SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
People take part in a protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 11, 2026.
(Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Minneapolis Labor, Community Leaders Join Call for Jan. 23 General Strike to Demand ICE Out
"We are asking every single person, every family member, every teacher, every bus driver, every childcare worker, to come together, to be in community, to stand with one another."
Jan 14, 2026
A broad coalition of Minneapolis labor unions and community organizations is calling for a general strike to take place next week with the goal of forcing federal immigration agents to leave their city.
According to a report by Workday Magazine, the groups announced their plans on Tuesday to create a day of "no work, no school, no shopping" on Friday, January 23.
JaNaé Bates Imari, representative of the church Camphor Memorial UMC, said that next Friday would be "a day when every single Minnesotan who loves this state—who loves the idea of truth and freedom—will refuse to work, shop, and go to school."
"We are asking every single person, every family member, every teacher, every bus driver, every childcare worker, to come together, to be in community, to stand with one another," Bates Imari added.
This is what it takes. It is time for the people to stand and take back our power. We need a general strike!
Love and solidarity to our family in Minneapolis who are refusing to go along with a status quo that blocks regular people out while ICE kidnaps and guns them down. More… pic.twitter.com/2dAjVopyjK
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) January 14, 2026
Abdikarim Khasim, a Minnesota rideshare driver, said the strike was necessary because "we are facing a tsunami of hate from our own federal government," while also vowing that "we are going to overcome this."
As reported by Payday Report on Tuesday, several local Minneapolis unions—including Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, CWA Local 7250, and St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28—have lent their support to the strike.
Workday Magazine editor Sarah Lazare subsequently reported in a post on X that the Minneapolis Federation of Educators had also signed onto the effort.
In addition to the labor organizations, faith-based social justice group Faith in Minnesota has declared its support for the strike.
Charles Booker, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Kentucky, praised the organizations for showing solidarity in the face of a crackdown by federal agents.
"This is what it takes," he wrote in a social media post. "It is time for the people to stand and take back our power. We need a general strike! Love and solidarity to our family in Minneapolis who are refusing to go along with a status quo... More of this!"
Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets to protest last weekend after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good.
In the days since Good's killing, federal agents have been repeatedly captured on video brutally detaining anti-ICE demonstrators and assorted bystanders, including some who have been confirmed as US citizens.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A broad coalition of Minneapolis labor unions and community organizations is calling for a general strike to take place next week with the goal of forcing federal immigration agents to leave their city.
According to a report by Workday Magazine, the groups announced their plans on Tuesday to create a day of "no work, no school, no shopping" on Friday, January 23.
JaNaé Bates Imari, representative of the church Camphor Memorial UMC, said that next Friday would be "a day when every single Minnesotan who loves this state—who loves the idea of truth and freedom—will refuse to work, shop, and go to school."
"We are asking every single person, every family member, every teacher, every bus driver, every childcare worker, to come together, to be in community, to stand with one another," Bates Imari added.
This is what it takes. It is time for the people to stand and take back our power. We need a general strike!
Love and solidarity to our family in Minneapolis who are refusing to go along with a status quo that blocks regular people out while ICE kidnaps and guns them down. More… pic.twitter.com/2dAjVopyjK
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) January 14, 2026
Abdikarim Khasim, a Minnesota rideshare driver, said the strike was necessary because "we are facing a tsunami of hate from our own federal government," while also vowing that "we are going to overcome this."
As reported by Payday Report on Tuesday, several local Minneapolis unions—including Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, CWA Local 7250, and St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28—have lent their support to the strike.
Workday Magazine editor Sarah Lazare subsequently reported in a post on X that the Minneapolis Federation of Educators had also signed onto the effort.
In addition to the labor organizations, faith-based social justice group Faith in Minnesota has declared its support for the strike.
Charles Booker, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Kentucky, praised the organizations for showing solidarity in the face of a crackdown by federal agents.
"This is what it takes," he wrote in a social media post. "It is time for the people to stand and take back our power. We need a general strike! Love and solidarity to our family in Minneapolis who are refusing to go along with a status quo... More of this!"
Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets to protest last weekend after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good.
In the days since Good's killing, federal agents have been repeatedly captured on video brutally detaining anti-ICE demonstrators and assorted bystanders, including some who have been confirmed as US citizens.
From Your Site Articles
- ‘The Resistance Starts Now’: People For the American Way Announces New Campaign: Resist Project 2025 ›
- 6 Federal Prosecutors Resign as Trump DOJ Pushes for Investigation Into Renee Good's Wife ›
- US Labor Day Rallies Planned to Protest 'Trump's Authoritarian Anti-Worker Agenda' ›
- Fury Over ICE Brutality and Lawlessness Fuels Push for Minnesota ‘General Strike’ | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | Incorporate Armbands in the May Day Strike: A Lesson from the Past | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
A broad coalition of Minneapolis labor unions and community organizations is calling for a general strike to take place next week with the goal of forcing federal immigration agents to leave their city.
According to a report by Workday Magazine, the groups announced their plans on Tuesday to create a day of "no work, no school, no shopping" on Friday, January 23.
JaNaé Bates Imari, representative of the church Camphor Memorial UMC, said that next Friday would be "a day when every single Minnesotan who loves this state—who loves the idea of truth and freedom—will refuse to work, shop, and go to school."
"We are asking every single person, every family member, every teacher, every bus driver, every childcare worker, to come together, to be in community, to stand with one another," Bates Imari added.
This is what it takes. It is time for the people to stand and take back our power. We need a general strike!
Love and solidarity to our family in Minneapolis who are refusing to go along with a status quo that blocks regular people out while ICE kidnaps and guns them down. More… pic.twitter.com/2dAjVopyjK
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) January 14, 2026
Abdikarim Khasim, a Minnesota rideshare driver, said the strike was necessary because "we are facing a tsunami of hate from our own federal government," while also vowing that "we are going to overcome this."
As reported by Payday Report on Tuesday, several local Minneapolis unions—including Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, CWA Local 7250, and St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28—have lent their support to the strike.
Workday Magazine editor Sarah Lazare subsequently reported in a post on X that the Minneapolis Federation of Educators had also signed onto the effort.
In addition to the labor organizations, faith-based social justice group Faith in Minnesota has declared its support for the strike.
Charles Booker, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Kentucky, praised the organizations for showing solidarity in the face of a crackdown by federal agents.
"This is what it takes," he wrote in a social media post. "It is time for the people to stand and take back our power. We need a general strike! Love and solidarity to our family in Minneapolis who are refusing to go along with a status quo... More of this!"
Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets to protest last weekend after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good.
In the days since Good's killing, federal agents have been repeatedly captured on video brutally detaining anti-ICE demonstrators and assorted bystanders, including some who have been confirmed as US citizens.
From Your Site Articles
- ‘The Resistance Starts Now’: People For the American Way Announces New Campaign: Resist Project 2025 ›
- 6 Federal Prosecutors Resign as Trump DOJ Pushes for Investigation Into Renee Good's Wife ›
- US Labor Day Rallies Planned to Protest 'Trump's Authoritarian Anti-Worker Agenda' ›
- Fury Over ICE Brutality and Lawlessness Fuels Push for Minnesota ‘General Strike’ | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | Incorporate Armbands in the May Day Strike: A Lesson from the Past | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.