I have lost track of the number of posts I have seen yelling about calling a general strike on Monday.
While I appreciate the passion, I would also strongly encourage anyone calling for a general strike to read some labor history. General strikes rarely succeed, and any successes (or just plain movement) only happen when mutual aid networks are in place.
Mutual aid networks serve more than one purpose. Of critical importance is that they build trust between disparate groups. Right now, in the US, BIPOC, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities have a shit ton of distrust towards white activists- for very good reasons. Simply saying “I got you” isn’t going to repair that.
There are millions of workers out there that absolutely feel like striking would lead to homelessness. That’s a legit fear. And while an adult with no family that rely on them might be willing to take that step, many are not, and many will not put their families at risk.
People that have been fighting for reproductive rights have a distrust of the labor movement- because the labor movement (which I work in), is so quick to tie bullshit like overturning Roe into an attack on workers that they fucking ignore the misogyny that drives this shit.
Calling for a general strike without planning and the mutual aid necessary for success is foolish. Strikes without solidarity, real, earned solidarity are little more than temper tantrums.
What good does a general strike in Minnesota, California or New York do? Abortion rights in those states are already protected by their state constitutions. But a mutual aid network to help people in Texas to get to a state where no one gives shit about their decision to terminate builds trust and a framework for further action.
Any organizer that has helped workers move towards a strike will tell you that you have to put in the work ahead of time to be successful. If we want to fucking win (and as someone old enough to remember Roe happening, I want us to fucking win), we have to organize and plan.