Imagine stacking $100 bills until they reach 35,000 feet in the sky. That mountain of cash? It still wouldn’t match even 3 percent of Elon Musk’s net worth—after he took a financial hit. This is how Sara Nelson, the fiery president of the Association of Flight Attendants, opened her speech in Missoula, Montana. But her goal wasn’t just to roast billionaires. She was laying the groundwork for something far bigger: a national general strike.
This idea—millions of American workers walking off the job at once—might sound like something out of a European protest manual. But it’s gaining traction in the U.S., as anger mounts over growing inequality, corporate overreach, and what many see as the deliberate dismantling of hard-won labor rights.
Nelson, who helped end the 2019 government shutdown with similar pressure, isn’t shy: “Nothing moves without our labor,” she told a crowd of 8,000. “It’s time to exercise our power.”
Backing her message is a growing movement, powered by both grassroots energy and organized labor muscle. One campaign is collecting “general strike cards,” aiming to hit 3 million signatures before scaling to 8 million. Another, led by United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, is planning ahead: he wants unions to align their contract expirations for April 30, 2028—setting the stage for a legal May Day general strike. Teachers’ unions are already on board.
This isn’t just hypothetical. Support for unions is at its highest in decades. Recent strikes—from Hollywood to Detroit to the Southern telecom industry—have been successful and widely supported. According to a Gallup poll, 70% of Americans approve of unions, even if union membership remains low overall.
But the U.S. isn’t Europe. American workers face major legal and economic risks. Many are “at-will,” meaning they can be fired for nearly any reason. There’s no universal healthcare safety net if you lose your job. Striking can mean losing not just your paycheck but also your insurance, your home, your entire safety cushion.
Still, the anger is palpable. The “Fight Oligarchy” tour led by Bernie Sanders is packing stadiums. General strike organizers argue that traditional forms of protest—marches, letters to Congress—aren’t enough anymore. Trump, Musk, and the billionaire class aren’t moved by tweets or signs. But stop the flow of labor, and the machine grinds to a halt.
“There’s a very large majority who don’t want to lose their Social Security or their democracy,” said former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. “The point of a general strike isn’t to scare Trump. It’s to remind Americans they’re not alone.”
Historically, general strikes in America have been rare—but powerful. In 1877, rail workers across the country brought cities to a standstill. In 1934, a wave of coordinated strikes led to the National Labor Relations Act. But after the 1946 Oakland general strike, Congress struck back with the Taft-Hartley Act, a law that still limits union power today.
So what would it take to make this moment different? According to Nelson, it comes down to the fear of losing everything unions fought for: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and basic worker rights. Even the threat of a general strike could shake the foundations of corporate and political power.
It’s not an easy ask. Coordinating unions, non-union workers, red states and blue, all toward one goal? That’s uncharted territory.
But as labor educator Gene Carroll put it, “The spark is there. If inflation sticks, if rights erode, if the economy keeps squeezing people… the fire will spread.”
Reich agrees: “The tinder is there. It’s just waiting for a match.”
