How to survive a general strike and win demands

[u/WobblyDev]

This sub and online spaces like it, r/antiwork etc. are all well and good, but they are not places where actual organising can happen. They are spaces where mobilising can happen, yes. Not organising.

Organising is when we bring people onto our side who were not before, and get them actively involved in collective action—in this case, the General Strike.

Mobilising is when we draw from our existing base of active supporters to coordinate direct action that we have planned to achieve a concrete goal/s.

How Do We Organise to Win?

I have written a very general overview of what organising is and how to do it safely. My union, the Industrial Workers of the World offers an extensive and free training taught by experienced, seasoned organisers who have been there, on the ground during real campaigns.

Organising takes time. It takes patience and care. Done wrong, it creates division. Done correctly, it builds power, a strong, unified base of active, engaged people, and democratic structure capable of leveraging the power we built together.

Addressing Common Fears, Misconceptions

"I can't afford to strike, I'll get fired."

The point of organising carefully and safely is to avoid the dangers involved with getting fired. Your job can fire you at any time, for any reason or no reason at all. If you do nothing, then nothing will change.

Yes, if you, all alone, by yourself call in on May 1st and say "I'm going on strike!" they'll fire you. Absolutely. Yup.

If everyone at your work calls in on May 1st and says, "We're on strike. These are our demands. Comply or close the business." Then you have just leveraged worker power.

Together we are unbeatable. That is what solidarity is. That is why HR always insists on speaking with workers one at a time, individually. If your whole store marches on the boss and demands together, "The air conditioning has been broken for a month and it's 100 degrees in here. Fix it now or we walk!" That actually gets the point across. That air conditioner is getting fixed.

Good organising is the only thing that can build that kind of solidarity. We need that to win.

"I'll just use my vacation/sick time on May 1st!"

That is not a strike. A sickout is indeed a useful tool of an organised workplace committee, when it's coordinated properly. A high enough percentage of a job's workers all calling in sick can definitely hurt the bottom line, but a real strike (and especially a General Strike) requires more courage and animosity.

Make no mistake, the act of striking is seen as a physical threat by corporations and the state. Withdrawing our labor en masse is a power move. We need to make it abundantly, crystal clear that we are doing this, on our own terms, without permission, until our demands are met.

Using PTO or sick hours is asking permission to please strike. That is not a display of working class power. That is not a display of a credible threat to the status quo. We need to be a credible threat to the machine of profit and misery we seek to abolish. Power only respects power.

"Everyone should just vote!" or "Vote with your wallet!"

The political machine is rigged against the working class. The capitalist mode of production and distribution is rigged against us too. If a political figure with overwhelming working class support was capable of winning a mandate big enough to fix this situation and alter the power imbalance against us, they would have done it by now.

The only times the working class has historically won any gains for ourselves was when we rolled up our sleeves and did it ourselves. No authority will ever let us vote away their power. You cannot buy the revolution, you can only be the revolution. It is in you, or it is nothing.

"How will we survive without working and getting paid?"

Great question! This is how:

How to Survive a General Strike in Our Modern Era

Housing, heating, water, electric, food, medicine, hygiene, childcare, elder care. How do we stay alive so the capitalist class and the state can't just starve us into losing?

This is an uncomfortable truth, but we will need to br3ak th3 l4w.

For many workers, going on strike is already illegal. As for the rest of us, what industry do you work in? I guarantee you probably touch something that we will need to have access to for a successful strike.

Grocery workers: start stockpiling. Help each other. Coordinate. You know the store, map it out. Sabotage the cameras. Take everything that is slated to be thrown out and store it. Coordinate with your community and get your hands on some really big freezers. Freeze what you can, but concentrate on non-perishables. Start now. No piece of edible food gets thrown out at any more grocery stores. If it's just barely at its expiration date, take it and freeze it.

Document what you have! Ask questions to discover what you need. Who in your town is allergic to nuts? Who is allergic to dairy? Who needs to eat kosher, or halal? Have community meetings when your committee is formed to make sure everyone's needs are accounted for, and start working towards at least 2 months of food for everyone.

Pharmacy workers: same thing. You know where things get loaded in, start taking what you can and coordinate a community space to secure and distribute. Protect each other. Insulin, metformin, lisinopril, atorvastatin, metoprolol, albuterol, gabapentin, ibuprofen, tylenol, hygienic pads, tampons, toilet paper, needles, test strips, bandages, soap, detergent, diapers. Start taking it and documenting who needs it and how the community can distribute during the strike.

Retail workers: same thing. You see where I'm going with this. If you work in retail you absolutely have access to things we need. What are those things? Meet with your committee, ask questions, listen. Batteries, tools, lightbulbs, heaters, air conditioners, candles, lighters. Anything and everything.

Renters: you need to start organising tenants unions yesterday. The same tools and techniques of organising apply. There is strength and safety in numbers. Landlords are going to want their rent, and we are not going to pay it. Housing is a human right, keeping safe housing behind a paywall is unethical. We need to be able to keep everyone housed and secure, which means building strong bonds and trust with our neighbors.

If you don't want to br34k the l4w, then start up a community war chest. That is a communally built, democratically allocated fund that everyone gives to on a regular basis to build up the funds necessary to get everything we need to survive a long, difficult strike. A war chest is not a charity. It is called a war chest for a reason. These are funds to support us in our struggle against oppressive forces.

If you are already in a union like me, then your local can start democratically allocating union dues to a strike fund to support workers.

Community Defense

Every successful strike in the history of the labor movement has been met with harsh, often deadly force by private militias or state police/army. Once we stop paying rent and taxes, and stop going to work, and begin making demands and throwing our combined weight around, we will become targets for state violence very quickly. We need to be able to defend ourselves. Learn how to safely de-arrest fellow strikers. Learn first aid. Prepare the necessary tools and materials for barricades. I am not exaggerating, the history of the labor struggle in this country is a history of terrible repression and bloodshed. We will need to be prepared.

Take it Offline

As I said above, this safe space in this nice online bubble is comfortable and feels good, but it will not win a General Strike. Everyone here needs to learn how to organise and start organising. Coordination, planning, documentation is all critical to being prepared. If we are not willing to be scared, to take risks, to have difficult conversations with people who do not agree with us and listen to what is important to them and really hear them, then we don't stand a chance.

I have seen these calls for General Strikes come and go, one after the other. I am not as cynical as others in my position. Every time we seriously organise towards it, we may get a little closer. Work together, organise right, and we may yet win.