(Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
On January 23, 2026, in negative temperatures, thousands of Minnesotans turned out in Minneapolis for a strike to protest the current administration’s policies. Multiple businesses across the city and state were also shut down in solidarity with the protests. At the same time of the protests downtown, another protest broke out at the Minneapolis-St Paul (MSP) airport as airport workers and clergy shut down the airport for a time to protest in solidarity. Over 100 clergy members were arrested.
On January 15, 2026, the Minnesota Regional Labor Council endorsed the action, calling it, “A Day of Truth and Freedom”. This was significant as the Minnesota Regional Labor Federal is composed of over 175 unions with 80,000+ members. The Minnesota AFL-CIO followed suit in endorsement. Many local unions did not call this action a “strike” though citing contracts that forbid striking. Many on the street called it a general strike and brought up parallels to the 1934 General Strike in Minneapolis.
The buildup to this was long time in coming. Since last year, federal agents had been conducting raids and harassing workers. On January 17, 2026, agents shot legal observer Renee Good as she was driving away. Federal agents had begun targeting ethnic communities around the country. As of writing of this article, on January 24, 2026, federal agents have shot another legal observer on the street that was being held down by multiple agents.
Other cities followed suit to the strike on Friday, with solidarity strikes and protests in Philadelphia, New York, Oakland, and other cities. The strikes appear to have the form of a pre-democratic labor front that is necessary to combat fascism and monopoly capitalism.
Even with the overwhelming support for the strike, some business union leaders pushed against it. There were reports of a local Teamsters union distributing flyers stating anyone who joined in the strike would be in breach of contract. Large businesses that have contracts and cooperate with the federal government, like Target, 3M, Best Buy, and Delta Airlines have stated nothing on the strike. The silence of the corporations echoes more loudly with Target stores being used as staging ground for ICE raids even as one Target made national news on January 13, 2026, when ICE kidnapped two workers from a Roseville, MN Target store.
LUEL is closing following this developing situation. LUEL calls on labor to unite with progressive groups and other civic groups to build an anti-monopoly coalition. Only then can labor develop into a fighting force that can combat the rising fascism brought on monopoly capitalism.
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