Archiv: Generalstreiks / general strikes


09.11.2025 - 15:27 [ theCollector.com ]

The German Revolution of 1918-1919: The Birth of the Weimar Republic

(March 1, 2025)

On October 30, 1918, the naval garrison of Wilhelmshaven resisted the order to launch the operation against the British forces. Arrested by their officers, the mutineers were then brought to Kiel, where the local dock crews and workers joined their struggle. The rebellion soon spread through the coastal town, with soldiers and workers creating a council to demand the release of mutineers, freedom of speech, and the immediate stop of “all military measures” against the movement. Fearing the outbreak of a revolution, members of the Reichstag hastily traveled to Kiel, where they promised to accept the Soldiers’ and Workers’ Council demands.

By the time the government representatives arrived in Kiel, anti-war and pro-democracy protests had already reached countless coastal towns and ports.

05.10.2025 - 15:14 [ Left Voice ]

2 Million People Paralyze Italy in a General Strike for Gaza and the Flotilla

Italian dockworkers and the Union of Base Trade Unions (USB) vowed that they would respond with strikes and class struggle in the event of an attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and they delivered. On October 3, Italy exploded in a day of “wildcat” strike actions across many sectors.

Despite intimidation from the authorities, who declared the strike illegal and deployed heavy repressive operations, the USB and the dockworkers managed to get Italian workers across sectors to stop and take to the streets, forcing the bureaucracy of the main labor union (CGIL) to call for a strike and demonstrations. Following the important day of struggle on September 22, over two million workers demonstrated and walked off the streets on Friday, especially in the metalworking, logistics, and education sectors.

05.10.2025 - 15:10 [ Associated Press ]

2 million rally in Italy for Gaza as general strike halts key services

According to the CGIL union, 300,000 people marched through the streets of Rome alone, while the national average participation in the general strike stood at around 60%, halting all the main services in key sectors including transportation and schools.

03.10.2025 - 20:54 [ Junge Welt ]

Italien macht ernst

Als Reaktion auf die gewaltsame Kaperung der Gaza-Hilfsflotte »Global Sumud Flotilla« durch das israelische Militär sind am Freitag überall in Italien Hunderttausende auf die Straßen gegangen. Allein in der Hauptstadt Rom waren es nach Angaben der Organisatoren 300.000 Menschen. In mehreren Städten blockierten Demonstranten Bahnhöfe und Autobahnen – und stießen dabei auf Zustimmung. So etwa in Brescia, wo Autofahrer in Solidarität hupten und applaudierten.

03.10.2025 - 20:07 [ Anadolu ]

Italy paralyzed by general strike observed in solidarity with Gaza flotilla

Nationwide demonstrations paralyze ports, railways and highways as unions, students and officials rally in solidarity with Gaza and Global Sumud Flotilla

03.10.2025 - 19:19 [ Reuters ]

Italians take to the streets for Gaza flotilla general strike

Hundreds of thousands of Italians took to the streets across the country on Friday, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of an aid flotilla carrying food to Gaza that was intercepted by Israel this week.

03.10.2025 - 10:38 [ theLocal.it ]

‚Block everything‘: Anti-war protests grow in Italy as general strike begins

„The flotilla has somehow reopened attention on this issue, revealing consciences that have perhaps been too dormant after two years of war and massacres,“ Rome city council member Lorenzo Giardinetti, who had joined the protest, told AFP.

„Today it is the Colosseum, tomorrow it is the general strike… It‘s a matter of putting our bodies on the line, as the flotilla activists did.“

19.08.2025 - 18:13 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hostages Families Forum Announced a Nationwide “Israel Stops Again” Protest for Next Sunday

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum calls on Monday evening, August 18, for another nationwide strike to pressure the far-right government into ending the genocide war and for the release of hostages on next Sunday after a similar action on last Sunday.

(…)

On next Saturday, August 23, at 4:30 pm, will be held another Arab-Jewish rally, “The March for Peace and Life” from Dizengoff Square to Habima Square in Central Tel-Aviv, calling for a deal to end the war and occupation, a deal with Hamas for the return of hostages, as well as a lasting peace agreement with the Palestinians. The demonstration is an initiative of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, a leading umbrella organization among Arab-Palestinian national minority in Israel and sponsored by Hadash and several peace groups including Partnership for Peace, Standing Together, Women Wage Peace, Peace Now, and Breaking the Silence, among others.

15.08.2025 - 19:33 [ Times of Israel ]

Histadrut labor union won’t join Aug. 17 general strike; tech firms, Bar Association will

The Histadrut, the country’s main labor federation, said Monday that it would not join a general strike called for August 17 to protest the continuation of the war and the government’s approval of a plan for a military takeover of Gaza City. However, the labor union said it would support workers planning to participate in a protest rally that day.

Meanwhile, much of Israel’s private tech sector declared that it would back the general strike action next week, as did the Israel Bar Association.

15.08.2025 - 19:24 [ New York Times ]

Israeli Hostage Families Call for Nationwide Walkout

(August 12, 2025)

Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have appealed for a nationwide labor strike on Sunday to demand a cease-fire agreement with Hamas to free their relatives, even as Israel’s government has moved to expand the nearly two-year military campaign in the enclave.

“Silence enables their sacrifice on the altar of an endless war without purpose or goal,” said the Hostage Families Forum, an advocacy group. “This is the time for everyone to join us, across the entire country.”

15.08.2025 - 19:20 [ CNN ]

Hostage families call for nationwide strike as Israel prepares to escalate war

(August 10, 2025)

“We are shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages,” said the relatives of the hostages in Tel Aviv. They were joined by the October 7 Council, which represents bereaved families of soldiers who fell at the start of the war.

Organizers said the initiative would start as a grassroots effort primarily through private companies and citizens who will strike on Sunday to halt the economy.

Within hours, the October 7 Council said “hundreds” of companies said they would participate in the strike, as well as “thousands of citizens who have declared they will take the day off.”

10.08.2025 - 18:09 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Mass Rallies Across Israel, Speakers Urge Soldiers to Refuse to Occupy Gaza, Calls to Launch General Strike

Following a big gathering at Hostages Square, hostages’ families begin a march around the army headquarters in protest of the Gaza occupation plan, joining protesters and other hostages’ families from the anti-government protest outside the Begin Street entrance to the army headquarters.

During that protest, speakers urged soldiers to refuse to serve in Gaza and called on opposition heads as well as business, labor and academic leaders to bring the country to a general strike. At the same time, dozens of activists split from the main march in Tel Aviv and are blocking the central Ayalon highway in both directions in several points. The activists burned tires in one of their blocking points and three were arrested by police.

10.08.2025 - 18:00 [ Times of Israel ]

Masses rally against Gaza City takeover plan, urge soldiers to refuse, seek general strike

Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway shut down as protesters light bonfires in the road; relatives of hostages bewail ‘eternal war-mongers’ for choosing to ‘sacrifice’ their loved ones
(…)

Nearby, at the anti-government, pro-hostage deal protest in front of the Begin Street entrance to the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, speakers urged soldiers to refuse to serve in the expanded fighting, and called on opposition heads as well as business, labor and academic leaders to bring the country to a standstill.

“An entire county is held hostage by Hamas and the government of Israel,” said Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker. “What needs to be done? The country needs to grind to a halt, now.”

22.03.2025 - 12:00 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Histadrut coordinated nationwide strike with PM‘s office – coalition member

(March 30, 2023)

The strike on Monday of Israel‘s largest worker‘s union, the Histadrut Labor Federation, was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s inner circle, a senior member of the coalition confirmed on Thursday.

According to the report, one of Netanyahu‘s spokespersons, Yonatan Urich, contacted senior Histadrut officials on Monday morning urging them to launch a strike, in order to give the prime minister a decisive reason to announce that he was postponing the legislation, against the wishes of Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

04.12.2024 - 18:30 [ Business Insider ]

South Korea‘s largest labor union launches an indefinite strike and calls for the president‘s resignation

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued the call in a Facebook post to its 1.1 million members, saying the strike would start Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time and would last until the president‘s „regime“ abolished martial law and the president stepped down.

04.12.2024 - 01:43 [ Korean Broadcasting System ]

Umbrella Labor Union Calls for End of Yoon Administration, Declares General Strike until Then

An umbrella labor union has announced a general strike of indeterminate length, saying the strike will continue until President Yoon Suk Yeol resigns.

The central executive committee of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) announced the decision Wednesday morning in a press conference at its office in Seoul, saying the labor union will fight alongside the people for the end of the Yoon administration.

02.09.2024 - 23:55 [ CNN ]

Tumultuous weekend for Israelis leaves Netanyahu with fewer options than ever

Unlike Palestinians in Gaza, Israelis can rise up to challenge their leadership. Late-night skirmishes between protesters and the authorities Sunday on Tel Aviv’s usually hyper-busy eight-lane Ayalon Highway were a manifestation of that.

As flames and dense smoke engulfed wooden pallets and tires on the roads, I watched a young man, blue paint spray in hand, scrawl his message to the prime minister in foot-high letters on the roadside wall: “Hostages or revolt.”

02.09.2024 - 16:56 [ El Pais ]

Israel’s anti-Netanyahu strike ends early and fails to bring the country to a standstill

The strike began at 05:00 local time and was expected to last 24 hours but at midday a court ordered it to end, considering it “political” and “unrelated” to the issue for which it had been called. Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David announced to the labor court that he was considering a petition to suspend it that would end the action at 18.00. However, the court ordered the strike to end at 2:30 p.m. and Bar-David responded by urging workers to return to their posts.

During its short duration, the strike failed to paralyze Israel.

01.09.2024 - 20:50 [ Times of Israel ]

Masses around Israel demand Gaza deal as nation recoils from murder of 6 hostages

Labor federation chief Arnon Bar-David says hostage release stuck due to ‘political considerations,’ most of labor market will strike as of 6 a.m. Monday

01.09.2024 - 19:46 [ APNews.com ]

Israelis erupt in protest to demand a cease-fire after 6 more hostages die in Gaza

Grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting “Now! Now!” as they demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, pressured the government by calling a general strike for Monday, the first since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war.

01.09.2024 - 17:17 [ Times of Israel ]

National labor union announces one-day strike: ‘A deal is more important than anything else’

Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David announces a general strike set for tomorrow over the failure to release hostages held in Gaza, stating that “a deal is more important than anything else.”

08.05.2024 - 22:02 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Histadrut coordinated nationwide strike with PM‘s office – coalition member

(March 30, 2023)

The strike on Monday of Israel‘s largest worker‘s union, the Histadrut Labor Federation, was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s inner circle, a senior member of the coalition confirmed on Thursday.

08.05.2024 - 21:40 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Histadrut Head Urges Early Elections, Hostages Families Demand ‘General Strike Now’

The head of the Histadrut labor federation urges again far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set a date for early elections, indicating that if the premier refuses, the organization could take steps aimed at forcing his hand.

Speaking at a conference hosted by Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, May 8, Arnon Bar-David declares that Netanyahu and his government “cannot avoid responsibility for the failures of October 7.”

Last year, when protests against the same government’s divisive judicial overhaul plan reached a tipping point following Netanyahu’s firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Histadrut declared a general strike, helping force the prime minister to walk back that decision and to pause the overhaul.

28.01.2024 - 16:34 [ Nachdenkseiten ]

Generalstreik und Massenproteste in Argentinien gegen Präsident Milei

Hunderttausende Menschen haben am Mittwoch in ganz Argentinien gegen die Politik der Regierung und des Präsidenten Javier Milei sowie dessen „Notstandsdekrete“ protestiert. Gleichzeitig galt ein bis Mitternacht andauernder zwölfstündiger Generalstreik im ganzen Land. Zahlreiche Gewerkschaften und weitere zivilgesellschaftliche Gruppen bezeugten weltweit ihre Solidarität mit den Protesten. Von Christian Dürr.

22.12.2023 - 22:42 [ Tali / Twitter ]

Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David as photographed last week during a visit to two weapons factories: #Elbit Systems and IAI. On a shell intended for use in bombings in the Gaza Strip he wrote: „The people of Israel live. Greetings from the Histadrut and the workers in Israel

24.07.2023 - 21:34 [ Reuters ]

Israel‘s main union to discuss declaring general strike

The head of Israel‘s main public sector union said on Monday he would meet with other union officials to discuss the possibility…

23.07.2023 - 18:23 [ Times of Israel ]

Likud, protest leaders reject labor union’s compromise overhaul bill

Likud minister David Amsalem launched a public attack on Bar-David, anticipating that the latter could end up launching a nationwide strike.

“I remind you that you represent workers who are mostly Likud people who are struggling to make a living,” Amsalem tweeted. “The issue of the judicial reform should be decided in the Knesset, not in the corridors of the Mapai-like Histadrut,” he argued, citing the workers’ party that was a precursor to left-wing Labor and was the ruling party for Israel’s first three decades.

23.07.2023 - 13:15 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Lapid meets with Histadrut leader amid talks of widespread strike

Lapid and Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David reportedly discussed the outline for dialogue that the chairman and his colleagues had recently presented to the prime minister.

Bar-David said after meeting with Lapid: „I will continue to turn over every stone and work with all my might to try and find the right compromise.

23.07.2023 - 13:01 [ Haaretz ]

Lapid meets chief of Israel‘s labor federation amid calls to shut down the economy

Following the meeting, Lapid said he commends „the efforts of the chairman and the framework set by the Histadrut as a basis for shared dialogue.“ Bar-David said „I call on the other parties to show responsible leadership.

23.07.2023 - 12:34 [ Times of Israel ]

Lapid meets with union chief in Tel Aviv, amid protesters’ pressure for strike

Opposition leader Yair Lapid is meeting with Histadrut labor federation chair Arnon Bar-David in the latter’s office in Tel Aviv.

Bar-David has come under pressure from anti-overhaul protesters to call a strike over the coalition’s bill to curb the authority of the courts.

22.07.2023 - 23:19 [ Times of Israel ]

Protesters rally outside Histadrut HQ in Tel Aviv

Anti-overhaul protesters are rallying outside the Histadrut’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, as chief Arnon Bar-David holds “emergency” deliberations amid calls for the labor federation to declare a strike.

22.07.2023 - 23:10 [ Times of Israel ]

Israel’s top labor union holds emergency meeting on judicial overhaul

Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David is facing intense pressure from opponents of the judicial shakeup to declare a general strike to stop the bill to limit court oversight of government decisions.

The meeting was to include other senior Histadrut officials and Dov Amitai, head of the Israeli Presidency of Business Organizations. According to reports Friday, Bar-David and Amitai met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently to try to find a compromise deal.

17.07.2023 - 16:49 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Pro-democracy Protesters Pressuring Trade Union to Call for General Strike

As the Netanyahu-led gov‘t prepares to further advance a key component of the legislation, the leaders of the protest movement are pressuring the Histadrut to call for a general strike across Israel