#general strike

renthony:

renthony:

renthony:

I’m not opposed to the Etsy strike but I think people have forgotten that a true strike doesn’t end until some sort of resolution has been made. The Kellogg’s strike, for example, didn’t have an announced end date. The workers were on strike indefinitely until certain conditions were met.

I worry that giving such a clear, hard end date to the Etsy strike is probably just sending the message to Etsy that their profits will dip for a week and then go right back to normal.

I get that a lot of people can’t afford to close their shops for even a week, but as a union member with the IWW, I really think the first step really should be to organize under a freelance artists’ union so there can be shit like a strike fund, clear communication, and clear demands coming from a centralized force.

IDK, I’m not the most educated person in the world, so maybe I’m off-base, but from where I’m standing, the constant calls for a “general strike” that are really just a planned protest,not a true strike, feel like they’re kind of kneecapping actual strike efforts at times.

I was catching up on my TikTok feed this morning and came across a video talking about the strike organizers “coming up with ways to support people during the strike.”

That’s…not something you should be figuring out afteryou call for a strike. That’s like the first thing you figure out, before you even thinkabout calling for a strike.

This isn’t a strike, it’s a scheduled boycott.

#that’s true but a scheduled boycott can still be a labor tactic

Oh, absolutely, that’s why I said in the OP that I’m not againstthe Etsy strike, even if I have my criticisms. I’m not going to tell people not to do it or that it’s completely futile. I genuinely hope it catches Etsy’s attention.

My issue is mostly that I think there’s been a muddying of the waters about what strikes are, how they work, and how they’re organized. It’s why you see calls across social media every six months for a “general strike” that has no actual core organization, no strike fund, no clear demands, and absolutely no information about how to access support while striking. It’s extremely wishful thinking that puts several carts before the horse.

Strikes can be a powerful and important tool for workers’ rights, but calling every action a “strike” or trying to go right to striking without the right foundation feels like an issue that should be talked about, imo.

gagatha-krispy:

bigboibolshephile:

goldhornsandblackwool:

goldhornsandblackwool:

So the country’s idiot leaders, death cultists that they are, are pushing for reopening, even as the death tolls are spiking. Small (and not so small) business owners tired of not siphoning off consumer money are falling in line, expressing their irritation with the stay at home orders and too selfish and ignorant to take fault- if any- with the government that has refused to actually give money to the people in any decent way, instead throwing it all at bailing out airlines and shit.

A vast majority of people want to continue staying at home, because the Coronavirus is nowhere near restrained and circulating will increase the risk of contagion for all of us, and put further strain on our healthcare workers.

So here’s the thing: Capitalists want us back in the shops. They want people to die for money. They are blinded by greed, and we don’t want to catch or spread Covid19. 

So can we all make a point to spread the word and encourage people to refrain from ending any stay-at-home orders-

-Do not go to restaurants or non-essential businesses

-Do not return to work (if possible)

-Do not ease up on physical distancing measures

-Do EXACTLY as you have been doing for the past month or so because Covid19 is *just now* peaking and is nowhere near over

-RESOLVE NOT TO DIE FOR A DOLLAR

Putting pressure on the country to return to work just because people who want your money are tired of not getting it is ridiculous, and THEY are lacking serious empathy. This has been stressful and dangerous for all of us, it is unconscionable that a bunch of non-essential business owners and even more just plain entitled privileged people are literally throwing a tantrum like selfish children because they’re ~tired of having to care about other people~ more than their bottom line and their personal convenience.

Any thoughts, ideas, additions? I know a lot of people feel this in their hearts but in a situation where the Entitled Minority is willing to organize and shout it out I think people  who want to stay-at-home should have some sort of interior movement as well, to bolster people’s fortitude, encourage them to stick it out, and show solidarity with all manner of workers who would unfairly be put on the front lines at the highest risk just because capitalists have no empathy.

 Reopening the country would also put other business owners at steeper risk, as once businesses are considered ‘reopened’ they will be expected to pay rent again, despite the crisis and whether or not they reopen. Furthermore healthcare and food service workers are dying at a ridiculous rate due to exposure– we should absolutely NOT ‘open up the country’ no matter what no matter what no matter what.

Don’t Die For A Dollar.

Hey everyone what’s up, here’s this post again but this time with https://www.genstrike.org/ let’s rb and act in solidarity. Rich ppl are off the shits and capitalism must be buried.

Fucking stomp out the idea that we’re ready to go back to normal. We’re not, & operating under the assumption will skyrocket the risk for every single person in the country. Fuck these entitled sons of bitches.

I’m seeing a lot of ineffectual discourse about how to shame fascists or get their hearts to work: they’ve got a million body count *for money* in the past 2 years, they don’t care, they barely care when it’s them.

You either commit to what rights you want and understand that it may be uncomfortable for you to apply those rights to all… Then you strike.

General strike: not for background checks for x when y. Get rid of your guns and family guns except for 1 powerless 2 bullet rifle for farmers so that only “bad people” own guns. Then General Strike for Australia-like gun repeal. General strike for the gender equality act, General strike for racial justice, the filibuster, for white supremacy to be considered treason-terrorism and rooted out of all places of power, for seperation of church and state, for free healthcare, better veteran care, full bodily autonomy. And strike for ALL OF THAT AT ONCE: you want to be a first world country? Demand that the charter of human rights supersede all economic interests and your ancient flawed constitution.

Cripple the roads, cripple the tv and internet, cripple the airports, (BTW if you’re a cripple, you probably already have done stunts like occupying an office until you get a document for survival), cripple essential services and serve the poor for free on your employers dime. Not just Washington DC, EVERYWHERE.

And if your efforts reveal that your country is just a junta based on a slave owners document. Then you the people decide what kind of country you want.

I made merit badges for quitting a toxic job. Redbubble has a policy against offensive language on apparel, so there’s a censored version.

Probably the smartest thing I ever did was lea e the job that was slowly killing me.

Here it is on a pin.

Quit your toxic job merit badge Pin by leebradford

Capitalism is a death cult that treats the economy like some ethereal lovecraftian entity that requires human lives sacrificed to satiate its eternal hunger and maintain it’s endless growth of profits .

And any attempt to reopen early May is just making another human sacrifice to try and take with wind out of the sails of the General Strike.

Through solidarity, we can build a better world, together.

Refuse to be a sacrifice in their death cult.

Stay home.

hmmm i wonder if the price of US crude oil falling LITERALLY into the negatives due to absolutely no demand rn miiiiight be why the conservatives financially controlled by big oil are ready to just mask off commit genocide to reopen the economy hmmmmmmmm

Pretty much none of these “new” problems were created by COVID, they’re intrinsic to capitalism.

They’ve always been there, COVID has only exasperated and exposed it in new ways.

Stop asking when things will go back to normal.

Normal is just looking the other way to ignore the genocide of capitalism

my gf instigated a walk out over unsafe work conditions , on marx’s birthday none the less, and i couldn’t be more proud rn tbh 

..Boomers, gen x, if these are your arguments, try using an inflation calculator, because according to you, “burger flippers” today should be getting a lot more than $15 an hour. Do you pick up what *you* are putting down?

I’ll give the boomer (in this scenario) their due though- 3 dollars was NOT a thriving wage in 1965. ….Just as its equivalent today, $26.38, isn’t either. They would, however, get you by. And by in large, we haven’t even been asking for nearly that much.

When implementing minimum wage, northern Dems/progressives were set on the minimum wage being a lot higher than it was eventually settled on, but, shocker, Southern Republicans and Dems weren’t having it. For them, it meant giving some black people and poor white people non poverty wages, and losing even more profit since chattel slavery was officially abolished. But Congress did end up implementing a minimum wage, (as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938), and it was significant in fixing the staggering wealth inequality and building what became a robust (mostly white) middle class. The times conservatives ironically refer to as when we were great were when we were notably as close as we have gotten to a social democracy.

The minimum wage stopped going up with inflation/cost of living in 1968, though, and it wasn’t until 2009 that Dems barely bumped it up within 2 years to …what it still is now. Lol And, overall, it certainly hasn’t gone up with productivity. Considering just these things, the current minimum wage should be at least $25.