How Does the Strike Work?
As the genocide accelerates in Gaza, people want to participate in actions that have a clear impact. Symbolic demonstrations–while important–are unable to produce a ceasefire alone. The Consumer Strike is a material action that fits into the larger movement for ceasefire and aligns with other tactics for social change:
The Strike Centers Interdependence and Collective Liberation
We draw from a model of union organizing when we ask you to bring in five or more people to join the strike. Through this, we hope you will investigate your relationship to hyper-consumerism, explore alternative resources to reduce reliance on corporations, and nurture a culture that supports collective action.
We want you to have conversations with people in your life about the strike and listen deeply to understand their situation and values. From there, you can find common ground and establish practical plans for collaboration.
In planning, set achievable goals. If you drive a community elder to the grocery store once a week so they don’t have to rely on Amazon, that’s a victory. If you host a dinner where you share honestly about this year's grief and how to sustain and expand your solidarity and support, that’s a victory. Any money withheld, all community organizing, every connection makes a difference.
The Consumer Strike is one part of a wider movement to build economic and political pressure for social change.
The Consumer Strike exists alongside other economic actions, including divestment campaigns, labor strikes, sanctions, blockades, and boycotts. We recognize that successful organizing means leveraging our collective economic power, and the Strike embodies that through accessibility, scale, and strategic approach.
The Consumer Strike draws from a tradition of labor strikes and boycotts. While a boycott centers individual choice, a strike is inherently a collective movement: our coworkers, families, and communities are there alongside us.
We wish that the U.S. was in a place where calls for a general strike could be effective. We know we need to build toward this, and while we do, we can immediately demonstrate economic strength through our unwillingness to engage in business as usual.
The Consumer Strike materially contributes to creating the world we want to live in
The Strike, regardless of immediate result, moves us toward a Just Transition framework of caring for our local and global communities. Together we are laying the groundwork for collective movements to shape the future.
A large-scale Consumer Strike would create enough economic disruption that our leaders would have to notice. As oppression becomes increasingly unprofitable, those making decisions will divest from it.
We hope you’ll join us in reclaiming this time of year to invest in connections and organize collectively for a brighter New Year. The Strike channels our shared power into causes we care about: our local and global communities, a healthy environment, human rights. It’s an invitation to build connection, relationally and economically, and move corporate and state power into the hands of our communities.