April 27, 2012 May Day General Strike Prepared by the MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Team Information current as of 9:00 AM Overview History May 1st has long been a significant date for protests and is recognized as a holiday in most industrialized countries, excluding the United States. Back in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada accepted a resolution which stated that starting on May 1st, 1886, eight hours would constitute a legal day of labor, down from the typical 10 to 16 hours of daily work. Three main labor organizations began preparing for a general strike to be held on that date in support of the eight-hour workday. Once May 1st, 1886 approached, rallies were held throughout the United States; the largest were held in Chicago (90,000 participants), Detroit (11,000) and New York (10,000). Across the country, people left work all day to strike during normal working hours. Occupy & the General Strike While the holiday, referred to as International Workers’ Day, is not officially recognized within the US, rallies are historically common practice on May Day (May 1st). Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Chicago and Occupy Oakland were some of the first Occupy groups to call for a General Strike on May 1st in solidarity with existing May Day events to defend the rights of workers, immigrants, students, women and other communities. Workers, students and supporters are asked to leave work or school for the day in protest of the struggles faced by varying communities. Those who simply cannot miss a day of school or work have been encouraged to join after school or work hours are over as actions will be occurring all day in multiple locations. Fliers regarding the May Day General Strike call for “No work; No school; No shopping; No banking; and No chores.” It is being advertised as “a day without the 99%.” In an Occupy Wall Street-related publication called “Tidal,” organizers further explained the purpose of the General Strike. In one particular article titled “General Strike,” the writer says that this General Strike will be geared toward corporate greed as Occupy Wall Street members view it as the cause of indefinite foreclosures, bank bailouts, corporatization of the education system, and decimated healthcare among other issues. This leads us to assess that banks will likely targeted by May Day-related protest activity. Another article highlights several key issues that will be part of the General Strike, highlighted below: Student Strike: According to the article, student debt in the US will rise above $1 trillion this year. Students have been strongly encouraged to leave school for the day and march to refuse debt and tuition increases. Even students who are not in debt have been asked to come out for the day to show their support, as well as faculty members whose wages are being lowered due to budget cuts. Prepared by the MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Team Women’s Strike: The article cites a United Nations report which says women perform 66% of the world’s work, but only earn 10% of the world’s income and own 1% of its property. Organizers say the General Strike on May 1st is an opportunity for women to join in together in protest of the “extreme damage and oppression” done by capitalism. The oppression has been described as the division of the community by gender and the exploitation of women. Housing Strike: As foreclosures have been of much focus to the Occupy movement, housing will be one of the key platforms for the General Strike. The article uses New York City as an example, and says that 10,000 homeless families sleep in shelters every night, yet in Brooklyn alone there are 80,000 vacant apartment units and homes. They use another statistic as well to demonstrate the current housing crisis. According to national statistics, a family must earn $16.31 per hour of work to be able to afford housing at the national average fair market rent. However, federal minimum wage is only $7.25. The Occupy movement places the blame on Wall Street banks and corporate greed for the current foreclosure and housing crisis. 2 Prepared by the MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Team Planned Actions List of Participating Cities and Planned Actions Please see the attachment beginning on page 6 for a list of May 1st planned actions. Participating Groups Apart from the Occupy movement groups, we have seen the following organizations and community groups listed as participants: 99% Spring National Nurses United American Federation of Labor and Peaceful Uprising! Congress of Industrial Organizations Rainforest Action Network (RAN) (AFL-CIO) Revolutionary Students Union (RSU) ALEC Welcoming Committee Service Employees International Union Anarchist People of Color (APOC) Student Anarchist Praxis Collision Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) (SAPC) ANSWER Coalition Teamsters Freedom Road Socialist Organization Teachers Unions (FRSO) United for Social Justice (USJ) Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Workers International League Jobs with Justice Workers United Midwest Antiwar Mobilization Network 3 Prepared by the MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Team Analysis of the General Strike Overall, we see that the call for a General Strike on May 1st has been widely embraced by Occupy movements across the country. The day will serve as an indicator of the Occupy movement’s ability to mobilize large numbers, like they had in the first few months of the movement. It will also showcase how well the winter efforts to reorganize have strengthened the movement given the lack of Occupy encampment sites. Occupy groups are taking advantage of a day historically known for rallies. With their involvement, we expect a significant increase in participation at May 1st rallies. Potential Tactics Occupy Wall Street in New York released an article in March that outlines six ways for individuals to get involved in the General Strike (available here). For your convenience, a brief outline is provided below: 1. Work With Your Local Occupy 2. Spread the Word On Social Media 3. Start an Affinity Group 4. Join the General Strike Conference Calls 5. Talk to Labor 6. Organize Your Workplace, Campus, or Community Among these items is a nationwide tactic that we have been seeing – the formation of affinity groups. Affinity groups are small groups of people that plan autonomous actions in their respective cities acting as a force multiplier for local Occupy movements. They typically carry out simultaneous actions at multiple targets. These groups increase the effectiveness of their actions while remaining fairly discrete in their planning. This provides a challenge to both local law enforcement and private security teams. Most activist groups have been planning for the May 1st General Strike for months. We assess that groups are practicing strong operational security as we are mainly seeing general plans with little to no information regarding specific targets of protest activity. We anticipate that during the lead-up to May Day, more specific plans will emerge. There is the potential for the following tactics to occur: School walk-outs, staying home from work, no shopping Various marches/rallies taking place throughout the day or week leading up to May 1st o Most of these actions appear to be traditional marches/rallies. o Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Chicago have each been providing training in “clown- inspired” march tactics, defined as the theatrical movements of a circus clown. Tactics include melting down (falling to the floor) and moving in unison with linked arms. Create havoc for mass transportation o Plans in New York City include targeting bridges, tunnels and the subway system to prevent commuters from getting to work/school. A blog posting regarding these plans is available here. Civil disobedience focused on retail bank branches o Potential for blocking entrances to banks and financial institutions 4 Prepared by the MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Team o Random acts of vandalism . We haven’t seen these tactics explicitly mentioned, but we anticipate these types of actions will occur in multiple cities. Community outreach including leafleting and approaching commercial bank customers to spread their messages At this time, there are no open calls for violence or black bloc-type activity. Noted is how the Occupy movement has carried out these types of actions for national days of actions in the past. 5 Prepared by the MSA Research & Intelligence Analysis Team ATTACHMENT: GENERAL STRIKE PLANNED ACTIONS CITY MAY DAY PLANNED ACTIONS Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque protesters will participate in a “March to Cure Capitalism” on May Day. The plan is to meet at 4:30p at University of New Mexico Lobo Park (Central & University) to march to Robinson Park. Atlanta, GA Occupy Atlanta is planning actions for “May Day March” from 11:00a to 10:00p starting at Woodruff Park (91 Peachtree Street NE). 11:00a-1:00p: The group will march from Woodruff Park and head to the MLK Jr. Historical Center downtown. 2:00p-10:00p: The group will go to Coan Park at the edge of Kirkwood for a cookout, workshops, film screening, and other activities. Austin, TX 9:30a – 10:30a: “Rally against Foreclosures” at Woolridge Park (10th & Guadalupe) 12:00p – 4:00p: “International Workers Day Celebration Picnic” at Eastwoods Park (Dean Keeton & Harris Park Avenue) 5:00p to 6:00p: “UT May Day March at the UT Tower” (2300 Inner Campus Drive) 6:00p to 9:00p: “Austin Celebrates International Workers Day & March” at the Texas State Capitol (1100 Congress Avenue) Baltimore, MD 4:00p: March to “Fight Racism- Justice for Workers, Immigrants and Youth.” The group will gather at Read’s Drug Store (N. Howard Street and W.