When We Refuse to Work, the Machine Stops: The Strategic Anatomy of a U.S. General Strike
What would a U.S. general strike really take? From history to strategy, here’s a blueprint for the most powerful weapon we still have: mass noncooperation.
SOURCE: Waging Nonviolence
Something is in the air: A perception that American democracy and livable conditions for working people may only be saved by the kind of large-scale nonviolent direct action variously called “general strikes,” “political strikes,” or, as I will refer to all of them, “social strikes.”
Calls for mass disruptive action are coming from unlikely places, like Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, an organization normally associated with legal action through the courts. When Romero was asked in a recent interview what would happen if the Trump administration systematically defied court orders, he replied, “Then we’ve got to take to the streets in a different way. We’ve got to shut down this country.”
INTRODUCTION: The Tyrant’s Achilles’ Heel
If you're reading this, it’s likely because something deep inside you is screaming that this isn't working anymore. You’re not alone. When governments stop responding to the governed, the courts are toothless, and both major parties are playing chicken with your basic rights, it’s time to reach for the last tool in the democratic toolbox.
A general strike isn’t a fantasy. It’s a pressure valve. It’s a line in the sand. It’s a public declaration of non-cooperation with tyranny. And it’s the one damn thing the oligarchy can’t co-opt, can’t suppress with spin, and definitely can’t outspend.
But what would it take to pull it off here, on American soil, where most of us are overworked, underpaid, uninsured, and scared of missing a paycheck? Let’s break this beast down.
I. DEFINING THE STRIKE: Social vs. General vs. “Day Off with Signs”
Let’s get our terms straight:
Labor Strike: Withdrawal of labor by organized workers.
General Strike: Coordinated labor strikes across sectors, usually with political demands.
Social Strike: An evolved concept involving labor withdrawal plus widespread civil disobedience, boycotts, mutual aid, occupations, and noncompliance across class lines.
The U.S. isn’t Belgium or Brazil. Our labor laws are designed not just to discourage general strikes but to criminalize them. That means if we're going to do this, we need to do it differently. Think broader, think decentralized, and think insurgent.
II. THE HISTORICAL PLAYBOOK: AMERICA’S STRIKE-BUSTING OBSESSION
Let’s not pretend we don’t have precedent. It’s just been memory-holed under a mountain of red-scare propaganda and neoliberal PR.
1886: Chicago’s Haymarket Affair: What began as a strike for an 8-hour workday ended in bloodshed and the execution of labor leaders. Still, the movement forced change.
1919: Seattle General Strike. Citywide shutdown in solidarity with shipyard workers. Peaceful. Effective. And it was still called “an insurrection” by the press.
1946: Oakland General Strike. Catalyzed by sexist firings of women clerks. Shut down the city for 54 hours.
But after that? Crickets. Why? Because the federal government, with a little help from the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, shackled unions to their contracts, banned sympathy strikes, and scared everyone into toeing the line with threats of imprisonment and mass firings.
It worked. The U.S. labor movement—once fiery and radical—was muzzled, leashed, and invited to the Democrats’ dinner table to shut the hell up while bosses got rich.
III. THE MODERN MOVEMENT: "WE ARE NOT SAFE, WE ARE NOT POWERLESS"
The MAGA regime is soft-launching fascism in real-time, and the usual institutional brakes are gone or corrupted.
But here’s the good news: solidarity is infectious. People are waking up. From Gen Z boycott waves, to the April 5 “Hands Off” mobilizations, to the growing appetite for May Day strikes, we’re seeing early tremors of something bigger.
Now is the time to turn disruption into strategy.
IV. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: HOW TO STRIKE WITHOUT GETTING CRUSHED
Let’s be brutally pragmatic.
1. Start Where You Are
If you can’t strike, withhold consumption. Don't buy. Don't log in. Don't participate.
Join mutual aid. Organize locally. Occupy public space.
2. Build Cross-Class, Cross-Issue Coalitions
Teachers. Nurses. Gig workers. Federal employees. Students. Parents. Disabled folks. Retirees.
We don’t all have the same vulnerabilities—but we damn sure share the same enemies.
3. Plan for Repression, Then Use It
Assume arrests, infiltration, surveillance, and smears. Train people in how to de-escalate, record, and respond.
Reframe repression as proof: If the powerful are panicking, you’re doing something right.
4. Unions: Educate, Don’t Wait
Most U.S. unions cannot legally strike. But that doesn’t mean they can’t educate, organize, or coordinate.
Follow the UAW’s lead—synchronize contract expirations in 2028. Make it a ticking clock for mass leverage.
5. Don’t Centralize. Network.
Affinity groups. Spokescouncils. General assemblies. Decentralized nodes can’t be decapitated.
6. Make Demands Clear & Concrete
Defend the Constitution
Restore democratic norms
Enshrine labor and reproductive rights
End emergency powers abuses
Demand real climate and healthcare policy
“Just vibes” won’t get the job done. We need a goddamn bullet-point agenda.
V. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS: FROM “SOMEDAY” TO “DAY ONE”
Here’s what to do this week, this month, and this year to move from rage to readiness:
Immediate Actions:
Sign and circulate pledge cards (like generalstrike2025.org).
Attend May Day actions.
Join union teach-ins and labor education events.
Medium-Term (3–6 months):
Set up local mutual aid groups.
Connect with adjacent struggles: climate, disability rights, anti-racism, housing justice.
Train in nonviolent direct action.
Long-Term (6–24 months):
Develop a unified set of minimum demands.
Recruit trusted messengers in workplaces, faith orgs, schools.
Coordinate national rolling “stress tests” of systems: one-day walkouts, citywide boycotts, transit slowdowns.
VI. CLOSING ARGUMENT: THIS IS HOW WE WIN
You want to scare the living hell out of tyrants? Stop working. Stop shopping. Stop complying. Stop playing the game by their rules.
The power of a general strike isn’t just economic—it’s existential. It reminds every tinpot dictator and billionaire boy-pharaoh that the world runs because we make it run.
And when we stop?
Everything. Stops.
Don’t forget this is an every day thing, until we win:
Damn that was so well written!
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