Sorry, no Guy Fawkes nursery rhymes here; this is an all American affair. Of course no one planned to go on strike in America. There were no meetings of American workers. There were no staged attempts at political theater. There were no riots in the streets. There were no calls to action. There were no slime ball politicians looking to add to their twitter followings. There were no jerk off celebrities trying to stay relevant by appearing to care. There were few labor union discussions. Hell, no one even called it a strike. Up until this point it has been referred to as a "labor shortage", but we all know there are plenty of workers. There just are not enough decent jobs. Big business got too greedy; they got too comfortable thinking that all Americans were a bunch of push overs willing to sacrifice everything for a few pieces of stale apple pie. Well, times have changed and Americans finally put two and two together. If we refuse to work, then they must, finally, after all these years, start appreciating us. None of this was planned, but it was not entirely spontaneous either. All across the nation, signs that a massive walkout of workers of all stripes was in the works was evident as early as February 2020, that was before the media could even spell coronavirus. American employers thought that if they eradicated unions then they would never have to worry about strikes again, but they were incorrect as usual. Sure, they snuffed out the unions, but they could not control the people. "The number of work strikes and the number of union members are going  in opposite directions, and that divergence is highlighting an important  fact about today’s job market, experts say. There were 25 major  work stoppages last year, up 25% from 20 stoppages in 2018 and up 257%  from seven in 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),  including a 40-day General Motors strike that ended in a four-year deal securing signing bonuses and better wages...Labor experts from both sides of the aisle say the paradox points to one  conclusion: Workers are emboldened to press for better pay and work  conditions because they believe they have options in an economy with a 3.6% unemployment rate and employers that are focused on attracting and keeping staff. (Market Watch, 2020)" Yeah, buddy! And that was then, now the current unemployment rate sits at 4.8% so workers have even more sway than they did in 2020. This should put an end to any theories you hear about coronavirus being the sole reason workers are not returning. Hell, many people went to Lalapalooza so they cannot be that scared of the virus anymore. No, no, no, it's the low pay, the lack of benefits (especially lack of day care, but other things like no paid vacation time and subpar healthcare as well) and the complete disregard for worker safety that is keeping Americans home. Delta is still a threat; I still wear my mask all the time, probably more than most people, but that is no longer my main concern either. My biggest fear about going back to work is that I may very well be murdered, severely injured or sickened by one of these lunatic anti-vaxxers who have done everything from threatening children to assaulting teachers to tearing down vaccination sites to killing people all in the name of their idiotic crusade to keep the nation as stupid and sick as possible. You think I'm going to get killed so you can go out to eat? How dare you even imagine such a thing would happen? I'm not your damn servant; you don't pay me enough to risk my life for you, so guess what? You can deal with those maniacs by yourselves! Order up and make it snappy!