Today the Minneapolis AFL-CIO led a massive General Strike in Minneapolis in order to resist the armed federal occupation of their city and to combat rising fascism throughout America. Over 700 Minneapolis workplaces were shutdown and more then 100,000 workers marched in the streets. The massive demonstrations were further supported by widespread acts of civil disobedience targeting the operations of federal occupation forces. This mass worker action, in part, demands a withdrawal of federal troops from their city and seeks to build mass resistance to the darkness which is fascism emanating from Washington DC.
The January 23 2026 Minneapolis General Strike is an historic first major step in our collective resistance to fascism within our Republic, and further marks the first General Strike in our country in nearly 100 years. Today was powerful. However, it will take more than the Union and the workers in one city throwing down their tools for one day to defeat fascism. If we are to win (and we will) we need the National AFL-CIO to reject that ineffective politics of the status quo (i.e. replying on court actions, lobbying, and backing a Democratic Party which is unwilling and incapable of taking decisive action), and instead to put our collective resources into building towards a National General Strike.
The National AFL-CIO has 15,000,000 rank and file Union members. The working class represents the 99% of our nation. When we collectively choose to withdraw our labor and engage in direct action, there is no force in the world capable of overcoming our power. The future is ours to win!
Resist Fascism!
-David Van Deusen, President Emeritus of the Vermont AFL-CIO