People despise Donald Trump and everything he stands for. And on March 8 and May 1 they are mobilizing massive general strikes to protest against him and his agenda. First, the women will strike. And they are hoping for massive numbers just like the Women’s March in January:
On March 8, women across the country are pledging to stage a mass strike that could draw huge numbers. A group of radical feminist scholars and advocates called for a strike from paid and unpaid labor, and they have since been joined by women’s organizations and even the people who organized the highly successful women’s march on January 21.
Of course we already know why women specifically would want to protest Trump. He is a misogynist, serial groper and sexual assaulter rapist. But more than just protesting Trump, the women organizing the protest want the impact of a “Day Without A Woman” to last far longer than just a Trump presidency.
“We are opposed to Trump, but we are also opposed to the conditions that created Trump,” [Tithi Bhattacharya, an associate professor at Purdue College of Liberal Arts and one of the organizers of the women’s protest said]. [...]
“The attack on women’s rights, social rights, labor conditions, and reproductive rights actually began way before Trump,” added Cinzia Arruzza, assistant professor at The New School and another organizer of the strike.
And the strike does not just include not going to work. The day (which is also International Women’s Day) also includes non participation in domestic work, caregiving, sex (think Lysistrata), boycotting and calling out misogynistic politicians and companies. Refusing some of these activities alone is sure to garner some reaction and attention.
After the women, immigrants and their advocates will strike. In the past, May 1 (or May Day) has often been a day for both laborers to strike on behalf of worker’s rights and advocates of immigration reform and this year proves to be no different. On May 1, 2006, more than a million people protested for immigration reform.
The strike has actually been in progress since before the election as a way to work up to a weeklong strike at the end of this year. “Our strike is not targeted to Trump,” explained Carlos Rodriguez, a volunteer organizer with Cosecha [a movement which advocates for protection and respect for undocumented immigrants]. “Our strike is more than anything targeted to the American public.” The point is to draw attention to the consumer and labor power of immigrants and what happens when those two things are withdrawn. “We’re hoping that by engaging in boycotts and strikes, we have the American public understand that immigrants are needed in this country,” he said. [...]
“We want to recreate what happened in 2006, but we want to have a plan for it and be able to sustain it for a longer time,” Rodriguez said. “We’re not going to win with a one-day strike.”
The hope is that these protests will not live as separate actions but instead in support of each other and with people taking part in multiple protests. David Huerta, president of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) United Service Workers West had this to say about different groups of people finding strength and unity in their resistance:
“The more we can support one another’s movements and actions, the more united we can demonstrate our power.”
These are important steps to send a clear message to Trump and his supporters that millions of Americans do not accept what is happening as business as usual. Of course, strikes by themselves should be tactics within a larger, planned and strategic movement for change so let’s hope the organizers are thinking not just of these particular days but also of the long game. Additionally, it’s important to remember that some vulnerable people cannot afford to take days off and put themselves at risk of job loss for participating in these protests. And there is a wide range of support from some workplaces—some will threaten and intimidate workers to get them not to participate while some will close altogether in support of the strikes. And while strikes themselves (unless they are sustained—think Montgomery Bus Boycott) are unlikely to produce change on their own, the symbolism and power behind these actions does indeed contribute to the anti-Trump resistance.