Virginia groups join call for nationwide general strike on Friday

The killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti this month by federal immigration agents have galvanized the movement fighting back against President Donald Trump’s authoritarian agenda.

Some activists in Virginia are part of a national movement organizing for a general strike on Friday in protest of President Donald Trump’s violent crackdown on immigrants and protestors. 

Virginia organizations listed as supporting the “National Shutdown” campaign include 50501 Virginia, Arlington For Palestine, and Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. 

The effort was initially borne out of a growing coalition of Minnesota student groups, labor unions, immigration advocates, and national organizations who organized the campaign in response to the recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. 

The “shutdown” calls on people not to work, not go to school, and not to shop on Friday. 

“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country – to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN,” National Shutdown says on its website. “On Friday, January 30, join a nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping.”

Local organizers at an anti-ICE rally in Hanover County on Wednesday passed out flyers that read: “How can we stop Trump? Build towards a general strike!” 

Some demonstrators at yesterday’s Hanover rally spoke in support of the general strike being organized for tomorrow.

These fliers were getting passed out: pic.twitter.com/jqYlEBrPtx

— Michael O’Connor (@oconnor_reports) January 29, 2026

Abby Carlsmith, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Richmond, said large crowds rallying on a frigid Wednesday night showed there was momentum in the region to push back against Trump’s ICE operations. 

“ In Minneapolis we’ve seen ICE terror on the streets—two people murdered by ICE,” Carlsmith said in an interview. “It’s very important right now that we make this display of our strength as workers, as students to walk out of school, walk out of work, and withhold our labor and say, ‘This is the power that we have.’”

‘Ultimate tool of collective action’

The US has a long history of general strikes, considered by some to be “the ultimate tool of collective action.” 

Getting workers across multiple industries to withhold their labor is one of the most powerful tools in the struggle against oppression. But general strikes are hard to pull off, and for that reason have become rarer in modern times. 

The rise of Trump and the success of his administration in carrying out its authoritarian agenda have made the idea of a general strike more common as people look for ways they can fight back. Even TIME Magazine is talking about it. 

In addition to the general strike planned for Friday, another one is being planned for May 1, 2028. Large unions are negotiating contracts that expire on or close to that day as part of the planning for that strike. The United Auto Workers, American Federal of Teachers, and local labor federations have pledged support for the 2028 general strike. 

At the rally in Hanover, James Wilkerson, a veteran who lives in Mechanicsville, rallied the crowd behind the idea of a general strike. 

“Who’s gonna tell their friends about a general strike this Friday,” he shouted. “This is just the first step on a general strike. Can we do this?” 

The people rallying against Trump and ICE in Hanover cheered that they could.