Understanding General Strikes: History, Impact, and How Workers Can Organize Against Trump's Agenda

On Friday, International Workers’ Day, tens of thousands of people across the United States will walk out of school, skip work, and refrain from shopping as part of a nationwide economic blackout against President Donald Trump’s agenda. Organizers with the May Day Strong coalition, a group of labor unions and community organizations, are coordinating more than 3,500 marches, rallies, and teach-ins.

The coalition’s May Day action draws inspiration from the Day of Truth and Freedom, held in January, when over 70,000 people protested in Minnesota to demand the removal of ICE from their state.

What Is a General Strike—and Does It Matter?

Are these events considered general strikes? And does the distinction hold significance? To clarify, we spoke with Erik Loomis, a labor historian at the University of Rhode Island and author of Organizing America and A History of America in Ten Strikes.

Our conversation covered the history of the general strike in America, the legal obstacles facing today’s labor movement, and how workers can leverage their strategic power to challenge the Trump administration. The interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.

General Strike vs. Labor Strike: Key Differences

“A regular strike comes out of a workplace. It’s usually affiliated with a singular workplace action by a group of workers who are angry about something going on in the workplace. They’re trying to form a union and the company won’t negotiate, or they have a union and the company won’t come up with a fair contract.”

In contrast, a general strike involves workers across multiple sectors uniting to walk out in support of a broader goal. Loomis explains:

“The idea behind a general strike is that the workers writ large, workers generally, will all come together and walk out in favor of some goal—a kind of broad-based revolution. It can be across sectors. Let’s say I go on strike as a college professor because my university is treating me really badly, and the hospital workers also walk out on strike with me. They’re trying to use their influence over their sector of the economy to increase the stress of the conditions so that I can win what I want to win.”

He adds that general strikes aren’t always workplace-focused:

“It doesn’t have to be about the workplace if a bunch of unions come together. Part of what they were trying to do in Oakland in 1946, for instance, was to overthrow the Republican political machine that controlled the city.”

Historical Examples of General Strikes in the US

Loomis highlights key moments in U.S. labor history where general strikes emerged from workplace disputes but expanded into broader movements:

• Seattle, 1919: A five-day general strike involving over 65,000 workers protesting poor labor conditions and anti-union policies.
• San Francisco, 1934: A four-day general strike led by longshoremen, which paralyzed the city and resulted in union recognition.
• Oakland, 1946: A two-day general strike involving 140,000 workers, aimed at dismantling the city’s Republican political machine.
• New Orleans, 1892: A general strike by dockworkers and other laborers protesting wage cuts and unsafe working conditions.

According to Loomis, these strikes were typically born from specific workplace grievances but evolved into broader challenges to systemic injustices:

“Basically every general strike in the US has come out of the established labor movement. These general strikes have been attempts by the labor movement that usually come out of a specific workplace issue but then explode as part of a general discontent with the system as it exists at that time—to place pressure on employers, the city, the forces of order.”

“If people can use these terms in order to push for a more just world, then that’s a good thing.”