Photo Credit: Government workers protest the government shutdown during a demonstration in the Federal Building Plaza on Jan. 10, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images
By Jeremy Brecher, co-founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability and author of the labor history Strike!
In 2019, government workers and their supporters forced an end to President Trump’s shutdown of the government and used the threat of a general strike to keep the government open.
When President Trump refused to sign any appropriations bill that did not fund his proposed Mexican border wall, nine federal agencies were forced to shut down, furloughing 400,000 government workers without pay, forcing 400,000 others deemed “essential” to work without pay, and putting over 500,000 federal contract workers out of work. It was the largest lockout in U.S. history. The shutdown continued for 35 days.
Trump and the Republican Congress were forced to reopen the government when TSA screeners stopped showing up for work and air traffic controllers began calling in sick, closing major airports, and opponents of the shutdown mobilized to occupy airports and congressional offices. As the flight delays spread, President Trump unexpectedly reversed himself and agreed to a Congressional resolution to fund the government for three weeks—without his border wall.
When Trump threatened another shutdown, president of the flight attendants union Sara Nelson announced that her union would demonstrate at major airports around the country on February 16. She hoped that all airline workers and the public would take part. Airline flight attendants announced a new website called “generalstrike2019.org.” Its headline read, “Imagine the Power of Working People Standing Together to Demand That Our Government Work for Us.” It called on all Americans to “join us in protest at our nation’s airports to show what workers united can achieve.” At the last minute, Trump backed down and allowed the government to remain open.