Solidarity actions called for Jan. 23 in support of the Minneapolis general strike have spread rapidly across the United States, jumping from “dozens” of cities to at least 80 in just four days.
The expansion has been tracked by Payday Report, which monitors labor actions nationwide. On Jan. 19, solidarity actions were being planned in “dozens of cities.” By Jan. 21, that figure had risen to at least 43 cities. As of Jan. 22, Payday Report documented at least 80 cities with confirmed actions tied to the Jan. 23 strike call.
The surge follows protests and organizing after the killing of Renee Good and the escalation of ICE raids in Minneapolis. Organizers describe the strike call as a direct response to federal repression aimed at immigrant and working-class communities.
“I think we will have tens of thousands of workers in the street in the Twin Cities,” said Kieran Knutson, president of CWA Local 7250, one of the strike’s main organizers, in comments reported by Payday Report. “Hopefully, what is happening in Minnesota becomes a model of how we can fight back against these raids.”
National networks are already in motion. Protests responding to Good’s killing took place Jan. 10–11 in cities including Baltimore, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Austin, Washington, D.C., Portland, New York City, and Philadelphia. Organizers involved in those protests are now mobilizing for Jan. 23.
In Minnesota, the strike call has drawn broad backing across the labor movement and community organizations. More than 90 organizations have endorsed the action. Endorsers include the Minneapolis and St. Paul Regional Labor Federations, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, multiple area labor councils, and unions representing transit workers, teachers, nurses, health care workers, hotel and food service workers, communications workers, and graduate employees. Community and faith-based groups have also joined, linking labor action to opposition to ICE raids and police violence.
Organizers say the speed and scale of the national response reflect a shared understanding that the fight unfolding in Minneapolis is not local, but part of a broader confrontation between the working class and the machinery of repression.
IN BALTIMORE
