General Strike Overview
- Occupy groups called for a General Strike on May 1st in solidarity with existing May Day events to defend the rights of workers, immigrants, students, women and other communities
- Workers, students and supporters are asked to leave work or school for the day in protest of the struggles faced by varying communities
- Those who cannot miss a day of school or work have been encouraged to join after school or work hours as actions will be occurring all day in multiple locations
- May Day General Strike calls for “No work; No school; No shopping; No banking; and No chores”
- Advertised as “a day without the 99%”
Potential Tactics
Activist groups nationwide have embraced the call for a General Strike. We see the potential for the following tactics to occur:
- Small groups of people that plan autonomous actions, typically carrying out simultaneous actions at multiple targets
- Rallies/marches; both traditional and those that incorporate theatrics
- Disruptions to pedestrian and vehicular traffic
- Plans in New York City include targeting bridges, tunnels and the subway system to prevent commuters from getting to work/school. A blog posting regarding these plans is available here.
- Protesting at corporate and financial targets
- Similar rallies/days of action have led to isolated pockets of dangerous behavior:
- Vandalism (graffiti/broken windows)
- Projectiles (throwing items at police)
Participating Cities*
*This is not a complete listing, but includes major cities with plans for the May Day General Strike
West:
- Denver
- Los Angeles
- Oakland
- Portland
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Seattle
Midwest:
- Chicago
- Detroit
- Minneapolis
- St. Louis
Southwest:
- Albuquerque
- Austin
- Dallas
- Houston
- Phoenix
- Salt Lake City
East:
- Baltimore
- Boston
- New York City
- Philadelphia
- Providence
- Washington DC
Southeast:
- Atlanta
- Charlotte
- Miami