Forum Post: A May 1st Strike with Some Teeth

If we want to make real economic change, we must force that change. It will not be given to us. A one day general strike with no clear direction of that force is like our raised fist taking a single punch at a thousand different opponents, landing on none of them. It feels like you are doing something positive but nothing is accomplished.

An annual May 1st strike by minimum wage workers to raise wages by just one dollar would be much more effective in bringing about economic equality. It must be a yearly event, not for just one day, but until wages are raised one dollar for that year. The strike would end at each business when either the business raised wages or legislation was enacted to make it mandatory.

A relatively small one dollar a year increase in wages would not shock the system and prevent it's adoption. Breaking the strike by firing strikers and replacing with scabs can be prevented by boycotting businesses that do not raise their wages.

In just 5 years the current $7.25 an hour Federal minimum wage would rise to $12.25. That's about a 70% increase. How much will the minimum wage rise in that same 5 years if we wait for legislators to increase it?

The very basis of economic injustice hinges on one fact. As long as we are willing to accept low wages, we will continue to receive them. Do not accept them. Stand up and receive your fair share. It is negotiable.