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A group of protesters demonstrate for passing motorists in Dayton Ohio. The Occupy Wall Street protests have spread beyond New York. Al Behrman/AP/Press Association Images

Union participation further boosts Occupy Wall Street protesters

Thousands are expected to march against what they see as corporate greed on the New York Stock Exchange and beyond.

A DIVERSE GROUP of powerful unions joined demonstrations near Wall Street today, lending some focus, credibility and potentially hundreds of participants to a group that started out with a few camped-out college students.

Among those planning to join the clamor were members of the Chinatown Tenants Union and the Transit Workers Union, the liberal group MoveOn.org, and community organisations like the Working Families Party and United NY.

Organisers have called for students at college campuses across the nation to walk out of class in protest.

“We’re really excited that labor is part of the protest,” said Sara Niccoli, spokeswoman for the Labor-Religion Coalition, an Albany, NY-based organisation that aims to “do justice” for workers.

On Wednesday, the groups will embark on a march starting at Foley Square in lower Manhattan, an area encircled by courthouses and named for “Big Tom” Foley, a former blacksmith’s helper who became a prominent New York Democratic Party leader.

Thousands

The marchers will head to Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters where protesters have been camped out in sleeping bags. It’s unclear how many people will be joining the march on Wednesday, but some organizers said thousands could show up.

The Occupy Wall Street protests started on 17 September with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Since then, hundreds have set up camp in a park nearby and have become increasingly organised, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper, the Occupied Wall Street Journal. Other groups have periodically gathered and protested in spots throughout the country.

Police said that United NY had sought a permit for the rally Wednesday and were expecting about 2,000. They were planning to use microphones at the square, but not at the park.

“I think they’re capturing a feel of disempowerment, feeling like nobody is listening to them,” said Camille Rivera, executive director of United NY. “What do you do when no one is listening to you? You speak up, you take action.”

No one needs a permit to protest. Picket lines and marches go on nearly every day in New York. But a permit allows demonstrators to do things that would normally be illegal — like filling an entire street.

During the UN General Assembly, thousands of protesters took to the streets, but police were aware and facilitated and planned for traffic disruptions.

Arrests

But, for example, during one day of the assembly, six demonstrators attempted to block traffic and were arrested.

“That was more in the tradition of civil disobedience,” said Paul Browne, spokesman for the NYPD. “It seemed their aim was to get arrested.”

About 700 members of the Wall Street group were arrested and given disorderly conduct summonses for spilling into the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday despite warnings from police.

It’s not clear whether the protesters meant it as civil disobedience; some say they were tricked by police into entering the road and were wrongly arrested. Police video shows officers with bullhorns telling them to keep off the road.

Browne said that the department is prepared for a large group march Wednesday, and that officers were anticipating spillover onto the streets.

“Officers will be in the lane next to the sidewalk, and we will try to keep people on the sidewalk, but we realise they may need to walk on the street if it’s crowded,” he said.

The type of activity that could result in arrest would be if members of the group, say, purposefully try to stop traffic on Broadway, Browne said.
MoveOn.org is planning a “virtual march” on its website by encouraging people to post photos of themselves with the caption: “I’m the 99 percent” — a reference to those people not among the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans and the debate over whether they should be taxed more.

The group’s executive director, Justin Ruben, called the protesters “brave young people” who have successfully inspired others to join them.

“From our perspective, we’re protesting kind of the greed that led to the collapse of our economy,” Ruben said. “The fact that these banks aren’t paying their fair share.”

Explained: What are the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York?

Read: Occupy Wall Street protests spread across US >

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16 Comments
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    Mute Spillinksuz
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    Oct 5th 2011, 11:04 PM

    Kudos to them!
    It must feel nice to get up and act on injustice..to insist on being heard!
    I suppose we forget sometimes that 99% of the world are actually feeling as repressed as ourselves!
    And that there is a breaking point…

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    Mute Tim Kearney
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    Oct 5th 2011, 11:27 PM

    It would be great if we could organise something like that here …

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    Mute John O'keeffe
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    Oct 6th 2011, 12:01 AM

    occupy same street this Saturday 2 pm

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    Mute John O'keeffe
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    Oct 6th 2011, 12:01 AM

    that should read dame street

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    Mute Mark Bennett
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    Oct 6th 2011, 12:05 AM

    there is one for Dublin on Facebook that seems to be gathering momentum. It is called occupy dame street, no joke!

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    Mute Niall Carson
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    Oct 6th 2011, 9:49 AM

    Lets not forget the global economic forum is on this week end at Dublin castle. I’d say a few occupy Dame street protestors might call up to Dublin castle to have a word with Bill Clinton

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    Mute Gis Bayertz
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    Oct 6th 2011, 5:10 AM

    Good on them. I hope they can stick to it.

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    Mute Mata Mata
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    Oct 6th 2011, 7:20 AM

    Go Americans take back your country and your lives !

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    Mute Dastardly
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    Oct 6th 2011, 12:02 AM

    We dont have the right weather

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    Mute Sean C
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    Oct 6th 2011, 2:24 PM

    Let’s save the world…but not today !

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    Mute RDX862
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    Oct 6th 2011, 2:51 AM

    They seem very disorganized. Seeing some of them on television the issues they were raising were things like preservatives in food, animal rights, anti-war, anti-corporation, etc. They need to come up with a unified message. I don’t really see it taking off, the unions will join in but that is to be expected. There was an election last year and another in 13 months so I don’t think that the masses will come out to protest.

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    Mute Sean C
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    Oct 6th 2011, 9:49 PM

    Yes you’re right, as I said they are the backlash. They are the same as the Tea Party but they’re a collective from the left. It’s so refreshing to hear something other than antipathy towards the rich paying their fair share of the tax burden, giving aid to starving Africans, giving the poor access to universal health, action on global warming, refugees etc etc. The Tea party is the last selfish act of the baby boomers, their refusal to hand over to the next generation by opposing government funding anything that’s in their past and no longer of value to them, like education, and opposing funding of anything thats not in their future, like infrastructure for future generations, is threatening the future of our grandchildren. I’m a baby boomer myself and I ashamed and appalled by my generation’s utter selfishness and lack of ability to see beyond their own self interest. So I welcome anything, such as movements like the Wall Street group that challenges that selfishness. It’s time for the younger generation to wrest control of the political agenda and consign the baby boomers to history.

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    Mute Frank2521
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    Oct 6th 2011, 12:50 AM

    The beginning of the end.
    The end of greed would be great but is there an alternative to capitalism?
    1 man(woman) 1 Job is no longer viable as people also need to work 2 jobs to keep up with the standard of living. This has got to change. The unions are hugely responsible for driving up the cost as well as the greedy capitalists.
    The balance will be struck over the next 50 years and that will be s positive result.

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    Mute Patrick Sarsfield
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    Oct 6th 2011, 1:43 PM

    The people who will really ‘stick it to the man’ are the Tea Party – though you don’t often heard that.

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    Mute Sean C
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    Oct 6th 2011, 2:37 PM

    The Tea party are a rabble of geriatric right wing fringe groups that only have one thing in common, they believe some group or other is being given unfair benefit by the Government, and they don’t like it. Ask them who that group receiving this benefit is and you’ll get a different answer depending on who you talk to. They have become a political force because the GOP has embraced and organized them. This Wall Street group are the backlash to the them and I hope they succeed.

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    Mute Rini Noviant
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    Oct 6th 2011, 2:52 PM

    “..that only have one thing in common, they believe some group or other is being given unfair benefit by the Government, and they don’t like it.”

    Not disagreeing on the Tea Party or anything, Sean, but aren’t the Wall Street protesters driven by the same basic reason as stated above? Ah, just found it kind of funny.

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