Occupy Wall Street Too Big To Ignore! Unions to Join Fast Growing Movement Sweeping Nation! (Pics)

[sabrina 1]

The American people have decided that it is THEY who are Too Big To Fail!


Sign from Wall Street Protest

The Corporate Media, unsurprisingly, is still Too Puzzled by 'their message' to know how to cover it! Hint for the media, They're Occupying Wall St!

Fortunately for the people the Corporate Media, as it turned out, was not needed. In fact people are coming to the conclusion that this movement would not benefit from the coverage of the Corporate Media with some now rethinking their initial demands that they do so.

The small amount of coverage they did give to this amazing and fast-growing movement, was as should have been expected, distorted. Headlines from the weekend such as Violence Erupts during Wall Street Protests but which should have read Police Resort to Violence Against Peaceful Wall Street Protestors is just one example of why many believe now it is better if they stay away.

The Corporate Media becomes increasingly irrelevant.

City's biggest unions, community groups to join the fight as young amateurs using Facebook and Twitter make more waves than the pros.

A loose coalition of labor and community groups said Thursday that they would join the protest next week. They are organizing a solidarity march scheduled for Wednesday that is expected to start at City Hall and finish a few blocks south at Zuccotti Park.

......

Some of the biggest players in organized labor are actively involved in planning for Wednesday's demonstration, either directly or through coalitions that they are a part of. The United Federation of Teachers, 32BJ SEIU, 1199 SEIU, Workers United and Transport Workers Union Local 100 are all expected to participate. The Working Families Party is helping to organize the protest and MoveOn.org is expected to mobilize its extensive online regional networks to drum up support for the effort.

“We're getting involved because the crisis was caused by the excesses of Wall Street and the consequences have fallen hardest on workers,” a spokesman for TWU Local 100 said.

Community groups like Make the Road New York, the Coalition for the Homeless, the Alliance for Quality Education and Community Voices Heard are also organizing for Wednesday's action, and the labor/community coalitions United New York and Strong Economy For All are pitching in as well.

NYC Transit Union Joins Occupy Wall Street

The Transit Workers Union Local 100's executive committee, which oversees the organization of subway and bus workers, voted unanimously Wednesday night to support the protesters. The union claims 38,000 members. A union-backed organizing coalition, which orchestrated a large May 12 march on Wall Street before the protests, is planning a rally on Oct. 5 in explicit support. And SEIU 32BJ, which represents doormen, security guards and maintenance workers, is using its Oct. 12 rally to express solidarity with the Zuccotti Park protesters.

.....

Jackie DiSalvo, an Occupy Wall Street organizer, says a series of public actions aimed at expressing support for labor -- from disrupting a Sotheby's auction on Sept. 22 to attending a postal workers' rally on Tuesday -- have convinced unions that the two groups' struggles are one.

"Labor is up against the wall and they're begging us to help them," said DiSalvo, a retired professor at Baruch College in her late 60s who has emerged as a driving force in the effort to link up labor and the protests. DiSalvo is herself a member of the Professional Staff Congress, which represents teachers at the City University of New York.

....

"Their fight is our fight," director Michael Kink said. "They've chosen the right targets. We also want to see a society where folks other than the top 1 percent have a chance to say how things go."

Emphasis mine ~

And good news for the Wall Street Protesters:



Zuccotti Park Can't Be Closed to Wall Street Protesters, NYPD Says

DOWNTOWN — Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday that the department could not bar protesters from Zuccotti Park since it is a public plaza that is required to stay open 24 hours a day.

"In building this plaza, there was an agreement it be open 24 hours a day," Kelly said of the park near the World Trade Center, which is owned by Brookfield Office Properties but operates as a public space.

Looks like the owners did try to have them evicted, but the NYPD does not have the power to do it. sabrina

"Zuccotti Park is intended for the use and enjoyment of the general public for passive recreation," said Melissa Coley, vice president of investor relations and communications for Brookfield, in a statement.

"We are extremely concerned with the conditions that have been created by those currently occupying the park and are actively working with the City of New York to address these conditions and restore the park to its intended purpose."

The Wall Street protesters joined the Postal Workers in solidarity on Sept. 27th. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D.NY) was there for the Postal Workers. It was reported that the Postal Workers cheered as Occupywallstreet joined them and passersby waved and honked in support. You can see video of the even here: Occupy Wall Street Goes Postal

Celebrities added a boost to the protests this week also.


Michael Moore @ Occupy Wall Street.

Susan Sarandon
Immortal Technique
Rosie O'Donnell
Cornel West
Amy Goodman (she is the BEST)

All came to offer their support while others, such as Noam Chomsky and Jesse Jackson sent messages of support.

Comedian Lee Camp offered his contribution in his very funny take on the police v the protestors.

Comedian Lee Camp Asks Important Questions About the Police Response to OccupyWallStreet Worth watching. You will laugh, especially towards the end, and think!

Foreign Correspondent, Nick Kristof who has been covering the Arab Spring also paid a visit:


Nick Kristof @ Occupy Wall Street

Along with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges:


Chris Hedges @ Occupy Wall Street

Even Politicians are beginning to drop by:


Gov David Patterson @ Occupy Wall Street

Covering all of it are Keith Olbermann for Current TV, Lawrence O'Donnell for MSNBC, Amy Goodman for Democracy Now. And Russian TV. RT, has done some great coverage also. Thanks also to the live bloggers who are on the ground, The Guardian, even Korean News is covering it, and Al Jazeera. In fact as one protester said, 'there is more foreign news media here than US media.

Gratitude to those who are doing their jobs as journalists. Love them all, because without them, would we even know this is happening? :applause:

These are just a few of the events happening just in New York as the protest, predicted by some to have died after the first weekend, finishes its second week of Occupying Wall St. Not only are they still there, despite the police brutality and the naysayers, they have inspired what is now a movement spreading like wildfire across the country:

And The Movement Goes National. Welcome to Occupy Together

Welcome to OCCUPY TOGETHER, a hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. As we have followed the news on facebook, twitter, and the various live feeds across the internet, we felt compelled to build a site that would help spread the word as more protests organize across the country. We hope to provide people with information about events that are organizing, ongoing, and building across the U.S. as we, the 99%, take action against the greed and corruption of the 1%.

What has been amazing to watch this week, is the speed with which the movement went National! The above link is to a site set up by volunteers to try to keep up with the developments in states and cities around the country called Occupy Together. On the right-hand side of the page is a list of the new Protests as the begin to organize. Some of them have already set up their FB, Twitter accounts and blogs and have grown in numbers even as they try only begin to organize.

Their list is only a partial list as it is hard to keep up with all the new groups that are organizing around the country.

This Occupy The Nation is another site which has a longer list and updates as they add states and cities, now up to at least 36 states and many more cities.

Examples of some of the states and their cities that now have groups active:

California

Los Angeles -- Currently Active 7pm at Pershing Square! 9.25.11 @OccupyLA @OWSLosAngeles

San Diego -- FB

San Francisco -- @OccupySF FB OccupySF.com

San Jose -- FB

Santa Cruz -- FB

.....

Ohio

Cincinnati -- @OccupyCincy FB

Cleveland -- @OccupyCleveland FB 1st General Assembly: 10/1/11 3:00pm - 5:30pm Willard Park Cleveland OH

Columbus -- FB

Youngstown -- @OccupyYoungstow

.....

Texas

Austin -- @occupyaustin FB 9/29 Gen Assembly mtg to prep for 10/6

Houston -- @OccupyHouston FB

Dallas -- @OccupyDallas FB

Lots more at the site, if you want to see if there is one near you

I have been following the Occupy Chicago group since they began. It started out with just one young woman, named Charlie. On the video she put on her website, she said she was so inspired by the Occupy Wall St. protests she was hoping someone would start a group in Chicago. 'I waited and waited' she says, but when no one did, she decided to do it herself. With three friends she set up a twitter page and a blog, and went down to the Federal Building where they camped out on Sept. 24th. It was a forlorn group that night and though I was rooting for them, I was afraid it might just fizzle out.

Instead, it began to grow. Her twitter feed http://twitter.com/#!/occupychicago now has over 4,500 followers going from about 50 when I first checked it out several days ago. The wetsite is here Occupy Chicago

Join the Movement

Welcome to #occupychi Join us in front of the Federal Reserve to let your voice be heard. Greed, Corruption, and the destruction of our democratic process is why we are here. So stand strong with our brothers and sisters in New York and support a new tomorrow that is by the people, and for the people

Maybe if the MSM read the mission statements of the protesters they would not be puzzled anymore about their message.



There are lots more great photos Occupy Chicago Photos

It's been exciting watching these groups grow so quickly and to see how people all over the country are responding and how they KNOW something is wrong, and most seem to know WHAT it is even if the MSM doesn't.

I think Occupy Wall Street and all the other groups should get some bumper stickers made. It would serve two purposes, help fund their efforts and spread the message even further.

Finally, speaking of the MSM, the NYT published this very interesting article today:

As Scorn for Vote Grows, Protests Surge Around Globe

But from South Asia to the heartland of Europe and now even to Wall Street, these protesters share something else: wariness, even contempt, toward traditional politicians and the democratic political process they preside over.

They are taking to the streets, in part, because they have little faith in the ballot box.

“Our parents are grateful because they’re voting,” said Marta Solanas, 27, referring to older Spaniards’ decades spent under the Franco dictatorship. “We’re the first generation to say that voting is worthless.”

Yonatan Levi, 26, called the tent cities that sprang up in Israel “a beautiful anarchy.” There were leaderless discussion circles like Internet chat rooms, governed, he said, by “emoticon” hand gestures like crossed forearms to signal disagreement with the latest speaker, hands held up and wiggling in the air for agreement — the same hand signs used in public assemblies in Spain. There were free lessons and food, based on the Internet conviction that everything should be available without charge.

Levi added “the political system has abandoned its citizens.” He expresses what so many around the world are saying. The political systems of every country now have been poisoned by Corporate Money and they no longer respond to the people.

End Corporate influence on the political process.
Prosecute the criminals who crashed the World's economies.
Bring back Glass Steagal
Hands OFF the Social Safety Nets

These are some of the goals of the protesters but it all starts with 'Ending Corporate Influence on the Political Process'.

They are destroying Democracies everywhere.

[FirstLight]

1. Glad to see this taking off

I agree about the bumper stickers and/or t-shirts...but is itr wrong to make money on a protest against those with money? :shrug: j/k

[sabrina 1]

2. I don't think it's wrong, but since they need money, I think they

should do it first! I'm surprised someone hasn't already. However, no matter who does it, it will spread awareness so I guess it would be a good thing for anyone to do it.

[Lorien]

32. The poster in your sig line is the only one that I've seen that makes no sense

Sorry, I used to work in the advertising industry and I'm just not seeing any coherent message behind that very pretty photoshopped image. Visually it's quite nice, but....? Our demands should be a part of any signage; "Occupy Wall St. because Wall St. occupies Washington D.C." "We support a Democracy of, by and for the people, NOT a corporate fascist State" "Reinstate Glass Steagal and send the economic terrorists to prison!", "Put need before greed", "We demand REAL Democracy! Campaign finance reform NOW!" etc. There's more than just one demand, and none of them involve the right to perform ballet on public statues.

[matt819]

44. You're right, of course

But that's a pretty neat image anyway.

[Kaleko]

56. It makes perfect sense to me

and is my favorite among all the posters. Here we can see the spirit of the feminine descending on the out-of-control masculine Wall Street icon. It is a spirit of vulnerable care and concern that gracefully dances on the aggressively charging, utterly destructive bull. Those two coming together in conscious service to each other would be the ideal outcome of everything the people on this planet are fighting for. Yin and Yang, baby. Yang supporting Yin to be light-footed and essentially mothering.

[sabrina 1]

65. I think the red print was meant to make fun of the

media initially, who were defending themselves for not covering the story by claiming it was because they didn't know what the goal was. 'What is your one goal so we can cover it' was their excuse. They apparently did not get why the protesters chose Wall St. to occupy.

The main goal is to get Corporate money, Wall Street money, out of politics, and then of course all the other things you mention come under that heading, restoring Glass Steagal, holding the criminals accountable etc. Most ordinary people understood apparently, but not the media.

When I found it, the writing was there, now it has been removed so it was only temporary. I probably should change it if I can find it again.

There definitely is more than one demand, you are so right. I think the image is very pretty, the contrast between the very powerful bull and the beautiful dancer. I am into dance, so I liked it for that reason also.

No disagreement with you though, and unless it is explained, I agree that with the writing it doesn't make sense.

Lol, I wonder what the media would have thought of the list of grievances attached to the Declaration of Independence? Would they have told the FFs 'we can't cover this story because we don't know 'what is your one goal'?

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Bravo! Thanks for posting!

Recommending!

:applause::applause::applause:

[malaise]

4. I'm lovin' it

Rec

[pacalo]

5. I'm glad the unions are joining in. Lots of good information here, sabrina -- thanks!

[sabrina 1]

7. Yes, it was inevitable, I think, and it's not just the Unions

but many Community Organizations also.

I was hoping it would happen and I think more will be joining them soon :-)

[txlibdem]

59. It was inevitable

100% agree.

I've posted many times that Capitalism has, at most, 20 years left; till the people realize that the entire Capitalist system is built to keep the rich rich and to keep the workers being workers. The haves and the have nots.

And how do the rich become rich (or richer)? By taking things that belong to all of us (oil for instance) and selling what is rightfully ours back to us at a huge profit. When explained like that, who'd be dumb enough to take that deal?

[Karmadillo]

6. K&R

nt

[deutsey]

8. The harder they hit us, the louder we become...like the skin on a drum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY6YalKQGUg

[sabrina 1]

10. I love that. Perfect, thank you for posting it! n/t

[Bandit]

17. "They screw us and we multiply"

Saw that on a sign during the Madison Wisconsin gatherings..

[lovuian]

9. Power to the People

:woohoo:
we have the power
and that is to refuse to work

Bring the country to a standstill

[sabrina 1]

12. Looks like it's happening!

We DO have the power. Someone just had to take the first steps. I don't know why it took so long but maybe it's timing, the time seems to be right!

They didn't listen to the people, maybe they should have!

[sabrina 1]

35. Strikes, yes, I think that will happen.

People have to start using the tools they have to get their attention. We have been ignored.

They simply do not fear or care about the people.

[socialist_n_TN]

39. Agree. For this to become a more widespread movement

the working class has to get involved with strikes and workplace occupations. Otherwise it will fizzle like the Wisconsin protests did. Workplace strikes and occupations will also distract the police from concentrating ONLY on the actual Wall Street protests.

Anyway, strikes are the only real weapon that the working class has. They won't be scared of this until it spreads into the working class.

[janet118]

57. Yeah, like when the police unions join up . . .

Sign: "NYPD is just one layoff away from joining us"












edited with words on sign

[classysassy]

11. Need over greed

let the protests spread like a virus world wide.

[Kaleko]

58. That's a catchy one: Need over greed.

Short, to the point, and sweet.

[Cirque du So-What]

13. Morningside kick

[raouldukelives]

14. K&R!

[bread_and_roses]

15. K & R & thank you for that compilation - encouraging! (n/t)

[Jackpine Radical]

16. Occupy America!

It's time for Americans to teach their government to fear them, just as the French government fears its people.

Let us no more function as domesticated beasts of burden, willing to tolerate further abuse rom those whom we have passively allowed to become our masters.

[mmonk]

21. +1

[socialist_n_TN]

18. Don't be bought off by crumbs from the capitalist

table. DEMAND a seat at that table. MILITANTLY demand it. Because it's become big enough (maybe) for the capitalists to offer a few crumbs.

Unfortunately, even if there are concessions made, they ultimately won't amount to much while the system is still in place. Only a radical change of system will really take care of the problems that the rest of us are complaining about. Anything less and we'll be fighting this fight again in a few days, weeks, months, or years.

[Jackpine Radical]

Free beer for all the workers…

You know the rest.

[Jackpine Radical]

22. **&^% Dup.

[txlibdem]

61. FDR saved Capitalism 80 years ago - let's not make the same mistake again

We see that the evils of Capitalism lay low for a while then immediately began to dismantle, piece by piece, all the progress we made during FDR's Presidency. That's not to say that there weren't notable achievements after FDR. But in the end we're right back where we were in 1929: worrying what will happen if we get sick and can't pay the Dr. bills, wondering how we'll make it after we retire, some of us worrying what kind of world we will have left our children and grandchildren.

We cannot save Capitalism again. It has died many times in the past 100 years and the poor and middle class have always been the ones to pay the cost of propping that failed system back up again, reanimating the corpse. I say NO MORE.

[socialist_n_TN]

66. YES! That's what I believe also..........

No half measures this time. Capitalism has done it's part. Now it's time for something more equitable to take it's place.

[txlibdem]

67. It's a hinderance to human progress and has been for decades

We don't need it, we should let it die.

[flamingdem]

19. Where is Anderson Cooper on this? He only does Middle East Liberation struggle or what?

Patterson was there and other pols. Where is CNN?

[sabrina 1]

31. If it was the teaparty camped out in NYC with only a dozen

of them there, CNN would be there, camping out with them. Because the Teaparty is a corporate creation and the media is corporate owned.

I have thought a lot about the media not being there, and at first I was angry about it. But the more I think about it, the more I think the movement stands a better chance without them. Their role will be to destroy it. As Chris Hedges says, the bigger this grows, the more likely it is it will be crushed, and the MSM works for them. So I decided I hope they stay away.

The few articles they wrote about so far, will so typical of what we have come to expect. When they could not blame the people eg, for the police violence, they used their 'moral equivalent' tactic.

I think it's doing fine with the media that is there, Amy Goodman, RT, Current Tv and the rest of the Independent media plus bloggers and the foreign media. Enough people now get their news online, I think the message is getting out without being filtered by the MSM and distorted.

I guess I am afraid of them covering it, which they will when it is decided it has become enough of a threat that it has to be stopped.

[flamingdem]

62. It looks like the next two/three weeks will set the tone

This weekend they are expecting "mayhem" according to one source.

[Eyerish]

20. K&R

[nxylas]

23. Corporate media=Pravda, with one important difference

People in the old Soviet Union knew that Pravda was just a mouthpiece for the powers that be, and learned to read between the lines accordingly.

[sabrina 1]

25. True regarding how the people knew they were being lied to.

I remember hearing a Russian expat here say exactly that. He was warning Americans, this was about eight or nine years ago, about the media. He was asked what the people of the Soviet Union did, if they believed what they heard in their news media, and he said 'no, that was the difference'. They knew they were being subjected to propaganda. I do think that a lot of people here now distrust the media though.

[proverbialwisdom]

24. Great information. Thank you for posting.

[arikara]

26. I am so overjoyed to see how this is growing

:grouphug:

[Enthusiast]

27. Kicked and recommended! nt

[jannyk]

28. K&R!

[Fire Walk With Me]

29. Kicking this big, beautiful thread.

[sce56]

30. A great movement now if we could just get the Politicians to stop sucking on the teat of Wall Street

[sabrina 1]

33. Lol, I love that!

Funny but sadly true.

[Kurovski]

34. K&R

Thanks, s1.

[midnight]

36. Read a comment by someone, on site, who said how the movement was

being ignored...

" I had brunch on Sunday in Chinatown with a friend who works in local television news. He complained that the Occupy Wall Street people had sent over video that they said showed demonstrators getting maced. It didn’t show any such thing, my friend insisted. After brunch I walked over to occupied Zuccotti Park (two blocks north of Wall Street) and told somebody at the Media table that they had to be careful about claiming more for their video than it actually showed. Then I went home and looked at the video, and it clearly showed several young women, who presented no physical threat, getting wrapped up by police in a plastic net and pepper sprayed in the face."http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/785

[sabrina 1]

47. Too bad that this media person did not do a little googling

before deciding that the video was not good enough to air. There was so much video of that incident, from many different angles that no journalist should have had a problem airing it.

People forget also that the police had engaged in violence on the previous Wednesday also. And there is video of those arrests too. I think the intention was to drive them out of the city by the use of brutal tactics. Someone at the top of the NYPD and the City, probably made that decision. But it has backfired on them.

But as this grows, there will be attempts to end it. I hope no one gets hurt, but the Powers on Wall St. clearly got their friend, the Mayor, to protect them from the rabble by walling off Wall Street before the protests even began. It isn't going to be easy unless so many people join in they simply cannot control it.

[Sandrine for you]

37. great post, thank's ! nt

[L0oniX]

38. K & R

[Dutchmaster]

40. Thanks for putting this together.

[indepat]

41. Good call NPR: your lack of acumen, awful judgment and rancid ideology will live in

infamy earning an ugly place in all our memories. :patriot:

[Cal33]

42. Wow! Sabrina. What a great post in every sense of the word. My hat off to you!

[Plucketeer]

43. FABULOUS DEVELOPMENTS!!! nt

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

[blkmusclmachine]

45. Too Big To Fail versus Too Small To Matter:

(or) The Masters of the Universe versus 98% of everybody else.

[yardwork]

46. This is wonderful!

[lillypaddle]

48. This is really exciting

:bounce:

[swilton]

49. Kilo Romeo

[Sandrine for you]

50. k&r& twit nt

[tama]

51. K&R(evolution)

[alp227]

52. you won't learn about this only by watching ABC/CBS/NBC or even PBS

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x40547

[sabrina 1]

53. Thanks, good record of the coverage.

Just commented and rec'd for all the work done to record what they were covering. I can't watch the MSM for very long anymore. Especially their news coverage. So much wasted time on fluff when the world is in such turmoil, and this country is finally waking up to the causes of it.

Thanks for posting it. Btw, the foreign media has been doing a pretty good job. RT eg, and in the beginning, Al Jazeera not sure if they are still covering it though. But who needs the MSM anymore really, with so many other avenues open now, they have conceded their role to other not so corporate media outlets.

[NuttyFluffers]

54. running through the prayer beads that a national strike will be a reality.

it's overdue to bring the machine down! besides, it's a time honored tradition in the rest of the world.

[MoonRiver]

55. Yaaaaaay!!

Power to the People! :woohoo:

[steve2470]

60. k&r nt

[anamandujano]

63. Amazing! Uplifting! Something to wake me from my stupor.

The news has been so droningly repetitious, I've only been checking in once or twice a week. Thanks to those that are making this happen.

[Zorra]

64. Finally! Huuuge grin. Overjoyed.

Can't believe it took so long, but better late than never.
:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:
:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

[desertrat777]

68. Finally the truth: We the People are too big to fail.

Thank you for the photos. As usual, the rich and powerful - the parasites that have always fed on the masses over the centuries - have said that they are "too big to fail," and that they need a socialist bailout, but that the masses can fend for themselves without any social safety net. This is yet another example of the 180 degree rule, in that the uber rich and their minions flip a truth upside down and then present the lie as truth.

Indeed, We the People are too big to fail.

[sabrina 1]

69. Their utter arrogance and dismissiveness of ordinary people is

simply stunning. And the fact that there is no one representing the people, of this country or anywhere else, as the demonstrations across the globe show, makes me wonder why this took so long. They really thought the people were just a commodity, to be used for profit and that they could take away their pensions, their mortgages, their jobs, their resources with impunity.

[AverageJoe90]

70. Sabrina..........Thank you for posting this.

This gives me a bit of hope for our country's future, after all we've been through the past few years.........