Here's a guest post from
Local 174's secretary-treasurer, Rick Hicks, about the Occupy Wall Street protests. (We're actually just stealing it from Local 174's website -- Thank you!).
The imagery was simply stunning: the Wall Street "Haves" sipping champagne and gazing down upon the "Have Nots" gathered on the street below. Unrepentant as to the role their financial institutions played in crashing our economy, callously indifferent to the stories of hardship and struggle below, they sipped and smirked.
The 1% at the top, the 99% in the street below--that was the picture America was beginning to see on their computer screens and, eventually, their television sets. The sound bytes and photos of protesters telling their stories illustrated the economic disparity in this country and clearly identified who caused it and who's paying for it.
The media elites giggled and made fun of the rag-tag group in the street, while America watched and weighed the images they were seeing and the stories they were hearing.
Last night The New York Times ran a poll asking people if they supported the Occupy Wall Street action. When I entered my vote, a staggering 71% said 'yes.' A website called collectivedisorder.com shows over 550,000 'likes' for over 200 Occupy Wall Street solidarity events across this nation. As the support continues to grow, the Wall Street media cheerleaders are showing signs of alarm, particularly at the influx of Union support.
After all the recent effort the corporate-owned media and Republican party have put forth to destroy unions, there we are again--clearly identifiable as part of the 99%, not the elite 1%. But then, we're used to standing up for what we believe in and taking to the streets with signs to call attention to our issues. We fit right in because we always fight for those on the streets, not those in the boardroom.
It's true that labor didn't initiate the Occupy Wall Street protests, but we are definitely a part of it and believe heart and soul in the social and economic equality it espouses. While the 1% sit in their Ivory Towers, we're proud to be the card-carrying 12% of the 99%.
