Pluto’s Effects on the Strikes of Late 2023
Since the start of 2023, there were over 300 strikes, with some of the most notable ones being WGA & SAG-AFTRA, Kaiser Permanente, UPS, and workers at pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.
While strikes were one of the main themes of 2023; for astrologers, there was also another big theme from this year... Pluto. On March 23rd, Pluto (the slowest moving planet) transitioned from Capricorn to Aquarius, then on June 11th, Pluto went retrograde and moved from Aquarius back to Capricorn, and finally on October 10th, Pluto went direct and moved back through the last few degrees of Capricorn till it finally moved back into Aquarius on January 21, 2024, where it will stay till 2044.
Pluto is the planet of transformation and change, and usually accomplishes these things through some sort of "destruction" (or "tower moments" for those of you who practice tarot). Another popular analogy for Pluto has been "the phoenix rising from the ashes," which is usually what we have to do after we experience a Plutonian event. Since Pluto entered the sign of Capricorn back in 2008, we have seen Pluto do its thing by transforming the years-old structures that have been held by society that are no longer necessary. We first saw Pluto in Capricorn's effect when America faced one of the worst recessions in its history, and elected the first black president, both very significant events that have altered the course of modern society in America.
Along with these things, we had also seen almost every profession and business have to adjust the way they manage themselves, through means like DEI, gender equality, sexual harassment & LGBTQIA+ awareness trainings, etc. Most of these themes were not even considered ideals in a lot of companies until around the mid-2000s and 2010s.
When Pluto transitioned from Capricorn to Aquarius, we were able to see a glimpse of the future society we are going to be entering into in 2024, and a lot of us did not like the look of the way things were going. Then when Pluto went retrograde from Aquarius to Capricorn, we were then able to see the ways things needed to change in order for that future to not become a reality for us later. We, as a society, also then started to reconsider the reasons why the people who are in charge are in charge, and whether or not they actually deserved to be there. This is where the strikes start to form.
After Pluto went direct on October 10th, countless groups and organizations had been starting to create ways in which they can "shift the tides" in favor of getting the things they wanted and should have been given to them already. The biggest way these groups were trying to take action was through striking. Strikes are defined as "a refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in attempt to gain some kind of compromise with their employer(s)." The strikes that had happened in 2023 have almost all had the same goals: higher pay due to the high inflation we have seen over the past couple years, seeking to raise the number of staff for more relief between shifts, and benefits impacting retirement, health care, and personal safety.
Due to the success rate that most of the strikes had in 2023 alone, we can most likely expect to see some of the biggest changes in the business world, and possibly even society during the reign of Pluto in Aquarius from 2024 to 2044!