Workers' Power? Report From the South.

 “Indivisible”Protest in Athens, Georgia, 2/17/25

I attended a rally in front of Athens City Hall, part of a national on-line protest site, Indivisible, whose slogans were:  “We the People, Not the Billionaires,” “Not My President” and “Protect Democracy.”  The demo was mostly focused on Musk. According to Wikipedia, it was started by Democratic Party Congressional staffers in 2016 who ‘wanted social-democracy,’ not a Trumpist plutocracy.  In 2020 Indivisible endorsed Joe Biden, who is not a social-democrat.  It is not clear how many chapters they have at present but my guess is they were moribund during the Biden years.  In 2016 they claimed 3,800 chapters and yesterday, they said they have added 400 out of an unknown total.

In their list of things over the coming month, they are calling for a national general strike on March 14.  Does this general strike call have any labor-union support?  I see none yet.  We need sit-ins and occupations of government offices by fired workers and their co-workers right now, with union and community backup.  If possible don’t leave, don’t quit, anticipate Friday firings, don’t retire if possible.  Lock the doors to DOGE.  Occupy the Government! 

The word 'indivisible' comes from the Pledge of Allegiance, which is a very conservative borrowing, while it also implies that there is no class split or differing class interests in the U.S.  The U.S. is actually very 'divisible.'  

At any rate the rally in this medium-sized college town attracted about 200+ people – mostly old Euro-American hippies, musicians, academics and the like, with a smattering of younger people and 4 African-Americans that I could see.  It was called at the last minute, so it had a virtually useless bullhorn, a few disorganized marshals and a fear of breaking the law if they walked two blocks to the gates of the UGA campus without a permit. Toothless chants like “Musk Must Go” and the singing of “We Shall Overcome” was the tenor of the rally, with little U.S. flags waved to assure everyone they were still patriots.  This mood existed until a former federal Agriculture Dept. worker gave a sharp speech about workers being laid off.  That was followed by several angry speeches mentioning fascism given from a pickup truck bed, one from a activist formerly from mining centers in Harlan County, a Jewish anti-fascist, another from a local journalist, a gay activist and lastly from a not-so-angry philosophy professor.  

I was told by members of Indivisible #10 that there were between 200-400 members locally, as they had been recruiting in the last few weeks.  They made it clear they were Democratic Party aligned.  An older member told me their group was hiding unpapered immigrants in a town outside of Athens.  At one point a religious nut waded into the crowd yelling, trying to disrupt the speeches.  The marshals had allowed him to penetrate the perimeter.  Various people blocked him and he was slowly moved out after various face-offs.  The marshals were fearful the police would arrest anyone if they did block him in a more organized way.  They should prepare for worse.

The protest did not draw a link between limiting bourgeois democratic rights and the actual push for privatization of government functions.  No left group showed up and no union was present at this rally.  It lasted an hour.

This only hints at what will be necessary to stop Trump and Musk.  The actual Left will be able to recruit from groupings like this when they see that lawyers and chants are not going to be able to do the job.  The key is the federal workforce and their unions.  In Athens that means the EPA, the Agriculture Department and UGA researchers, but every single area in the U.S. has federal workers of some kind.  A postal workers’ strike might be the next big shoe that drops, as they have just rejected their contract offer nationwide.  What DOGE and  Trump are doing is the biggest attack on federal workers since Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers in 1981.  We need workers’ power!

P.S. - Their call for a national general strike on March 14 seems to have vanished.  I'm still looking...

P.P.S. - A labor protest in Athens on Wednesday was attended by about 30 people from the small local union at UGA.  Seems 'Indivisible' didn't show up.  It was called by the Federal Unionists Network at:  Save Our Services

More:  A secretive workers' network inside federal agencies is organizing.  They have to occupy their worksites, appeal for help from community and unions and block DOGE.  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/26/altgov-elon-musk-doge-federal-workers

Prior blogspot reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 19 year archive, using these terms:  “South,” “Athens.”

Red Frog / February 18, 2025