Labor Supports The Occupy Wall Street Movement
By Farooque Chowdhury
03 October, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Labor is extending support to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. With arrest of hundreds of the protesters and their release, the protesters’ uninterrupted brave presence, increasing support to them from wider society, and spread of the movement to other parts of the US the Occupy Movement is facilitating widen public space in political life. The time, it seems, is vibrant with movements, and democratic spirits and aspiration.
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president said: “Wall Street’s out of control”. On the Occupy Wall Street Movement he said: “[I]t’s a […] valid tactic to call attention to a problem.” (John Nichols, The Nation, Sept. 30, 2011) Leo W. Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers (USW) extended support to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The USW is North America’s largest industrial union representing workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, atomic energy, airline, health care, service and public sectors with 1.2 million active and retired members in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. In a statement on September 30, Leo W. Gerard said:
The United Steelworkers union stands in solidarity with and strongly supports Occupy Wall Street. The brave men and women, many of them young people without jobs, who have been demonstrating around-the-clock for nearly two weeks in New York City are speaking out for the many in our world. We are fed up with the corporate greed, corruption and arrogance that have inflicted pain on far too many for far too long.
Our union has been standing up and fighting these captains of finance who promote Wall Street over Main Street. We know firsthand the devastation caused by a global economy where workers, their families, the environment and our futures are sacrificed so that a privileged few can make more money on everyone’s labor but their own.
Wall Street and its counterparts on Bay Street (Toronto), The City (London) and across the world tanked our economy in 2008. They caused a crisis that we’re still suffering from - record job losses, home foreclosures, cuts to schools, public services, police, fire and so much more. They’ve gambled with our pension funds and our futures for far too long.
They should have gone to jail. Instead, they got bailed out, while we got left out. And now they want us to go down the same path.
The Occupy Wall Street Movement represents what most Americans believe: Enough is enough! It’s time to hold those who caused our economic crisis accountable, to ensure they don’t get away with it again, and to demand that everyone pay their fair share. It’s time to stand and fight for the creation of real wealth by focusing on making real things and creating family- and community-supporting jobs.
The USW is proud to join with the brothers and sisters of the Occupy Wall Street Movement as we continue this important fight for a more just economy and a brighter tomorrow.
According to Village Voice, the historically militant Transport Workers Union that primarily represents workers in the public transportation system and at some private bus lines in the New York City metropolitan area has unanimously voted to back, and provide food and services to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The TWU plans to assemble on October 5 and march to Zuccotti Park, the place the protesters are staying. The union counts 38,000 active members and covers 26,000 retirees.
In a statement the union applauded the courage of the young people on Wall Street, and said: “the shared sacrifice preached by government officials looks awfully like a one-way street. Workers and ordinary citizens are putting up all the sacrifice, and the financiers who imploded our economy are getting away scot-free, increasing their holdings and bonuses. Young people face a bleak future with high unemployment, and minimum wage jobs. Public sector workers face Mayors and Governors who demand massive wage and benefits givebacks or face thousands of layoffs. That’s not bargaining. That’s blackmail.”
The statement said that the union’s Executive Board is united in their “determination that this state of affairs is dangerous for America and destructive to its citizenry. We support the Wall Street protesters and their goal to reduce inequality and support every American’s right to a decent job, health care, and retirement security.”
The TWU’s October 5-March is being co-sponsored by eight labor and community outreach organizations having a total membership of over 1 million. These are United NY, Strong Economy for All Coalition, Working Families Party, VOCAL-NY, Community Voices Heard, Alliance for Quality Education, New York Communities for Change and Coalition for the Homeless.
Terry O’Sullivan, General President of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), on September 30 in a statement on Occupy Wall Street said: “The workers who build America – the half-million men and women of LIUNA – are united behind the fight against corporate tyranny and for economic prosperity for all and stand with the Occupy Wall Street Movement in New York City and across the United States.” It should be mentioned that the half-million members of LIUNA are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers.
He said:
The most valuable asset in America isn’t Wall Street, it is working people. Yet in America today, millions of working people are jobless and are losing their homes, their hopes and their dreams. Meanwhile, corporations are making record profits and the most profitable among them pay no taxes, shifting more wealth from the working and middle class to the rich. This ill-gotten wealth is being used to finance an unprecedented assault on working people and unions in states across the country and in Washington, D.C. Wall Street caused our economic crisis, and yet corporations are attempting to force working people to pay for it. The only way to turn back the assault is to strengthen unions and build movements, such as Occupy Wall Street.
Professors at the City University of New York affiliated with the Professional Staff Congress union have taken a number of labor-oriented solidarity actions. Their group, Solidarity with OWS, is organizing demonstration against police abuse. Their academic allies include Frances Fox Piven, Christian Parenti, and Stanley Aronowitz. (Michelle Chen, “Labor Movement Rolls Into Wall Street Occupation”, In These Times, September 30, 2011)
Huffington Post informed: the trade union representing doormen, security guards and maintenance workers with about 70,000 members (New York Metro SEIU 32BJ) was “re-purposing a previously planned rally on Oct. 12 to express solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protesters”. Kwame Patterson, the 32BJ spokesperson said: “The call went out over a month ago, before actually the occupancy of Wall Street took place.” Now, “we’re all coming under one cause, even though we have our different initiatives.”
Crain's New York Business informed: local unions are collaborating with community-based groups that include Make the Road New York, Coalition for the Homeless and Community Voices Heard. These organizations are involved with the struggles of the poor and working-class.
The movement is spreading. The main stream media (MSM) now inform this fact. ABC News said: “The protests have spread across the country, with events popping up in Boston and Chicago in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. … [E]vents in Boston will continue with a ‘Take Back the Block’ festival. At least 1,500 have registered for the festival. Along with New York and Boston, an Occupy Chicago movement has emerged, with nearly 100 people gathering in front of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. The protests have been peaceful and no arrests have been reported. Occupy Los Angeles protests which have also been small in numbers, has called for a march today ...” (Oct 1, 2011) The Telegraph/UK carried news with the headline “Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread across US”. It said: “Inspired by the events in New York City, protesters begin assembling in several cities across the U.S. … [M]ore demonstrations began to spring up across the U.S. In Los Angeles, protesters gathered in front of City Hall and danced on buses with ‘peace’ emblazoned on the side. A smaller protest was held in Chicago’s financial district where protesters held placards demanding ‘Jobs Not Cuts’. Protesters also turned out in Denver, gathering downtown before marching into the city chanting, ‘Occupy the streets’.” (Oct. 2, 2011)
The protest organizers/sympathetic websites claimed that many events, demonstrations, and assemblies were held around the US including in Atlanta, San Diego, and San Jose in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Around 200 protesters in Boston took to the streets. An Occupy Chicago event also began on Sept. 23. At least 52 cities in America are occupied or organizing as the protesters claimed. Web sites are cropping up in increasing number that reflects the expansion of the movement. Occupy Together is playing a role of broader banner.
Sister campaigns with names like Occupy Chicago, the protesters claimed, have emerged in Albuquerque, Arkansas, Austin, Binghamton, Birmingham, Boise, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Clarksville, Cleveland, Columbus, Colorado Springs, Columbus, D.C., Dallas, Daytona Beach, Durham, Eugene, Hartford, Houston, Indiana, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Lexington, Los Angeles, Louisville, Maine, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nashville, New Jersey, New Orleans, OKC, Orlando, Olympia, Omaha, OSU (Stillwater), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Richmond, Rochester, St. Louis, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Spokane, Tulsa, Tampa, Tallahassee, Tucson, Vermont, Winston Salem, Wisconsin.
San Francisco: Occupy the San Francisco Financial District kicked off outside the Bank of America (BoA) building, also known as the “Wall Street of the West.” Approximately 150 people including members of US Uncut and the Revolutionary Poets Brigade, as well as people of all ages and students participated in the opening rally. After a couple of hours, one group marched through a street while the other met in a public assembly. Then, a small group of campers formed and stayed the night. A small camp came up. The camp is growing. There are now daily meetings at the camp and General Assemblies every Saturday.
Huffington Post reported Mayoral candidate and city Supervisor John Avalos initiated the San Francisco march with a speech: “[T]his [BoA] building right here is a symbol of the incredible greed and wealth that has accumulated into fewer and fewer hands. And how do they stay wealthy? They took our tax dollars. They got bailed out.” He urged the crowd to withdraw their money from national banks and invest in small, community-like banks. The demonstrators marched down to Charles Schwab, surrounding the building and chanting, “Charles Schwab, give us our money back”. The San Francisco protesters ended the day at Chase Bank. Six demonstrators walked into the branch and staged a sit-in in the lobby. They were arrested, and eventually released, after they refused requests to leave. (International Business Times, Sept. 30, 2011)
Portland: Occupy Portland, a nonviolent movement for accountability in the US government plans to assemble on October 6, 2011. The assembly will be in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street, and the increasing “number of cities whose people will no longer sit back watching corporate and special interests run their government.”
Berkley: An AP news report datelined Berkeley, Sept. 22, 2011 said: Students occupied a building on the University of California, Berkeley campus to protest tuition hikes and state budget cuts. There was a confrontation between police and protestors. Later, the student demonstration dispersed. One protester was arrested. “Resistance Social,” a group, organized the protest. “Protesters say”, the news report cited, “the University of California is becoming increasingly unaffordable as the 10-campus UC system raises tuition in response to state cuts to higher education.” (“UC Berkeley Classrooms Occupied By Tuition Hike Protesters”)
Global: The Wall Street protesters pronounce: “This is really a global movement.” According to their claim there were more than 35 events around the world in solidarity of the movement. These include Occupy Brisbane, Occupy Frankfurt, Occupy Hamburg, Occupy Manchester, Occupy Melbourne, Occupy Perth, Occupy the London Stock Exchange, Occupy Toronto Market Exchange, and Occupy Vancouver.
Horizontally connected, broader coalitions are coming up through the movement. The coalitions include community, environment, youth and rights organizations. Organizations against predatory lending, and elder persons’ organizations are also joining.
Movement’s Media: The MSM tried to black out news of the movement. The protest was ignored. But the MSM-silence could not be sustained. Now, MSM is giving up space to the Occupy Movement. At the same time, the MSM’s unwillingness to accommodate the movement led the movement participants to devise their medium to communicate. Now, there is The Occupied Wall Street Journal. “It debuted on [October 1] with a print run of 50,000, after two independent journalists in New York started a campaign using the online fund-raising platform Kickstarter. The four-page broadsheet includes a story […] headlined ‘The Revolution Begins at Home’, an essay by the former New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges urging people to participate in the protests, and a ‘Declaration of the Occupation’ approved at a meeting of protesters on Sept. 29.” The initiators of the newspaper raised more than $12,000 within eight hours. (New York Times, Oct. 3, 2011)
Communiqué: Communiqués of the protesters are disseminating hard facts. In their Fifth Communiqué the 99 percent cited the following information:
On September 21, 2011, the richest 400 Americans owned more wealth than half of the country’s population; about 80% of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track; about one-sixth of Americans did not have work; the same ratio lived in poverty; about 50 million Americans were without health insurance; the US had military bases in around 130 out of 165 countries; and the US was at war with the world.
With this background, the movement demands end of wealth inequality, poverty, joblessness, health-profiteering, political corruption, corporate censorship, modern gilded age, American imperialism and war.
It is true, the movement, a very smaller one in terms of number, is in its formative stage. It is also true, there are a lot of weaknesses and weak connections. Many factors are yet to be identified. It will be an illusion that the movement will provide people a full fledged public space, and compel capital’s greed to compromise within a short time. But it’s part of a learning process, which is essential for expanding people’s scopes. Already it has produced important lessons and learning “materials”. Even, societies far away can learn from the movement. Socially and politically, the movement is significant. Even, its mistakes will be valuable assets as these will act as teacher. The voice of the section of labor, a part of broader society, extending its support to the movement is significant also.
“The movements suggest”, Michelle Chen writes, “a general trajectory of grassroots organizing: a spark of protest led by younger activists, followed by the support of labor organizations, bringing up the rear and then moving to the fore.” “[T]he movement is organically structured, with no formal ‘list of demands’ yet […] Not everyone came to Wall Street knowing exactly what they wanted, but everyone there today knows they’ve had enough, and that they’re not the only ones. […] After decades of a one-sided class war, the fightback has begun.” (“Labor Movement Rolls Into Wall Street Occupation”, In These Times, September 30, 2011)
Dhaka based free lancer Farooque Chowdhury contributes on socioeconomic issues.
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