by hereditary nobility. The Enlightenment gave the power of the nobility to the wealthy in the hope that some of it might pass to the people, and today both the far-right and neoliberal projects (in other words, both major political parties) seek to complete the transformation to full plutocracy. We have no revolutionary culture here as they do in Iceland or France. Throwing shoes into the machine of capitalism and taking to the streets is the furthest thing from most Americans' minds.

No one who has even a basic understanding of these issues would believe that a general strike is possible. Therefore, the only people who advocate for general strikes are clueless fools.

Don't be a clueless fool.

edit: Thanks for all the comments, folks. The amount of sheer delusion and immediate kneejerk dismissal I saw here confirms my main thesis: "General strike" is code for "I have no idea WTF I'm talking about". If you were trying to make me feel dumb, I'm afraid you had the exact opposite effect, because I feel vastly smarter than you now.

For those few of you who agreed with the basic truths I've posted here, I have bad news: almost everyone around you is a cultist drunk on childish fantasies about popular uprisings.

And for those of you who agreed with my statements but objected to my tone, you can be the change. Post your own critique of general strike messaging. I don't think you will.

edit edit: Honestly, seeing all of this blind, unreasoning faith in a completely unrealistic scenario does a lot to explain why unions, labor organization, and left politics generally are at their lowest point in a century. The fact that almost none of you have working bullshit meters and are incapable of understanding why a general strike is fairytale nonsense even when it is explained to you means that your chances of doing anything effective, or even knowing what to do, are practically zero. You are useless, dead weight, basically cosplaying. Much like the Democratic Party - which, I think, most of you also still support - you are an infinite sink for time, money, and energy. No wonder the right is winning; they have no competition.

The real hilarious ones are those of you slobbering on Shawn Fain, as if he's some kind of genius great leader who will lead labor to victory. Sure, he led a pretty successful strike... in one industry which is heavily unionized, and has been since the old days. But if a general strike is impossible (and it is now, and it will still be in 2028), and he's promising a general strike, then he's either deluded or a grifter. Probably the second, because delusion doesn't generally put you in a leadership position. And you're following him? I've seen people call for him to run for office. Yeah, that's just what we need: another grifter in Washington to lead well-meaning suckers back into the Dem veal pen.

For starters,

I am a M(33), married to my high school sweetheart, and have two children. I live in California.

I do not wish to cause any political debate or anything like that.

The Democratic Party has been nothing but poor excuse to make changes. These goddamn centrist idiots treat politics like business as usual, we’re sick of it. It’s no wonder 14+ million Americans voters didn’t show up to the polls. Until, they’re serious about change, shit like this will continue to happen. Do I feel Kamala ran a good campaign? Yes to a degree. What cost her the race was the Latino vote. I myself am Latino, and a majority of Latinos unfortunately happen to be very conservative. It was basically Hillary again but worse. And course not being more involved about the Israel-Palestine conflict. She basically allowed Rashida Tlaib to be censored, which basically in the end bit her in the ass. And caused the undecided voters to not vote at all.

As for now Mr. 47, I didn’t vote for you, I don’t like you, but Congratulations are in order I guess. Now, If you truly want to “make america great again,” can you please provide a real policy for healthcare before cutting millions of Americans off from their existing healthcare? Can you please provide a plan to bring Congress to raise the minimum wage? Can you please provide tax cuts from the middle class for once? Can you stop the price gauging from the so called “deep state corporate elites?” Will you actually “protect women?” Do you plan to really Terminate the constitution? I guess only time will tell. Just do me a favor, and keep the economy afloat at this point. It’s basically being repaired and somehow sinking at the same time. That’s all I ask from you.

At this point, I’m just sick of politics in general because it has done nothing cause even more division between families. Especially my own. I’ve cut off all ties with family members, friends, neighbors who I thought were “childhood buddies.” Yes, they’re Mad Trumpers. And yes they really make it their “personality.” I don’t need anymore negativity in my life. I’ve been through enough, and it’s not like they ever helped me with my struggles either.

I have also unfollowed everything political from all my socials, but I’m debating whether or not to delete them all. Except here. I feel here theirs a more neutral place to unload any weight that’s been on your shoulders and just let it go.

From this point forward, I am going to take one day at a time, provide for my family, and be more involved in my family life with my wife and two boys without politics getting me down. I’m starting a new job next week. I’ve been unemployed since December of last year. I’m part of a union as well. Starting pay is reasonable but the pay bumps up every year or two til the max and room for growth.

Again, I only hope to hear neutral feedback. I am done with listening to politics Until it actually starts to really affect me & my family. I will continue to vote for my local & state governments because that’s where it matters most, even more than the Presidency. Whoever I vote for will be the best candidate I believe will be the right choice for the job, if he or she wins, then cool, if not oh well.

You maybe confused as to why labor unions are a political plural landscape. Part of the reason, is that neither party has historically been good for labor. More often than not they have out right destroyed unions and jobs. This is a bipartisan position, especially over the past few decades. That’s why Biden can claim to be the most progressive labor president in history. When the bar, for being pro labor, is in hell; it ain’t very difficult to get over.

I’ve linked a pretty decent episode that covers a lesser known event from labor history. This is for the folks that don’t know, IYK great. Listen while you work.

Lots of hate, I think unfairly, has been directed at Teamsters President Sean O'Brien for speaking at the RNC. While it's reasonable to disagree with his decision, he gave a pro-labor message to what presumably would be an anti-Union crowd, and Teamsters have not actually endorsed Trump (or Harris) at this point.

That said, my question: who should decide unions' political endorsements? Should it be union leadership, or should membership decide? Certainly, many Teamsters (and Auto Workers, and Machinists, etc.) have different political views than their leaders. If membership doesn't strongly support a candidate, why endorse at all?

(To clarify preemptively: I'm not a Republican or suggesting unions should endorse Republicans)

It's not untrue, it just isn't a key point in the arguments for unions. The point, "they achieved things in the past," actually feeds directly into one of the biggest anti-union talking points there is: We don't need unions anymore. They are a relic of the past.

So please find new points to make. Talk about higher wages, democracy in the workplace, a share of profits, protection from bad bosses, etc. Talk about everything else. Give the weekend / 8 hour day / holidays point a rest.

Let me know if you agree or disagree.

Thank you, that is all. Please get back to enjoying the weekend that unions achieved for you.

Many working class people have chosen not to vote for either party, but there is a growing consensus for some unions in supporting Biden, especially as Trump is backing a political coup that would hurt labor. However, I believe a vote for Biden is just as bad for the working class.

This does not mean I want Trump. I am in complete agreement that we can't have Trump in office. We all agree that Fascism is bad. However, I think it's important to emphasize that it's already too late to avoid an anti-union, pro-fascist state. Doesn't matter if you vote blue or red they both bleed Fascist. The far Right has won, and they did a while ago.

They completely eradicated workers rights through the Taft-Hartly Act, dismantled unions through globalization, destroyed every worker movement abroad, bombed millions of people, killed hundreds of thousands of people, created a militarized surveillance police state, destabilized the global south and then refuses to take their migrants unless they do slave labor, created the #1 incarcerated population in the world, and said population is forced to do slave labor.

These are things that by and large both parties agree with. Because both of these parties are bought by the exact same people. These parties are for Billionaires to fight over their wants and needs. And these mother fuckers are hell bent on controlling the world abroad enslaving Congolese people, and perpetuating endless wars for profit.

Bro we have been Fascists for a long time, now it's just finally turning inward and we're starting to feel it ourselves. It's too late to fix it from within. The politicians are already bought and paid. The only way to save Democracy is by taking it back. Organize. Mutual Aid. Strike.

One may be inclined to argue that we can buy time by electing a slightly left leaning fascist that doesn't prioritize the increasing of Fascism growing from within the imperial core of the American Empire. But this line of reasoning fails to see the scope of the far-right and the many battles they have already won. Fascism has been here for a long time for the marginalized groups in our society. Many groups of people, who White Americans conveniently choose to ignore, have been dealing with Fascist policies for decades.

We see this through the genocide we have committed on these lands, through the continuing systemic problems of racism and police brutality. We see this for the inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants, and the continued use of slave labor through the prison system.

I cannot vote for Biden in good coincidence. The American government has complete and total hegemonic power. This means Biden has the political, economic, legal, and physical power to stop the Israeli government from continuing their genocide. This means Biden is directly responsible for these actions, and it should anger you that such an evil man could even exist. How could someone with all the power of the world, who sees the same fucking images we see. Allow for this to go on.

He sees the children's limbs cut from their body with no pain medication. He sees the women and children slowly dying under the rubble from the bombs his country supplies to Israel. He sees a grandfather weep over the death of his granddaughter who he calls, "The soul of my soul." He sees servicemen so horrified by our government's actions, and feeling so voiceless, that the only thing they could do was to light themselves on fire, screaming for someone to finally free Palestine. Biden saw that and he still refuses to do anything.

Not to mention the countless other war crimes and racist laws Biden has openly and willfully supported. Dude wrote the crime bill, and bragged about creating Israel for the purpose of perpetuating America's interests in the Middle East. He openly supports Zionism. Zionism, a political ideology built on the premise of European Colonialism. An ideology that could be described as the bedrock institution for obliterating our class.

The working class at one time had real, legitimized political power. Globally these were realized through socialist revolutions across the globe. Here in the United States, through decades of militant union organizing, the working class became a force. The economic dreams that our elders talk about were all won by these decades of union organizing and sacrifice.

When the American working class first organized, they were able to gain some influence over the American political process. They bought themselves an FDR and a few governors. Maybe a supreme Court guy here and there. But as soon as we started to win, it was pulled away through actions like globalization. As the United States destabilized the global south, they also turned those counties worker's workers into wage slaves. What we call "globalization" in the United States, is just a propagandized way of saying you conquered the world politically and economically through decades of war, bombing, etc.

Unions believe that an injury to one worker is an injury to all workers. That is because our class only has power when we stand in solidarity which then gives us the power to influence the political and economic aspects of our government. So we cannot and will not stand by while our President murders our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We will not vote for a man who allows his corporations to enslave workers around the world. We will not cooperate with a man who is bought and paid for by billionaires.

I don't know how my vote is going to shape out. I will utilize my vote in some way, but it will not ever be a vote for either major party. However, I will continue to work towards things I believe will actually help improve the material conditions of our class. Organizing in the community and work place. Growing the unionization of all workers in every sector of the economy. Building mutual aid groups, and continuing to protest and disrupt the government from continuing its Fascists endeavors abroad.

In the end it doesn't matter if it's right or left. Because the real conflict isn't between ideologies or political philosophies. Ideas don't change and move the world. Money does. So in reality the conflict is the Ruling Class Vs. the Working Class. Vote for the interests of your class, not the interests of competing ruling class ideologies.

It goes much deeper than the working class just being ignorant or backwards or something. Vivek states early on in the podcast that the working class will not be organized from without but from within. Not from being studied but from organizers integrating themselves in our communities. He goes on to talk more about the role unions and the working class have to play in a movement towards socialism or AT LEAST a politics centered around workers.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7w0dhobLrOcBwVSA6vCxnZ?si=eIRaHFunQxmwHpnuhNINpw&t=1605&pi=qiOOAuFwRgqkk.

Edit: this is Vivek Chibber, not whatever capitalist swine who shares the same first name.

Just started a new job in WV doing security, sat through the presentation from the union president. At the end he asked around for who wanted to join and 3 of the 7 of us declined, i was one of the 3. When asked how it would benefit me individually, the only thing he could come up with was "well the $33/hr you're getting is because of the union". If im getting the same pay whether i'm a member or not, technically making more if im not because im not losing out on money because of dues. What is the point in being a member?

😞

Employers tend to not pay us according to our value produced but tend to pay stockholders according to how much the company grows, not to mention stockholders influence and vote over the companies' decisions more than most employees, therefore I believe employees should buy their companies' stocks as another way of reclaiming their rights, and I also believe one of the steps to unionizing your job should be gathering money to buy stocks.

My post discussing people's disdain for a general strike was locked due to a claim that it breaks rule #9. Which makes no sense, as there was nothing about the post that was promoting "movements" which are organized online exclusively. It was merely a discussion post, so this sets a precedent that even mentioning a strike is considered slacktivism.

Additionally, the mod said only union-workers have the right to organize:

Unless you work for a union contractor or for a union company, you don’t have the right to talk about strikes.

We call that slackticism.

https://www.reddit.com/r/union/comments/1nj4beu/comment/neq8ncc/

Is this really how we feel here?

My work has recent let me go and both my and my union representatives feel their reason was wrongful and retaliation against me for speaking up. I was told to write a full statement of what happen and how everything happen in detail. So we can fight back. I wrote my statement but writing is never my strongest. If I use CHATGPT to edit my statement to make it more coherent and flow better and look more professional is that a mistake that can backfire on me.

I have a union job as a diesel mechanic at a city transit company and I am caught in crossroads.

They way it goes at my job is that there are the union employees (mechanics and bus drivers) and then there are the company administrators (supervisors or union employee overseers, middle management, the paper pushers, and then senior management). Both parties seem to be in constant conflict with each other. Even though I am a mechanic and a member of the union, I fill in on weekends as a supervisor (an overseer).

Being in this position you find out things about your fellow employees that are disturbing, to say the least, about their work habits, their absenteeism, and their quality of work. I am becoming disenfranchised about the idea of unions altogether.

As a supervisor I try to make the work environment as stress-free as possible, I just give people their work and not mess with them. I give the easiest tasks. As long as work is being done in a timely manner then I dont raise issue about fucking off at work. But you have some people who take advantage of your kindness and take that as reason to commit multible fireable offenses in rapid succession. I often find myself, a union employee, having to weigh reporting these people, thereby bringing myself into conflict with the union, or not reporting these people and having these people run roughshod all over me, probably even risking public safety, and setting a bad example to the workers who are doing the right thing. I dont know what to do.

I can't be the only one here, who is under a horrible Union President.

Why do so many Union leaders treat their Union underlings like shit? It is horrible at my workplace and the leaders are more worried about looking good for management

I'm a woman with a disability.I filed an accommodation thinking that would help me get picked on less, and my psychologist put her weight behind it. When I called HR they furloughed me immediately. I didn't have FMLA and they told me to get on unemployment. I went to the union, the vice president who's our business agent said that the company doesn't have time for people like me.

HR try to put me through some kind of interview of where to place me, my place was already secure, management told me to get an ADA accommodation in order to keep it in place that was the whole point of calling HR in the first place.

I threatened to file a federal claim for discrimination within the 180 day time limit. I got rehired the next week.

I never joined the union after that, what is the point? I keep having problems with certain people at work and the male supervisors, I feel like they're trying to get me to explode so they can fire me and humiliate me at the same time.

One incident that happened involved a coworker and the supervisor for the area where they asked me to specifically come and help them that week.. I did my best, it's the heaviest part of all the areas. My coworker started spouting stuff that had nothing to do with work but had to do with my family personally, I have a daughter that works at this company as well on a different shift. I didn't really hear what he were saying cuz it's really loud in there, and then he asked me if I hated Jews. Lol. I told him I love challah bread, which I do, I don't hate anybody. I could kind of tell what was happening when the supervisor came by and asked me to collect my things and go take a break. I'm kind of in disbelief. I told the full-time manager and he didn't respond to me or my feelings. I had been coming to work in some kind of autoimmune disorder flare for the past 3 weeks, and I left for home instead of staying there. This happened about a week ago, I've been on short-term disability since. I feel bad for using their healthcare now that I am on the system, I called the ethics line because I didn't feel like my full-time manager was going to do anything about it and the Union would never do anything about it because they don't have my back. I used my name so they know it's me, they're going to know it's me anyways because I was targeted.

What is going on at work? What are they doing?

For the most part work goes well, I'm good at my job, and I actually like the work. What is happening here? Is there racketeering going on between the union and management? What are they afraid of? I live in a red state, right to work state. I don't know too much about politics in the US, I'm an immigrant, single mom trying to make it for my kids. I don't feel like this place is too democratic. We have no Union steward on our shift, it's a new place, they don't pay me enough to do battle for them.

*I didn't know what to put for a flare I put solidarity, but I guess I'm asking questions also