Nationwide "Strike for Black Lives" today has started.

[Hortensis]

Labor unions and social and racial justice organizations hope those who can't strike the full day will join the strike in their own ways, picket during their lunch hours, walk out for about the eight minutes that knee was on the neck of George Floyd, or observe a moment of silence.

One of many calls, this one from The Almalgamated Transit Union:

[Cha]

1. Good Luck! Kick!

[secondwind]

2. Omg, didn't know about this. Please stay safe everyone!

[mysteryowl]

3. I heard on NPR people are walking out for 8-minutes.

[brooklynite]

4. I'll believe it when I see it...

I keep hearing calls for a "General Strike" that never materializes.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141705312

https://www.democraticunderground.com/101723041

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1002543117

[Hortensis]

6. This isn't supposed to be "general strike" you imagine but #BLM

support from workers. Labor is in trouble, though, many jobs just gone, in the midst of pandemic. So I think it's unrealistic to think millions of people who cannot replace lost jobs should put them on the line this time in a "general strike."

To me this to continue what marches in over 700 cities have achieved is awesome. They're supported by OVER 3/4 of Americans, you know, including half of America's conservatives.

[CatLady78]

5. Kick.nt

[Hortensis]

7. :) In DC strikers will gather on Capitol Hill at noon. In NYC

strikers are gathering (where else?) outside Trump Tower and will be joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. And so on in the more than two dozen cities that labor organizers have activities planned, plus other demonstrations planned by others.

LA Times: Tens of thousands of workers nationwide are expected to walk off the job Monday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, hoping to draw closer scrutiny to the income inequality and systemic racism that organizers say has grown more entrenched during the pandemic.

The “Strike for Black Lives,” as leaders have dubbed the planned action in more than two dozen cities, includes workers from a broad range of industries. Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, American Federation of Teachers and members of dozens of other labor and political groups plan to take part.

Participants are calling for “an unequivocal declaration that Black Lives Matter” from business and political leaders; action from government officials to “reimagine our economy and democracy” with civil rights in mind; businesses to “dismantle racism, white supremacy, and economic exploitation”; and access to union organizing, according to a list of demands posted on the strike’s website.

Health workers at a nursing home outside Los Angeles are planning walkouts during multiple shifts. Other workers in the city are planning a car caravan down President Barack Obama Boulevard, a major thoroughfare on the city’s west side.

If workers can’t leave their jobs for the rest of the day, organizers encourage them to at noon take a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds ...

Some of us don't have jobs, but we have a noon and a knee, and a cause.

[Hortensis]

8. Vox: "Across the country, essential workers are on strike for Black lives"

Racial injustice and Covid-19 have collided for many essential workers. Today they’re on strike.

... Being home sick with Covid-19 won’t keep Edie from participating in the Strike for Black Lives, though, which she plans to do over FaceTime. On Monday, July 20, tens of thousands of workers from a variety of different lines of work in more than 25 cities will go on strike to demand that the corporations they work for and the government that’s supposed to work for them confront systemic racism.

Fast food workers like Edie will be joined by an enormous swath of the workforce: other low-wage workers like airport employees, ride-hail drivers, nursing home caregivers, and domestic workers alongside middle-class teachers and nurses and even high-paid Google engineers. ...

It’s a massive action that will bring together major unions as well as grassroots organizers. The
* Service Employees International Union,
* International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and
* American Federation of Teachers will join forces with the
* Fight for 15,
* United Farm Workers, and the
* National Domestic Workers Alliance.

Social justice organizations, such as the Movement for Black Lives, Poor People’s Campaign, and youth climate organizers will also participate. It represents a unique partnership: Labor unions don’t always act in concert, let alone partner with grassroots and social justice groups.

But demand for putting together such an action came from the bottom: workers who have been activated by the toll of the pandemic and the massive uprisings against racial injustice and police violence across the country. They see these things as inextricable. ...

“We just want to let people know that we are essential workers, too,” she said. “We been put on the backburner.” They’re demanding better pay, benefits, staffing levels, and safety guidelines.

She sees their fight connected to the larger movement for racial justice. “A lot of my co-workers are Black and brown people,” she said. She herself is Black. “That’s why to us, we relate it to racism. Because we are the ones doing this hard work, but we’re not getting recognized properly.” ...

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/7/20/21327424/strike-for-black-lives-essential-workers-covid-19-racism