Occupy Oakland: Teamsters get the festivities done

Teamster organizers monitor grill and assist occupiers alongside Alameda City firefighters

The Day of Solidarity Action in Oakland drew thousands for what was largely a happy, peaceful protest against corporate greed.  It was hard to tell how many Teamsters swarmed onto Frank Ogawa Plaza, but we know our brothers and sisters from Locals 70, 315, 439, 853 and 856 were there.

Our friends in the mainstream media of course played up the tensions that emerged later in the evening. Small groups of provocateurs caused some trouble, and protesters tried to stop them, according to The Oakland Tribune:

As marchers approached the Whole Foods Market near Lake Merritt, a small group of people in black infiltrated the group, smashing the windows and throwing paint at the store.

Other demonstrators who had marched to Whole Foods enveloped the agitators, forcing them to stop. Fist-fights broke out. No one went inside; the store closed before the crowd arrived.

After the incident, the crowd continued to move down Grand Avenue. Protesters on Twitter appear to be trying to find the people responsible for the vandalism.

The Tribune also reported:

Meanwhile, the crowd at Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza remained festive into the evening, with people dancing in the streets. There was no "General Assembly" - the nightly meeting held by Occupy Oakland organizers - because so many people remained at the Port of Oakland. Members of the Alameda Labor Council served free hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie dogs and veggie burgers to a ravenous crowd and had given away more than 4,000 meals by 8 p.m. Firefighters from the City of Alameda with Alameda Local 689 worked the massive charcoal grills while other volunteers began picking up the mountains of trash overflowing garbage bins.

"It's been exciting. There's been great energy all day," said Josie Camacho, secretary treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council. "We have health care workers from Placer County here volunteering."

One California friend watched it on livestream and observed:

Most of those folks a month ago couldn't find a union office if you gave them Google and typed in "union." But they're learning.

Not only that , but a lot of others are at home cheering them on, and yesterday came out to throw their body weight into the mix. A young couple I know went to Ogawa Plaza yesterday with their 19-month old ...

Yesterday things went from a sleepy tent camp to a street-commanding movement over a period of six hours.

Each move gives people courage to take another.

Today's Teamster News 11.03.11

A strike at US Foods takes aim at private equity  New York Times   ...The relationship between labor unions and private equity, which has always been chilly, has just gotten colder...
Port closure culminates Oakland protest  The Press-Democrat   ...Semi-truck drivers trying to leave the Port of Oakland stopped as throngs of demonstrators poured in....“It's OK,” said Mann Singh, 42, a truck driver from Pittsburgh who was stuck in the middle of the road with demonstrators climbing on his vehicle. “They are for us, you know. We work 16 hours to make $200...”
Sotheby's arrest 2  youtube   ...Four occupy wall street activists were arrested tonight at Sotheby's auction house in NYC, for distutbing one of sotheby's biggest nights of the year, in support of the locked-out workers...
Teamsters Protest Union-Hostile Law Firm Jackson Lewis  IBT   ...Teamster members protested the anti-union law firm Jackson Lewis, which was hired by Sotheby’s Auction House [NYSE: BID] to help outsource good, middle-class jobs...
Porsche Sells Malbec to Keep Argentine Access  Bloomberg   ...President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who won re- election Oct. 23, is forcing sellers of foreign-made cars to become exporters of everything from bio-diesel to bottled water in return for access to an auto market that’s growing 30 percent a year. Argentina introduced the program in March to boost export, increase investment in local industry and shore up dwindling central bank reserves...
Anonymous retreats from Mexico drug cartel confrontation  The Guardian   ...Plans by the hacker collective Anonymous to expose collaborators with Mexico's bloody Zetas drug cartel – a project it dubbed "#OpCartel" – have fallen into disarray, with some retreating from the idea of confronting the killers while others say that the kidnap of an Anonymous hacker, the incident meant to have spawned the scheme, never happened...

Occupy Oakland: When you say 'Logistics,' we say 'Teamsters'



Proper attire for a giant labor cookout at Occupy Oakland today.

When Bay Area unions agreed to host a barbecue on Frank Ogawa Plaza for Oakland's day of solidarity action, the question was immediately asked: "How are we going to do this logistically?"

Logistics? Logistics? That's what we Teamsters do!

Joint Council 7 shop stewards and members met at Costco today to pick up supplies for the giant labor cookout. Teamsters at that store are members of Local 853, where International Vice President Rome Aloise is secretary-treasurer. The Teamsters Action Team also bought a thousand hot dogs and sausages (another union is handling the veggie patties).

Local 856 organizers Murphy and Ed help purchase supplies at Costco.

They loaded water and other supplies onto the Teamster truck.

Local 853 member Kelly Mendez loading water onto the truck.

And headed out toward Oakland. We've just learned the truck has entered Oakland.

Welcome to Oakland.

Wish we could be there! Stay tuned. We'll keep you posted.

Smiles everywhere at Day of Solidarity in Oakland



Occupy Oakland is on the march right now as thousands of nurses, city workers, students, teachers, union members and the unemployed take part in the day of solidarity.

Joint Council 7 Teamsters are supporting the solidarity action. Later this afternoon the Joint Council's truck will roar onto the plaza and become the gathering point for a giant labor cookout and rally. Call it a moveable feast. Unions will grill and cook for the crowd. Even now Teamsters are buying sausages and hot dogs and loading supplies from Costco onto the back of the truck (we'll have photos momentarily).

Meanwhile, thousands have filled 14th street and Broadway in downtown Oakland. The University of California office of the President is closed today over concerns that BART might shut down. City workers are taking forloughs or vacation to march.

The Grand Lake Theater’s marquee says, “We proudly support the Occupy Wall Street movement, closed Wednesday in support of the strike.”

Men’s Wearhouse in the Rotunda Building has a sign up in the window, “We stand with the 99%. Closed Wednesday Nov. 2.”

There was a big rally at noon in front of City Hall. Watch the live stream.

The tweetosphere is all over it, with great comments and pics:

@EastBayExpress: March is now thousands strong. Next stop: state building. #oo #occupyoakland #generalstrike #oostrike

@occupyoakland: 5,000 strikers marching down Clay. #generalstrike #occupyoakland #oo

@SabzBrach: Joanne Michele MT @callie_hoo: Spread the word. 100s of berkeley students marching down telegragh to join the general strike. #occupyoakland #oostrike#ows

@indybay: Several dowtown banks shut down by #OOStrike including Wells Fargo Citibank & Comerica #OccupyOakland

@northoaklandnow Oakland North: Crowd singing ” well walk hand in hand today.. We are not afraid. We shall overcome.” #occupyoakland #OOstrike

#OO Thousands of people here at the plaza Smiles everywhere, Native American groups, Angela Davis, Interfaith reps, children, elders. We R 1