STRIKE! Is there a massive mass for mass action?

Do you know where the term “strike” originally came from? BLACKTOP gets to that answer in this episode. But before that, Jimmy Mac is confused: exactly how do folks who cherish their fierce independence, hate taking orders from anyone, distrust large structured organizations, and hate anything that smacks of giving up autonomy think they’re going to pull this off? There’s talk of a shutdown, strike, work stoppage, slowdown, blockade, or possibly a large number of dudes complaining in the parking lot, happening on October 1st. So we’re just going to wait and see what happens. Reporters Mark Schremmer and Dan Ronan discuss the possibilities, which of course spills into why OOIDA can’t call for a strike, what the election might mean for the price of diesel, and whether the drivers talking about this are avoiding pointing their trucks at the real culprit. Jimmy talks about the history of other independent work stoppages in ’73 and ’79, along with the successes and unintended consequences of both. Of course, those folks really took the fight to D.C., and Jimmy, for the life of him, can’t figure out why they’re not doing it now. Then again, in ’79 there was an out-of-touch president who couldn’t solve an Iranian crisis. And nothing like that is happening these days. What is happening is evidence that such an action is possible, and BLACKTOP isn’t just talking about it in the past tense. South of the border, Mexican truckers enraged about H1 visa seizures shut down the border in California and Arizona until the Mexican government got a sit-down with the White House. Maybe that’s a model. Maybe it’s a warning. Maybe it’s just what happens when enough trucks decide they’re not going anywhere. Anyhow, you have 18th-century British sailors to thank for the term “strike,” and BLACKTOP is gonna explain it all for you. Because apparently the word for refusing to move your truck has a history that involves sailors, labor, politics, and a whole lot of people discovering that sometimes the only way to make yourself heard is to stop moving.