Hi Everyone!
We’ve had an exciting week and a half here behind the scenes organizing the incredible passion and talent of everyone in this fight.
Like you, I signed after seeing flyers and social media posts about this General Strike. I was curious, and after the last year and a half of the pandemic + 15 years being in the working class before then, I was and am angry, tired, and burned out working in a system that doesn’t support me or my loved ones.
This idea of joining together as the foundation of this country, as the majority of our nation, to demand change is catching on like wildfire. We’re fed up, and we refuse to return to a ‘normal’ that didn’t serve us. Now is the time to make great change, before those in power forget how much they needed us during the pandemic.
It started as a way to fight back against a system that seems to ‘acknowledge our concerns’ but doesn’t actually take any meaningful ACTION to get us the rights and protections we deserve. Now it’s grown into a Movement. This fight won’t end in 2021, and in light of that we're announcing the official name of Labor Movement X.
X for October, where this all started. X for ten demands. X for being fed up, angry at being unheard and disrespected. X for the fact that we will no longer accept working for a country that continues to willfully extract our energy, our productivity, and our compliance without giving us a livable life in return.
This event that’s happening in October won’t just be 1 day, and it won’t just be a strike like you may know it. We’re planning ten days of action leading up to October 15th and there’s safe opportunities for all to participate.
The October Resistance started as a spark by the idea of a strike and while the founder of this strike is incredibly passionate, the movement has listened and learned and respected your concerns. As we’ve grown, we know that striking (a walk-out or a sit-in at your place of work, whether you belong to a union or not) isn’t a viable option for everyone. This isn’t just a movement for those in unions, it’s a movement for a better life for us ALL, led by the working class who have the power to shake this country up in a way that demands to be heard.
As your new national chair it’s my responsibility to make sure this movement serves the needs of all of us.
We’ve got an incredibly diverse group of folks from different races, genders, ages, sexualities, physical and mental disabilities, geographic locations, and political affiliations working on this behind the scenes. The X also stands for intersectinality - in a work culture that excludes, demeans, and renders those of us who don’t fit the norm invisible, it's more than important to me that we represent everyone. This will ONLY succeed if we’re fighting for a more equal, more just, more inclusive country for ALL of us. No matter who you are, you’re welcome here.
If you ever have ANY questions or concerns my DMs on all our accounts are open or please use this survey to send anonymous feedback: https://forms.gle/Zu5cdGXRC3GJSDnaA
We wanted to update as soon as possible, but we’re also doing our due diligence - researching policy and legal action guides and learning from other movements and protests who have/are taking bold action - so we’ll be revealing our full list of demands, ways you can get involved, and our plan for now through October later this week. But to give you a sneak peek, we are demanding immediate, bold action to ensure:
Adequate Wages
Accessible Healthcare
Acceptable Leave (sick, vacation, holiday, and parental)
Fair Taxes
Affordable Housing
Cost-Effective Education
Equitable Corporate Regulations
Ethical Environmental Action
Decent Workplaces (it’s 2021, it’s long past time to end discrimination on all fronts)
Reasonable Work Week
They’re lucky we’re only asking for what is fair.
Anyone who can in good faith tell me that worker exploitation is the best way to ensure a happy, productive, progressive nation I would happily debate. Publicly. I’ve researched the world happiness indexes and the results are clear, resounding, and unanimous. What makes a great country is people who are taken care of and supported.
People who don’t sit in their cars weeping because they have to choose between buying food or paying rent.
People who don’t have to sit by their loved one’s bedsides as they fight illness, trading with co-workers for days off and starting GoFundMe campaigns to pay for the care they need.
People who don’t watch billionaires go to space and watch their own dreams die while looking at thousands upon thousands of dollars of debt.
People who don’t watch the natural landscape of this country burn in wildfires, be destroyed by tornadoes, be dug up illegally for more corporate greed.
People who don’t have to give birth and go back to work the same week because we are one of only six countries in the entire WORLD that says we care about families but has ZERO paid time off mandates.
People who aren’t forced into homelessness, when it would save our government three times as much money to just provide housing.
We aren’t asking for any of the 1% to give up their safety. We’re asking for them to give us our own measure of safety, power, and influence in return for the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve given for generations to make them rich. We’re asking that those in positions and influence work WITH us to make a better country. It’s what we’ve deserved all along, and it’s about damn time we get it.
I’ve researched our demands personally. They are the best on every front - mentally, emotionally, environmentally, and yes, even economically. The only people who are opposed to these basic rights are those who selectively place themselves opposite us, for their own personal gain.
We live in a country. A community. Not an economy. If we treat America as the latter and not the former we will continue sliding down in terms of world rankings on all fronts. It’s not a competition, it’s about getting on the same playing field as those countries who are doing right by their citizens, not getting bogged down in bureaucracy while the 99% suffer.
And if we don’t change things fast the foundation of this nation will crumble, and it will fall on us first, but when those in power are reached there will be no one left to catch them.
Mistreatment, neglect, and abuse of our working class thrive in darkness and a lack of education. Help us bring your story to light. Help us fight for your rights NOW. Not in 5 years or 10 years. October 15th, 2021 this ends.
For now, we need you to:
- Please share this petition with your friends and family and ask them to sign as well - this movement is going to take ALL of us.
- follow our social media accounts. The more people we can reach the louder we can collectively advocate for our cause
Twitter @labormovementx
Instagram @labormovementx
TikTok @labormovementx
Facebook @strikeoctober15
Tumblr @labormovementx
Website www.labormovementx.org
- join our discord server to connect with other people in your state. There’s opportunities for all to canvass, organize, and rally for the movement.
Thank you. For listening. For working to support all of us in these hard times. For daring to have hope we can change things. I know it might feel like no one sees you or hears you or cares about your struggles, but I do. And I’m not backing down until you’re heard and you’re taken care of. Anger is the language of pain, and it’s time for our pain, our anger, our voices to be heard.
Yours in the fight,
Sarah Hague
National Chair