Transnational Social Strike

Yesterday May Day was celebrated across the globe. Responding to the call of the Permanent Assembly Against the War the watchword ‘Strike the war’ resonated in many countries, from Ukraine to Germany, from Russia to Greece, from Turkey to Italy, from France to the UK, marking with a transnational anti-war sign the rituality of labour-day celebrations in several cities. Bigger initiatives and smaller events were characterized by a strong ‘NO’ to the invasion of Ukraine as well as by a wider opposition to war politics. In Russia feminists against the war responded to the call to ‘Strike the war’ and called people to a political strike, to occupy the squares and feed pigeons together in order to escape police violence. Recalling the powerful cry of the global feminist strike, they declared that “we need to learn again to strike” in the extremely difficult conditions they are finding themselves into. They won’t let the war and Putin’s authoritarianism silence them. In the meanwhile, also in Russia couriers and garbage truck drivers went on strike to fight back against repression and for better working conditions.For the first time in connection with those fighting in Russia, initiatives around Europe tore apart the black veil of silence that the war throws on all of us. Trade unions members from dozens of European and non-European countries met in Lviv, Ukraine, to discuss transnational solidarity and workers’ struggles during the war. Women, migrants, workers and lgbtqi+ people in Athens, Milan, London, Thessaloniki, Turin, Izmir, Bologna, Paris, Sofia, Bonn, Pisa, Reggio Emilia, Pordenone, Bari and more cried ‘welfare, not warfare’, ‘social security, not armaments’, ‘fight war, smash patriarchy’, ‘unconditional residence permit for all migrants’ and ‘rise wages, not military spending’. Feminists in several cities denounced this war as the culmination of the patriarchal violence they are fighting against.This war is bringing about deep and long-lasting transformations we need to cope with and no one can do it alone. We all need to learn how to strike again. This anti-war May Day tells us that we need to keep trespassing the borders to connect dispersed and isolated insubordinations in a collective process against the war-like normality we are living in: with all those who are opposing the invasion of Ukraine; with all those who are suffering its consequences on their living, working and wage conditions; with all those who are not willing to give up their freedom for the sake of war; and with all those who are willing to fight for a transnational politics of peace. The Permanent Assembly Against the War is there to sustain and enlarge this process: stay tuned, the next transnational meeting will be announced soon.