Activists call for national strike to bring down Trump

A national general strike across the US is being called for 17 Feb, the Friday before President’s Day, as a way of protesting the new administration. Those behind the strike hope that they can cause enough disruption to bring about change in the political system. 

The argument was first published in the mainstream media in a Guardian article in which writer Francine Prose wrote that protests wouldn’t be enough to oppose Trump. “The trouble is that these protests are too easily ignored and forgotten by those who wish to ignore and forget them,” Prose wrote. “The barriers go up, the march takes place, the barriers come down. Everyone goes home happier. “Let’s designate a day on which no one that is, anyone who can do so without being fired goes to work, a day when no one shops or spends money, a day on which we truly make our economic and political power felt, a day when we make it clear: how many of us there are, how strong and committed we are, how much we can accomplish.” 

Much of the organising of such an event is taking online, and without the support of the official unions. On Twitter, activists are posting under the #NationalStrike hashtag. A post by The Wire creator David Simon that used the hashtag and called for people to show that they believe in America by “refusing to work before President’s Day” has received 3,000 retweets on its own.