Syndical Crossing Story So Far...

In the beginning, cat-kind was ruled by a seemingly endless parade of selfish monarchs who wielded godlike power over the masses. They were unaccountable, unelected and uninterested in the plight of the commoners under their control. They raised armies, fought wars, tortured, enslaved and colonised all the world, forming grand nation-states in their wake.

In the modern year 1312, an army of peasants rose up against the emperor of Fuzz, one of the most powerful nations in the world. They seized the capitol city of Kitts and liberated the masses from the monarchy, declaring themselves a constitutional democracy. They elected for themselves leaders of high character and went about creating what they knew would be a better world.

Fewer than 200 years into their grand experiment, the workers found themselves again crushed under the boot of hierarchy. Instead of bowing to an emperor, they now struggled in the police state of their parliamentary democracy. Same as it ever was, the few at the top of the scratching post enjoyed all the finery of life, while the vast majority worked and slaved for starvation wages.

Despite the best efforts of the workers, the power had simply transferred from the monarchy to the wealthy business owners, and the elected officials did little more than put a friendly face on the tyranny. Real democracy was nowhere to be found, while newspapers and entertainment all worked tirelessly to support the status quo and dissuade another popular revolution.

Over the centuries, things continued in this way, with business-as-usual extracting natural resources and coercing the workers to transform them into commodity goods. The world suffered as more and more of its finite gifts were reaped from the land, processed and sold for profit.

Eventually the fragile environment of the Earth could no longer sustain the heavy industries of cat-kind. The balance of the ecosystem began to shift, creating raging forest fires, tidal waves, droughts, earthquakes and other disasters. Poor cats from colonised nations sought refuge in the wealthy countries, only to be caged en-masse. A new population of slave labor stoked the engines of capital, speeding up the climate’s collapse.

Despite the propaganda machine working overtime, the workers were fed up. Cats from every nation worked in secret to form a great organization: the Universal Workers Union. Under their new banner they would organize their class and begin to undermine the power of the bosses and owners.

Faced with the Union’s growing power, the world governments outlawed all workplace organizing in a last-ditch effort to maintain their slipping grip on power. It was too late for them.

In 2312, on the anniversary of the Kitts rebellion, the UWU enacted a general strike the likes of which had never been seen in history. Workers from every industry struck off the job and joined in the squares and streets of the cities to make it known that business as usual was over.

The state used its usual tools to try and stop the insurrection. Armies and robots and terrible chemicals were thrown against the workers, but nothing could quench their resolve. The general strike continued for a full year, and in the end the governments of the world and their powerful business overseers raised the flag of surrender.

The workers had won their emancipation.

Now it is up to you, alongside your fellow workers, to take what is left of the besieged, polluted world and make a new, better one, in the shell of the old.