Workers in many unions met all Monday. Sentiment clearly was in favor of a general strike. That evening, at an emergency meeting of five hundred union leaders, the labor council called for a county-wide “work holiday” to protest the police violence, support the Kahn’s and Hastings strikers, and demand that police never again escort strikebreakers. The council created a strike steering committee and set up subcommittees to deal with communication among strikers, coordinate food distribution to participants, and keep essential services going in the city.

Union members in 142 AFL unions received notice of the council’s decision by telephone, telegram, and radio reports. The word spread far beyond the retail and trade unions at the heart of the dispute. Musician Earl Watkins, working at a popular nightclub in east Oakland, Slim Jenkins’ Place, remembered receiving the word there from his union’s business agent that no one would be playing until the strike was over.