There is a growing strike movement across the United States against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s clampdown on Minneapolis as millions of workers in 126 towns and cities across the country came out to support the Minneapolis general strike yesterday.
Several large trade unions have embraced the call that no one should work, shop, or go to school.
The biggest support actions took place in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore,Philadelphia and Austin Texas.
Ahead of the mass strikes on Thursday, Kieran Knutson, the president of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7250 in Minneapolis said: ‘This is just an outrageous acceleration and escalation of violence toward working-class people.
‘I think what generated the idea for this action comes out of the need to figure out what we can meaningfully do to stop it.
‘The government in the state of Minnesota has not offered any path towards stopping these attacks, this violence.’
Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, the president of the Minneapolis Regional Labour Federation, a section of the AFL-CIO, said: ‘Working people, our schools and our communities are under attack.
‘Union members are being detained commuting to and from work, tearing apart families.
‘Parents are being forced to stay home, students held out of school, fearing for their lives, all while the employer class remains silent.’
Bus driver and steward in the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005 Ryan Timlin said: ‘It’s getting to knocking down doors.
‘They’re just doing whatever they can to haul people off.
They call this a democratic society here in the United States — it doesn’t feel like it in Minneapolis. It’s a nightmare. The garage I work at in South Minneapolis has a massive East African population.
‘Our co-workers are walking around with passports, especially the Somali community, which Trump is really going after. They’re US citizens!’
SEIU Local 26 president Greg Nammacher said: ‘Now our communities are under attack directly from the federal government. And we are going to do everything in our power to defend the workers.’
Health and Safety NIOSH workers fully reinstated
AFTER nine months of sustained organising and collective action, all employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) who received layoff notices last year were fully reinstated last week.
In April 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services initiated a Reduction in Force that targeted more than 90 per cent of the NIOSH workforce – about 1,000 employees including scientists, engineers, and technical experts critical to the nation’s workplace safety and public health infrastructure.
On 13th January, the HHS reversed course completely, revoking all layoff notices and they are now returning to work.
Dr Micah Niemeier-Walsh, PhD, vice president of AFGE Local 3840 and an industrial hygienist at NIOSH said: ‘Every rally, every media interview, every petition signature, every act of solidarity by NIOSH employees and our partners in the labour movement led to this victory of saving NIOSH.
‘The victory came after sustained pressure from unions, labour advocates, and public health experts.’
The reinstatement of all NIOSH staff ensures the continuation of critical programmes that protect all working people, including mine safety research, chemical hazard assessment, and research on emerging occupational risks.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said: ‘The administration’s attempt to lay off nearly every NIOSH worker was shameful and illegal.’
15,000 New York nurses strike rally
Senator Bernie Sanders and Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined a rally at Mount Sinai West as the strike by 15,000 nurses continued.
The New York State Nurses Association is on strike against three New York City health care giants: Mount Sinai, New York-Presbyterian and Montefiore Health Systems in the Bronx.
Mamdani called for both sides to return to the bargaining table while Sanders blasted the multi-million dollar salaries of the CEOs of the three hospitals and for hiring replacement nurses while staff nurses were on strike.
Sanders said: ‘The people of this country are sick and tired of the greed in the health care industry.
‘They’re tired of the drug companies ripping us off, the insurance companies ripping us off, paying hospital executives, getting huge salaries.
‘In a broken and dysfunctional health care system, nurses are the people who keep us alive.’
He addressed the compensation packages which he said the CEOs of the three hospitals received last year: New York-Presbyterian Hospital $26 million (£19.3 million); Montefiore $16 million (£11.9 million) and Mount Sinai $5 million (£3.7 Million).
He also blasted the use of agency nurses in the three hospitals who are being paid up to $9,000 (£6,675) a week for five, 12-hour shifts, which is roughly three times the average salary of a staff nurse.
‘Don’t tell me you can’t treat nurses with dignity when you’re spending hundreds of millions on travel nurses,’ said Sanders.
Both Sanders, the Brooklyn-born Senator who represents Vermont, and Mamdani, the former Assembly member from Astoria, both bill themselves as Democratic Socialists.
The workers have a range of demands, from no cuts to health care benefits, wage rises of 10 per cent a year and protection from workplace violence.
Mount Sinai and the union returned to the bargaining table with a mediator on 15th January.
While the talks dragged on well past midnight and into 16th January, there was little progress and the two sides have not met since.
Montefiore has not met with the union since the strike started on 12th January.
Elsewhere, more than 100 Pepsi-Cola drivers at facilities in Atlanta and Lithonia, Georgia, have voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 528.
The drivers organised for respect on the job, a unified voice, and wage and benefit improvements.
Jeff Padellaro, Director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference said: ‘Congratulations to our newest Teamsters on their successful campaign to join the union.
‘These workers know the best way to secure a better future for themselves and their families is with a strong Teamsters contract.’
Kip Cortez, of Local 528 said: ‘These drivers remained united throughout the entire campaign and won, despite their employer’s union-busting efforts.
‘This group beat back an aggressive union-busting campaign put on by Pepsi-Cola, who brought in 15 human resources representatives in an attempt to prevent the workers from organising.
‘This win comes on the heels of a successful contract campaign for Local 528 with Keurig Dr. Pepper merchandisers.’
Kamian Vaughn, a new Teamster and a 13-year driver with Pepsi-Cola said: ‘We joined the Teamsters because we were mistreated, underpaid, and needed to get rid of favouritism in the workplace.
‘We are ready to now fight for a fair first contract.’
