Kick if you are participating in the May Day General Strike on May 1st

[annm4peace]

All across the country (and other countries also).

People aren't going to school, or work, or buying anything on May 1st.

I already tol my boss i"m taking the day.

Are you ?

[sabrina 1]

1. K&R

[Bjorn Against]

2. Yes, I will not be going to work that day either

I also did what you did however, I let my employer know I am taking the day off. Can't really say that I am striking when I am taking a day off using the accepted method of doing so, but I will certainly be participating in some of the daily actions.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Occupy Los Angeles.

[pinboy3niner]

13. I'll meet you there, Fire

I'm awaiting details on the North Wind Caravan, but in any case I'll either join one of the caravans or go directly to the convergence point downtown.

See you at 6th & Main.

[LeftyMom]

4. No.

I don't work for a big enough company that I could take the day off without inconveniencing people, and I like getting paid. I save my days off for when I'm too sick to drag myself in, or have Giants tickets. My employer isn't part of the problem anyhow.

[Occulus]

28. And that is why this will not work.

People do not care enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other workers when they themselves see no direct, immediate benefit.

Your mentality is the chief problem.

[LeftyMom]

29. My job has a direct, immediate benefit to my community.

The only people I would fuck over by not showing up would be my very small pool of coworkers, our customers (many of whom are my friends) and myself.

[snooper2]

50. You are only supposed to "kick" the thread if you are participating in the protest per OP

FYI

I got a excuse note from the teacher so while "technically" I am kicking by stating this the rule doesn't apply to me

[OffWithTheirHeads]

5. Works for me. I will buy nothing, sell nothing! I may spend the day practicing guitar.

Fuck em!

[madamesilverspurs]

6. Yeppers.

Easy for me, I'm my own boss and more or less retired. But -- a number of my friends won't be going to work. Our Occupy group has rented a shelter at one of our parks; we're providing hot dogs and fixings for anyone who wants to join us. No presentation, no lecture, no movie. Maybe a guitar or two. Hmmmm, could be a "BE-in"...

-

[annm4peace]

7. that is great

good day for community and talking.

[NYC_SKP]

8. I'm scheduled to participate a local economic recovery meeting.

In my case, going to work might be more productive, but I will commit to not buying anything on May 1, and I support the cause and K/R this OP.

[MrSlayer]

9. I have no choice.

I'm unemployed for eight months and subsequently have no money to buy anything. So, yeah, I'm in.

[limpyhobbler]

11. Definitely.

Thanks for the thread.

[Zorra]

12. Yep. Solidarity. nt

[FrodosPet]

14. Does it count if you already had the day off?

Sweet! My plan was to sleep all day and save my energy and money to party the next day anyhow.

One cool exception to not working would be to use that day to volunteer at homeless and battered women's shelters, soup kitchens, and other places where the severely disadvantaged require help.

[annm4peace]

15. sad

I had hoped there would be more DU'rs taking that day off.

i"m glad there are over 100 cities participating.

It sure is hard to get American citizens to participate in boycotts but hopefully there will be enough to have an effect on the top 1%.

http://occupywallst.org/article/may-day/

[HappyMe]

17. If you don't show up, you don't get paid.

Plenty of people can't afford to have a chunk taken out of their paychecks.
Making my budget even tighter doesn't fuck anybody but myself.

[Zorra]

18. Fine. But later on,

remember this when you are complaining about no longer even having a paycheck due to your job going overseas, or your wages/benefits are drastically cut, because you no longer have any rights whatsoever as a worker. It was your choice not to do anything about it when you still had the chance.

What is #M1GS?

Worldwide, May 1st is traditionally a ‘Workers’ day – a day of Labor Solidarity, and a public holiday. It’s a day to celebrate and march in support of im/migrant rights. In protest against the corruption of the worldwide marketplace, which has led to illegal foreclosures, mass unemployment, low wages, high taxes and a penalization of all those who do not own the ‘99%’ of the world’s resources, and in solidarity with the im/migrant movements of May 1st, we decided to declare May 1st, 2012 a People’s General Strike. Instead of calling upon unionized Labor to make a specific demand (illegal under Taft-Hartley), we are calling upon the people of the world to take this day away from school and the workplace, so that their absence makes their displeasure with this corrupt system be known.
----
Strike for:

IM/MIGRANT RIGHTS

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE and LABOR RIGHTS

PEACE WITH JUSTICE

CIVIL LIBERTIES — END THE POLICE STATE

HOUSING, EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE AS HUMAN RIGHTS

WOMEN’S RIGHTS, LGBTQ RIGHTS & GENDER EQUITY

http://www.occupymay1st.org/2012/04/11/what-is-m1gs/

[HappyMe]

19. Losing a days pay is going to help any of that how, exactly?

[Zorra]

21. Occupy May Day: Not Your Usual General Strike

Last December, Occupy Los Angeles proposed a General Strike on May 1 “for migrant rights, jobs for all, a moratorium on foreclosures, and peace – and to recognize housing, education and health care as human rights.” The idea has spread through the Occupy movement. Occupy Wall Street in New York recently expressed solidarity with the proposal and called for “a day without the 99%, general strike, and more!” with “no work, no school, no housework, no shopping, take the streets!” Reactions are ranging from enthusiastic support to outraged skepticism. What form might such an action take, and what if anything might it achieve?
---
What Occupy May Day Could Achieve

The Occupy May Day event is first of all a great chance for 99% to show itself, see itself, and express itself – to represent itself to itself and to others. The kinds of plans that are being made by OWS in New York, with a wide variety of ways in which people are being invited to participate, can encourage multiple levels of sympathy, response, connection, and mobilization among the 99%. The result can be a percolation of the ideas OWS has been promoting through workplaces, communities, and other milieus.

May Day can provide a teachable moment. It is an opportunity for millions of people to contemplate the power that arises from collectively withdrawing cooperation and consent. It can propagate the idea of self-organization, for example through general assemblies. If it truly draws together a wide range of working people, ranging from the most impoverished to professionals, from urban to suburban to rural, and including African Americans, Latinos, whites, and immigrants, it can embody the ability of the 99% to act as a group. It can demonstrate the idea of solidarity, for example by the movement as a whole supporting the needs of some particular groups. And because May Day is a global working class holiday which will be celebrated all over the world, it can reveal a rarely seen vision of a global working class of which we are as individuals and as members of diverse groups are part.
---
Global Mass Strike

We are today in the midst of an unrecognized global mass strike – witness the mass upheavals reported in the news almost daily from countries around the world. Wisconsin and Occupy Wall Street represent the first stirrings of American workers to join this global movement. May Day 2012 will be a global event, and it presents an opportunity to create a new self-awareness of the global 99% and its ability to act collectively.

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/26-8

[coalition_unwilling]

34. Occupy does not want to paint anyone into a corner or guilt-trip

anyone into doing something that may prove harmful to him- or herself. If you must work tomorrow for economic reasons, you can at least commit (one would think) to buying nothing corporate-made, nor transacting any bank business. (Credit unions by their nature are or should be exempt from the no-banking call.)

Think globally, act and buy locally. My new motto.

[SidDithers]

41. Post #18 maybe indicates otherwise...nt

Sid

[Puzzledtraveller]

49. do you access the internet through a local mom and pop provider?

Just browsing the internet puts money in some corporations pocket. The websites you visited today. You get it.

[coalition_unwilling]

52. Yeah, that's a good point. Except my wife and I are heading down to

M1GS Los Angeles at MacArthur Park later today for the final convergence and march to Skid Row. I had to get on the internet to coordinate and find out about parking and locations, blah-blah-blah, the perennial bane of drivers in LA.

But your point is well taken. Mea culpa

[Marrah_G]

54. If I don't work I don't get paid

I'm not in a position to take the day off. I support everyone who did though.

[raouldukelives]

16. K&R

[pinboy3niner]

20. Extra kick because I'll meet both Fire Walk With Me and U4ikLefty in L..A.

Looks like we have TONS of people converging on downtown L.A. May 1.

Lots of peaceful protesters. Our only concern is whether or not there will be another police riot.

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. There will be many, many cameras and legal observers in each Wind

and at Convergence to insure justice in case of (more) police malfeasance.

WE ARE PEACEFUL! LAPD, don't blow it (again!)

[xchrom]

22. Solidarity. Nt

[socialist_n_TN]

23. since I' considered a contractor.........

That's one of the few perks. Of course I won't get paid, but I wouldn't get paid for a regular strike day either. I'm considering it as reclaiming my true worker's holiday. I think Occupy Nashville is doing some things, so I guess I'll go downtown and participate in some of that too.

[annm4peace]

26. that is awesome

for decades we have been waiting for national stand up and solidarity.. May 1st is that day.

It won't happen again for another year. If at all

I hope people realize that.

[Egalitarian Thug]

24. K&R. This matters. n/t

[annm4peace]

27. info if you are out of vacation time, out of sick time, self employed.. etc

http://occupywallst.org/article/why-and-how-strike-may-day/



Curious about the General Strike on May 1 2012 but unsure what you can do?

Here are some easy, minimally involved, and low risk things you can do.

In Advance, starting now:

Plan ahead, take a vacation. Take a personal day or two off and make a long weekend of it.
Subscribe to the StrikeEverywhere mailing list and learn about the organizing https://lists.riseup.net/http://www.subscribe/strikeeverywhere/
Attend meetings, benefits, and actions leading up to May 1st to get a feel for what the General Strike might be like.
April 27th - 30th:

Use the long weekend to attend free workshops about the general strike, direct action, etc.
Go to benefits, shows, and parties. Be social and meet others who will be participating in the General Strike. Build energy, excitement, and new friendships.
Build an affinity group, or find a buddy or crew of friends who will go to the General Strike with you.
Attend meetings and be a part of organizing for the General Strike. Or attend to learn about the plans and how to prepare.
Put up stickers, posters, flyers, and agitate for the General Strike.
If you are from out of town: pick up a map and learn the layout of the city and where you can plugin.
April 30th – May 1st:

Out of vacation days? Take a sick day or two. Make a long weekend of it.
Don’t get sick days? You’re not a slave, take a couple days off.
Don’t spend money. Make use of the free resources that will be available through groups like OWS and others organizing alternatives to capitalism. Take part in and enjoy these alternatives!
Come out into the streets and see what other people are doing. See for yourself what is happening (don’t rely on the media to show you). Experience the General Strike for yourself!
Join in and participate in actions or play it by ear if you are uncertain.
Bring your friends, a crew, an affinity group, and everyone you know. The more people that you take to the streets with, the safer you will be.
Convinced? Planning to take part in the General Strike need something concrete to do:

Go to StrikeEverywhere.net and look at the calendar of events to see if any of the actions are something you want to take part in.
Go to http://strikeeverywhere.net/framework/new-york-city-tasks/ and volunteer to do a task, or suggest a new task for people working

[hobbit709]

30. I'd have to strike against myself.

[socialist_n_TN]

35. A lot of businesses close on May Day in other parts.........

of the world. Since I'm a "contractor" technically I'm stiking against myself too. But I'm going to do it to reclaim my worker's holiday. People DIED at Haymarket on May Day over a century ago. All for an 8 hour day that the bosses are STILL trying to take away from us. Along with EVERY OTHER FUCKING BENEFIT WE HAVE.

Fuck it. I'm taking off.

[Robb]

53. I've always taken Labor Day off, myself.

A lot of people died for me to do that, too. Some in my own family tree; we have an absurdly long union history.

I also like to ask "contractors" if they belong to a union. You don't have to answer, of course, nor feel accused, as many do.

[socialist_n_TN]

59. Actually I'm an independent contractor........

and misclassified at that. But I've been thinking about seeing if I could join the IWW, but one guy told me he didn't think I could join since I was a workforce of 1. I've also been a union metal fabricator, including being a shop steward in the past and I was a union musician with the AFM for many years. In addition to this, my Daddy was a union president when I was a kid. It does run in my family.

BTW, people didn't "die" for the Labor Day holiday. That was enacted by Congress as a reaction to the "red" May Day worker's holiday. It's a manufactured holiday that doesn't commemorate anything. Other than "Red Scare" tactics of course.

[Robb]

60. Wholly incorrect. Plenty died.

Or do you think the unions gained the influence required for the President to declare a holiday by asking nicely?

Look up the Pullman Car Strike.

[Luminous Animal]

31. Kick!

[nobodyspecial]

32. Why would you advocate missing school?

[annm4peace]

33. because it is their future

Maybe this will help

Dear New York City,

We, the students of public education, are here to inform you about the injustice that is taking place in our school system:

 The privatization of our school system
 The budget cuts
 Lack of appropriate leadership
 Malicious closings/phasing out of schools against the communities' wishes.
 Cell phone policies
 Overcrowded classes & abuse of SAFE rooms
 Over policing of our schools and the criminalization of our youth

We feel that these issues are setting our students up for failure, and we DEMAND a change! We believe that trying to control our schools is just another symptom of the blatant racism in our country similar to the government's response to the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin.

Because of this, our first action will be a mass student walkout on May 1st at 12pm to Fort Greene Park. We will be holding teach-ins, teen summits & other peaceful events.

Please add your name to our letter and support us in our struggle for our education.

Signed,

Student Leadership
Paul Robeson HS

[Blue_In_AK]

36. I'm retired, I can do whatever I want,

and what I choose to do is occupy Anchorage's Town Square tomorrow at 1:00.

[woo me with science]

37. Yup.

Last edited Tue May 1, 2012, 12:13 PM - Edit history (2)

This is important.

[girl gone mad]

38. k & r

[Ken Burch]

39. I will if I can find something happening here.

n/t.

[KurtNYC]

40. I'm self employed so I looked in the mirror

and told my boss to go f*ck himself.

He didn't like that one bit.

[taterguy]

42. +1

[annm4peace]

46. He should have joined you

your boss (yes I know you) should realize small business are hurting and being taken advantage of also.

You should close shop and go out for 1 day at the very least. It is a mental health day

It is an investment for our days to come.

[irisblue]

43. i'm in.

off to check for for local events.

[KG]

44. unemployed at the moment...

[annm4peace]

45. even more reason to participate

we need you. My brother and I live together and he has been unemployed for 4 years. 1st two years he received unemployment.. for 2 years I have covered rent and all bills.

the more people who come out the better. This is just one day. This is a national day of solitary and the elite want small crowds and for people to be frightened to speak out and stand with others.


I wish you a job soon but know that you are very important and if you can give a couple hours a day, others need your volunteer work very much also.

[KG]

47. you won't find a bigger supporter of Occupy, May Day, etc, than me. but I was trying to be

humorous. can't strike a job i don't have...

[DLevine]

48. K&R.

[lynne]

51. No. Neither are my son or daughter -

- all of us are in jobs where we're needed and we don't miss work unless we're too sick to get out of the bed. Two of us have been laid off in the past three years and jobs still aren't coming easy here so we're glad we have the jobs we've got. We can't afford to not work as we're all paid by the hour = we don't get paid if we don't show up.

[zappaman]

55. Nope. At work like every single other person I know. n/t

[annm4peace]

56. Incredible May Day for me

I loved it. i can't wait for Labor Day

I hope others had such and uplifting day and hopeful day that I had. We were all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

It was very inspiring. Over 2000 of us marching in Minneapolis. All day and evening of activity even with threats of rain, tornados and hail.

We made it through without any of that. And lots and lots of cool music.

I passed out over 1000 flyers and even the cops were normal.

https://www.facebook.com/OccupyMN

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/05/01/occupy-protesters-march-down-nicollet-mall/

[Zax2me]

57. But...but but it fizzled, don't you read the news?!

At least that is what the corporate media is reporting everywhere....

[annm4peace]

58. the 10pm news didn't even cover

2000 people tying up traffic for about 1 hour as they went down the street to a park.. wasn't enough to make the news.

[Mc Mike]

61. I were. Nt.