Yesterday, labor leaders celebrated the historic Minnesota General Strike, which saw more than 700 businesses and schools close and more than 50,000 strikers braving-10-degree weather to shut down the streets of Minneapolis. For many, it seemed like a turning point for the labor movement, and many felt like we had finally scored a major blow against ICE.
"After weeks under the heavy weight of this racist ICE terror campaign, the working class of Minnesota is standing up. People in the Twin Cities refuse to go to work, to school, or to shop,” said Minneapolis CWA Local 7520 President Keiran Knutson. “Nothing runs without the working class in this country.”
A day later, the labor movement found itself in the dark spaces of grief, following the Border Patrol’s gruesome murder of Alex Pretti Jr., a 37-year-old immigrants’ rights activist, VA nurse, and member of AFGE Local 3669.
Pretti had attempted to shield a female protester from being beaten by Border Patrol agents, when they quickly started beating him up too. Video released of his murder, which went viral, showed that Perriti was disarmed, held down by several Border Patrol agents, and then shot 11 times in the back.
“Our union is heartbroken. An AFGE member is dead. And a family’s life has been forever changed,” said AFGE union President Everett Kelley.
On Friday morning, as the general strike was beginning, I spoke with CWA Local 7520 President Kieran Knutson. He told me that after helping lead the strike he was hoping to unplug for the weekend before getting back into the fight. However, Saturday afternoon, when I checked his Facebook, I found posts about barricades on 26th St. between Nicollet and Blaisdell set up in front of machine gun-wielding ICE agents.
“Never Forget, Never Forgive,” Kieran wrote on Facebook from the streets near the assassination site. Prior to Pretti’s murder, Kieran had already been talking about expanding the general strike, and on Saturday night, many online were calling for an expanded strike.
Nearly everyone I spoke with in the labor movement on Saturday was stunned by what happened, and while energy for a general strike was high, Alex’s murder brought a state of unspeakable grief. A message in group chat, from a fellow local union member and AT&T worker, about an interview a local reporter did with a protester, shows the impact vividly.
The interviewer asked the protester, “Do you have any words?” The protestor responded, “No, they have all been said. We are past words. Words have no meaning in this anymore.”
Everett Kelly, the president of AFGE, Pretti’s union, which also represents the very same Border Patrol agents who killed Pretti, captured the anxiety and determination that so many of us in the labor movement feel.
“Right now, we mourn. We grieve for this member, for their family, and for their coworkers. We owe them compassion, solidarity, and resolve. I urge everyone to remain disciplined and measured in public, even as we are rightly angry,” said Pretti’s union’s president Everett Kelly.
"Still, we must do what we can to maintain peace and calm," said Kelly. "But do not mistake restraint for acceptance. Accountability will come, and AFGE will not be silent about the policies and decisions that led us here. The loss of Alex Pretti strengthens our resolve. We stand united, committed to justice, and prepared to take further action until lasting change is achieved."
