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| Occupy Atlanta. |
Our Teamster brother Ben Speight, organizer for Local 728, joined Occupy Atlanta on Friday. Some are asking why Teamsters would support the Occupy movement. Here's Ben:
Georgia continues to have a higher unemployment rate than the national average, 10.1 percent, and it has the third highest poverty rate.
Our members, like working people thoughout the country, are saddled with debt. Their kids are graduating from college without job opportunities. They're also saddled with debt.
We're seeing these same financial institutaions and Wall Street interests bankroll attacks on unions and fundamental workers' rights.
This is absolutely the right time for an economic justice movement behind the Teamsters' call to stop the war on workers.Occupy Atlanta has run into a few difficulties. On Friday, U.S. Rep. and civil rights hero John Lewis stopped by the encampment. Lewis, by the way, is a good friend of Local 728. The Cascade Patch reports:
Last week, Occupy Atlanta refused to allow Lewis to speak at Woodruff Park downtown until the group had completed its "agenda." Lewis said he had another engagement and couldn't wait that long, and departed.
A video of the incident, posted by conservative groups, has become a YouTube sensation.Here's the video. You'll see Teamster thug Ben Speight standing right next to Lewis. (Thug stands for "Teamsters Helping Unions Grow.")
Ben said Lewis, a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the '60s, wasn't offended at all.
He said they did it during the SNCC days. He remembers it. He didn't even ask to speak. People asked him to speak.Lewis, who endorses the "Occupy" movement, plans to come back and speak to the group.
On Monday night, Teamsters helped prevent arrests of protesters camped out in Woodruff Park downtown. Ben was there with Jim Nichols, UPS inside leader. Local 728's political director Eric Robertson watched on the live feed as police prepared to enforce a city ordinance that bans people from parks after 11 p.m. Robertson texted Mayor Reed and asked him to tell the police not to arrest the protesters.
The protesters stayed. Today, the mayor's office announced they could remain in the park.
