General Strike

Five Things You Should Know About the Ongoing General Strike in France
France’s major unions have agreed to extend the general strike through Thursday, in defiance of President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to overhaul the pension system. Students and activists are joining striking workers in mobilizations against the government. As it enters its sixth day, here’s what you need to know about the general strike currently rocking France’s major industries.
Diego Sacchi
December 10, 2019France Paralyzed by Largest General Strike in Decades
A general strike began in France today against President Emmanuel Macron's sweeping pension reform. The strike has been called by unions representing railway and transport workers, hospital workers, teachers, firefighters, and students. The biggest of its kind in decades, the strike currently paralyzing France is expected to continue through the week.
IzquierdaDiario.es
December 5, 2019Chilean Political Parties Sign “Peace Agreement”. Workers Respond with a General Strike
Chile has been on fire for over a month. The protests began in opposition to subway fare hikes, but they soon became a nationwide call to oust the president and rewrite the constitution.
Tatiana Cozzarelli
November 26, 2019Colombian Workers, Students and Indigenous Groups Begin General Strike
Trade union centers, social movements, students, peasants, and indigenous people, among others, have called for a national strike on November 21. This is a part of a larger national mobilization against what the organizers have called the "Paquetazo de Duque.”
Tatum Regan
November 21, 2019Chilean Workers Reject Piñera’s “New Constitution” with a General Strike
On Tuesday, a day-long general strike paralyzed parts of the Chilean economy. There were massive demonstrations and hundreds of roadblocks were put up across the country. All the while, the discredited president Sebastián Piñera is attempting to regain the initiative with a call for a “new constitution.”
Sean Robertson
November 15, 2019Third Friday of Protests in Chile: Masses Return to the Streets
Maintaining a state of emergency, the government of Sebastián Piñera has announced more repression. But last Friday, the streets responded with widespread rejection. We need a strategy to make the general strike effective and sustained until Piñera falls—and with him the inheritance of the dictatorship.
La Izquierda Diario Chile
November 12, 2019Self-Organization in the Chilean Revolt
In Antofagasta, the port city in the north of Chile, workers and students have come together to form bodies of self-organization. These are known as Emergency and Protection Committees. We offer a detailed, first-hand account of how this committee works.
Galia Aguilera
November 11, 2019Chile: “The policy of the Communist Party and the Frente Amplio is to negotiate with Piñera”
For the last two weeks, more than a million people have taken to the streets of Chile demanding the resignation of President Sebastián Piñera. The main forces of the reformist left, however, want to negotiate with the billionaire president. In an interview, Dauno Tótoro of the Revolutionary Workers Party (PTR) explains that the reformists’ policy is aimed at subverting the rebellion.
La Izquierda Diario Argentina
November 3, 2019International Dockworkers Council Threatens Boycott of Chilean Cargo
The IDC warns the President of Chile that: “We are on alert and ready to block cargo from Chile in other ports around the world.” This is part of a decades-long tradition of working-class internationalism by dockers and longshore workers.
Sean Robertson
October 25, 2019Chilean Protesters Report Beatings and Sexual Assault By Military and Riot Police
**Trigger Warning** As mobilizations against the government continue in Chile, reports are surfacing of violence and sexual abuse against women involved in the protests.
Celeste Murillo
October 24, 2019