May Day 2020

On May 1st, thousands of people are taking matters into our own hands demanding #NoWorkNoRentNoDebt in hazardous conditions while the rich cash in on taxpayer-funded stimulus money.

The Trump state has shown incompetence and indifference to people’s suffering as over 60 thousand die and over a million fall sick. But even these numbers don’t tell the full story because testing is limited, and only people who’ve died in hospitals are being counted. Preliminary antibodies testing suggests that the number of infections may be 10 times higher than reported, and an analysis of mortality rates based on CDC data suggests the death toll is much, much higher in hard hit states. 

‘Essential’ workers are carrying society on their backs, exposed to the virus without proper protection, hazard pay and, in many cases, without health insurance. Essential workers are majority women. According to the NYT, one in three jobs held by women has been deemed essential by federal and state governments, which right now means functioning with minimal protection from exposure to the virus and no hazard pay as a healthcare worker, domestic worker, caregiver, or food service worker. “Nonwhite women are more likely to be doing essential jobs than anyone else.” Over a quarter of patient-care workers lack paid sick leave and more than a quarter of million of those with high-risk conditions lack health insurance. Undocumented workers, who make up 75% of the field work labor force, are not only legally banned from all federal and state (with the exception of California) recovery support, they are also still being targeted by ICE. 

Reproductive labor workers carry society on their backs, holding the labor that sustains all other labor, the labor they can’t be fired from, or take a break from, or strike on the job to get better conditions because it isn’t counted as work and therefore not paid. Reproductive labor in homes has been radically transformed by the closure of schools, daycares, and quarantining of senior care facilities. For those of us with the privilege of working from home, work that was previously outsourced to the state and other workers must now be contained to our homes.

You are not alone. Thousands of people, from Amazon workers to healthcare and domestic workers are demanding dignified and safe working conditions, suspension of rent, loan payments and utility payments. 

We demand a state that chooses our lives over profit for the rich by providing direct economic assistance to all people, regardless of industry, type of work, or immigration status in the form of direct housing assistance, halting utility shut offs,  expanded childcare, reliving debt and direct sizable cash payments to every person.

We demand a cancellation of rent and mortgage payments, emergency housing assistance & a moratorium on water and electricity shut-offs. People out of paid work and on reduced wages are expected to continue paying rent. Rent was too high before, it is now completely unaffordable for millions.  

We demand state and federal governments to free them all. It is impossible to social distance in prisons, detention camps, and juvenile detention centers. Free them all before prisons become death camps. 

The crisis is global. We need solutions that don’t pit US workers against workers in other countries. Closing borders is not a permanent solution to the crisis. We need a regenerative, feminist economy, a redistribution of resources to ensure sustainability beyond this crisis. We are facing a pandemic whose very trajectory of spread is a reflection of global supply chains. Our solutions must account for the decades of extractive economies that mined countries in the global south for resources. 

Campaigns to connect with on May Day and Beyond: 

May Day is an international day of action historically led by immigrants and workers to demonstrate strength and solidarity. What binds us together as people is stronger than what separates us and divides us. We must come together to stand in solidarity with those who are hardest hit at this moment.

When we join together on May Day, we’ll be louder and stronger than ever before. We’ll tell those in power – from Congress to the White House, law enforcement, corporations, landlords, and Wall Street – that we need a #PeoplesBailout – relief that is informed by the people and supports the people directly.

Ways to Take Action with The People’s Bailout 

  • Join the #PeoplesBailout Live Stream Rally at 11am PT / 2pm ET. We’ll be broadcasting live from this page. Be ready to make some noise!
  • Make a sign or poster and hang it outside your window! Let your neighbors know what a #PeoplesBailout means to you. 
  • Share a picture or video of you and your family talking about what you want to see from a #PeoplesBailout. Don’t forget to include the hashtag and demand action by tagging your representative and President Trump. 
  • Boycott big businesses that are refusing to support workers, like Amazon, Target, and Whole Foods. Consider finding ways to support small businesses instead.

The People’s Strike / #GeneralStrike2020 

People’s Strike: Fighting for Our Lives, Forging Our Future

Take Action Friday May 1st, 2020 – May Day

The CODVID-19 pandemic has starkly revealed the inequalities and injustices that daily plague the world. 

The triple crises of viral plague, systemic economic breakdown, and the failure and/or unwillingness of Governments to provide necessary protections, especially for the poor and people subjected to white supremacy, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and misogyny has thrown us into a fight for our lives. 

People’s Strike is a growing coalition of workers, community, and political organizations confronting the COVID-19 pandemic by struggling against inept and corrupt government and the forces of capital (banks, corporations, brokers, etc). that put profit before the people and the planet.

We say ENOUGH! It is time to stand up! It’s Time To Strike Back – For Our Lives and Our Futures!

Join us in initiating this mass action on Friday, May 1st, 2020. We are encouraging everyone throughout the U.S. and the world to join us in engaging #NoWork #NoShopping #NoRent #NoMortgage #NoEviction #NoDebt #NoSchool #NoPrison #NoDetention actions. Let’s send Trump and Wall Street a clear message: #WeWontDieForWallSt #PeopleAndPlanetOverProfits

Read the Principles and Demands 

Take Action 

Join the May Day 24 hour Pacifica Radio Broadcast 

GGJ Member Actions 

  • Cooperation Jackson co-coordinating #GeneralStrike2020 and is joining the People’s Strike Call to Action and holding a May Day Caravan. The Caravan will Assemble at 11:00am at the Kuwasi Balagoon Center for Economic Democracy and Sustainable Development.
  • Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) will participate in the International Workers Day Webinar: Lxs Trabajadores toman el poder: Workers Seize power webinar with panelists who focus on health, housing and detention, and where to get resources from. Register to join HERE.
  • Members of the Right to the City Alliance are organizing actions and rent strikes as part of the national #CanceltheRent campaign

And so much more! 

If your organization would like to share May Day actions with Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, please be sure to just tag us! @ggjalliance on all platforms. 

Main Hashtags: 

#GeneralStrike2020

#PeoplesBailOut

#MayDay2020

#FeministEconomy

Sub Hashtags: 

#CancelTheRent – For renter related work

#FreeThemAll – For decarceration work 

#FeministEconomy – for GRF Care work, healthcare workers

#LifeOverProfit

#NoWorkNoRentNoDebt  

#TrumpLiesPeopleDie

#EndSanctions

#CancelIMFdebt

Check out this amazing and helpful tactical slide deck from RUCKUS SOCIETY / BLACKOUT COLLECTIVE on creative direct actions during the time of physical distancing

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