Oct. 15 Occupy Tri-Cities Meeting from Whitman Pioneer on Vimeo.
We took a quick spin around the Internets this morning to find where Teamsters have been occupying. The short answer: All over.
Teamsters Joint Council 7 strongly supports Occupy Oakland and Occupy San Francisco. The Joint Council donated bathroom tissue, bottled water and bales of hay to a march and rally last week. Teamsters brought along their "Stop the War on Workers" signs to the rally.
In Miami, Local 769 joined 14 organizations signing a letter asking government officials to support the Occupy movement.
Here's what Occupy Miami looks like, according to the Miami Herald:
There are no immediate plans to boot the group from their makeshift community of tents stationed at the rear of the Miami-Dade Government Center, 111 NW First St., according to county officials. A steadily growing group of 40 to 50 “occupiers” have slept overnight at the camp since Saturday, using tents and ponchos to shield from the rain.Your News Now quoted Local 657's President Phil Bunker at Occupy Austin. Bunker said he's outraged by the high number of minimum wage jobs in Texas. Writes YNN:
"It's not going to change this year, it's not going to change next year, but with activities of this sort, it will change," Bunker said.The Pioneer reported on an Oct. 15 rally in Walla Walla, Wash.:
Occupy Austin began on Oct. 6 and organizers say they have no plans of ending the occupation.
Representatives from labor unions turned out in force, including members of the local teachers’ association and the Teamsters union.
“This is not a union gathering,” explained preschool teacher and Teamster member Tina Urban. “It’s not a left or a right [movement]. The middle class is deteriorating and going away.”Teamsters at Occupy Hartford met up with the antiwar movement on Oct. 16, according to CT News Junkie:
Dan Durso of Teamsters Local 559 recalled the Edwin Starr song, “War (What Is It Good For?)” The crowd shouted back the refrain “absolutely nothing.”We'll keep you posted as the Occupation wears on.
But he said there are some wars worth fighting like the “war on bigotry, or the war on hunger, or the war on ignorance, or what about the war on corporate greed? Now there‘s a war worth fighting.”
“It’s great to see us fighting back. The U.S. wants to occupy the Middle East to protect American interests, American interests otherwise known as Exxon Mobile. We’re occupying Wall Street for American interests also. Interests like economic justice and social justice,” Durso said. “We’re occupying Turning Point Park in Hartford for American interests such as living wage jobs, Social Security, and health care for all.”
