Feminist strikes in care work. A workshop with the Zurich Feminist Strike Collective

An event report by Matthias Neumann

Various groups are currently promoting the idea of a feminist care strike, in which people in care relationships – from their various positions, whether within families, in ‘voluntary’ roles, as users of personal assistance or childcare centres, or as care workers – refuse to perpetuate the current state of affairs through their participation: Putting their own work on hold, reorganising it in a spirit of solidarity, taking a collective breather – driven by the certainty that things cannot go on like this! Here in Germany, too, a network is in its infancy. Plans are, however, much further advanced in Switzerland. That’s good news, as it gives us the chance to learn from them. That is why the Feminist/Care Strike Working Group within the Care Revolution network has invited comrades from the Zurich Feminist Strike Collective to an online event.

This took place on 13 July 2026. We were delighted that the announcement of the workshop generated such interest. According to the device count, there were ultimately 40 guests, although behind some devices there was a group sitting together, following the discussion as a group. This was also encouraging: even during the registration phase, we had received many emails which did not simply say ‘we’re curious’, but rather ‘we’re curious because, as a group, we’re also planning a strike, and we’d like to take part as a group’.

The Zurich Feminist Strike Collective (FSK), whose four speakers jointly led the workshop, showed us just how much perseverance is required to organise a major strike. In doing so, they also placed their efforts to organise a care strike in 2027 in a historical context. In 1991, Switzerland saw its first large-scale women’s strike. On 14 June 2019, another feminist strike took place, attracting 500,000 participants; since then, strikes and demonstrations have been held in Switzerland on this day every year. Just as every action is rooted in the experiences and inspiration of the past, activists across national borders inspire one another, giving rise to global cycles of struggle. The 2019 strike was preceded by the massive women’s strike on 8 March 2018 in Spain, which in turn was preceded by the ‘Ni una menos’ movement, which began in Latin America in 2015.

The FSK Zurich is a FLINTA collective that identifies as queer-feminist, anti-capitalist, anti-racist and internationalist. In 2023, they began considering how a large-scale strike might be organised, because whilst participation in the actions on 14 June was high, they reported that there were relatively few work stoppages. This was followed by numerous discussions with other regional strike collectives and organisations, particularly trade unions, until, on 14 June 2025, the goal of a major care strike on 14 June 2027 was announced. There will therefore have been a four-year lead-up to the day of the strike.

But why, specifically, is the strike being planned and called as a ‘care strike’? The FSK Zurich argues that the issue of care work brings together many factors: even when performed as unpaid work, it is subject to industrial action; the issue is of existential importance, shapes everyday life and is close to many people’s hearts; it is feminist; and if fundamental changes occur here, the capitalist mode of production itself is called into question.

To ensure the strike is a major event, as many people as possible should be able to contribute what matters to them. On its website, the FSK Zurich offers everyone the opportunity to submit their demands. However, significant efforts are also being made to encourage the participation of other organisations, which can also contribute their demands to the strike. The FSK Zurich itself has set out three key demands: a reduction in (paid) working hours to 25 hours per week; free healthcare for all; and the socialisation of housing. Explaining why they have chosen these three demands, they write: “More time, more money, more space: The demands of the 2027 Care Strike focus on the areas where there is the greatest potential to improve the living conditions of us all. And where the exploitative economic system can be most effectively undermined.”

It is particularly important that a link can be established between the regional strike collectives and the trade unions. This is because, in Switzerland as in Germany, a strike in which workers can participate with legal protection requires a trade union framework. Among other things, an organisation authorised to negotiate collective agreements must call for the strike, and demands that can be regulated by collective bargaining or in a collective agreement must be put forward. The speakers reported that the trade unions were initially hesitant. However, UNIA, a major Swiss trade union, is now involved in planning the strike. If we in Germany were ever to hear the DGB say what UNIA writes in the linked source, a great deal would have changed: “It is time to unite feminist forces and resist together. Let’s go for the feminist strike in 2027!”

Following this impressive and compelling presentation on planning and alliance-building, the workshop focused on gaining a better understanding of what exactly constitutes unpaid care, how its simultaneously essential yet neglected position within the capitalist economy has come about, how this work is distributed, and what form the unequal burdens resulting from the unequal distribution of care work take. We found that, whilst there are certain differences, the situation in Switzerland and Germany is essentially comparable. One such difference is that the proportion of unpaid care work is higher in Switzerland. Childcare was cited in particular as the reason for this, as it is inaccessible to many in Switzerland for financial reasons. For an overview of the situation in Germany, please refer to this article on our website:

This part of the workshop was not merely about imparting information. For an effective strike against unpaid care work, we must understand, on the one hand, what we want to change and, on the other, how this work can be brought to a standstill. The FSK Zurich proposes three approaches that can be taken for different types of care work, which can be distinguished according to the nature of the work – whether it can be postponed, whether it can be carried out collectively, and how closely it is intertwined with personal relationships: Some tasks can be completely refused, at least on the day of the strike: cooking, cleaning or emotional support are examples. Some tasks can be reorganised collectively during the strike. A communal kitchen or collective childcare are examples. Some tasks may also be handed over for the day to professional support services or to supportive individuals. There is also a strike guide published by the FSK Zurich. You can find reflections on how the reorganisation of care work can begin even whilst the strike is underway – thereby bringing a utopian element into the strike – on our website. As a further resource: the Kassel Feminist Strike Working Group has written an entire book on the subject, which draws on their own experiences and includes, amongst other things, reflections on these issues.

Here are a few more inspiring examples from the discussions and small-group work: on 14 June this year, for example, a square was occupied with deckchairs: a break from care work. A large receipt was carried during the demonstration, representing a monetary equivalent of the unpaid work carried out. Door-to-door conversations, visits to medical practices and business premises can be used to reach out to others affected. Children, wheelchair users and migrants could take part in city tours to demonstrate how laws and infrastructure make it difficult for them to provide care, look after themselves or simply enjoy some carefree time. Chores such as cooking, doing the washing and the like can be organised publicly or semi-publicly within the neighbourhood.

This collection of ideas, along with the question of how to forge lasting connections beyond the day of the strike, rounded off the workshop. There was a great deal to take away; what the participants took away with them will become apparent in the actions over the coming months and years. A number of contacts have already been made as a result of the event. We would also like to take this opportunity to once again extend our heartfelt thanks to FSK Zurich for making this workshop possible!