Occupy Wall Street protesters rally with Verizon workers (Pete Sikora/CWA)
The Communications Workers of America and
Amalgamated Transit Union have added their support to Occupy Wall Street.
ATU locals in the New York area as well as the International Union will be providing support to the movement through donations of food and other supplies, physically engaging in protests, and getting the message out to the public. ATU locals around the country plan to ramp up support by participating in similar Occupy events across the country.
(Note that the ATU is a different union than the Transport Workers Union, which had already offered support to Occupy Wall Street and has gone to court to prevent the city from forcing bus drivers to transport arrested protesters.)
The CWA had already been reported to be planning to join in Wednesday's rally on a local level, but now the union is officially endorsing Occupy Wall Street at the national level:
The 700,000 members of the Communications Workers of America strongly support the Occupy Wall Street Movement. It is an appropriate expression of anger for all Americans, but especially for those who have been left behind by Wall Street. We support the activists’ non-violent efforts to seek a more equitable and democratic society based on citizenship, not corporate greed.
The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations are spreading throughout the country. We will support them and encourage all CWA Locals to participate in the growth of this protest movement.
Occupy Wall Street protesters had previously joined communications workers rallying outside a Verizon store as part of the campaign to pressure Verizon to drop unreasonable concession demands on its workers.
9:13 AM PT: AFSCME adds its voice:
“What has been happening on Wall Street for the past two weeks is a Main Street Movement in the spirit of the protests in Madison, Wis., seven months ago. Just as a message was sent to politicians in Wisconsin, a clear message is now being sent to Wall Street: Priority # 1 should be rebuilding Main Street, not fueling the power of corporate CEOs and their marionette politicians.
“We stand in solidarity with those protesting Wall Street’s greed. The economy that has wrecked so many lives, obliterated jobs, and left millions of Americans homeless and hopeless is the fault of banks that gamble with our future. Their reckless pursuit of profits, at the expense of working families’ pursuit of the American dream, must come to an end.”