99% Spring Shareholder Meeting Protests Begin

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Dave Johnson

The 99% Spring movement is starting to make itself heard at corporate shareholder meetings around the country. And next week it really gets started and will be big. (I’ll be reporting from the GE shareholder meeting next week in Detroit.)
Did you know that shareholder protests shut down the annual shareholders meeting of energy-company EQT Corp. yesterday?

How about at the recent Carnival Cruise Lines annual meeting? HuffPo: Carnival Reportedly Shuts Down Shareholders Meeting Webcast After Protestors Ask About Taxes

How about at the BNY Mellon shareholder meeting?

This was a taste, but next week it really gets started.
Visit 99% Power and The 99 Uniting

What Is The 99% Spring?

From The 99% Spring website:

Our country is at a crossroads. We have a choice to make. Greater wealth for a few or opportunity for many. Tax breaks for the richest or a fair shot for the rest of us. A government that can be bought by the highest bidder, or a democracy that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people.
The choice is in our hands. This spring we will act on that choice.
In the tradition of our forefathers and foremothers and inspired by today’s brave heroes in Occupy Wall Street and Madison, Wisconsin, we will prepare ourselves for sustained non-violent direct action.
From April 9-15 we will gather across America, 100,000 strong, in homes, places of worship, campuses and the streets to join together in the work of reclaiming our country. We will organize trainings to:

Tell the story of our economy: how we got here, who’s responsible, what a different future could look like, and what we can do about it
Learn the history of non-violent direct action, and
Get into action on our own campaigns to win change.

This spring we rise! We will reshape our country with our own hands and feet, bodies and hearts. We will take non-violent action in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi to forge a new destiny one block, one neighborhood, one city, one state at a time.

From The 99 Power:

Starting this spring with corporate shareholder season, the 99% Power coalition—workers and retirees, families fighting foreclosure and the unemployed, students, immigrants and environmentalists—have united together to build an economy and a democracy that works for all us, not just for the 1%.
Thousands of people will be inside and outside more than three-dozen corporate shareholder meetings across the country, including Wells Fargo, GE, Verizon, Sallie Mae, Wal-Mart, Bank of America, Verizon and more. We will directly face and challenge the 1% board members and executives that have only served to expand inequality, threaten democracy, destroy our environment and have put their desire for profit in direct conflict with the survival of families and communities.
99% Power will mobilize well over 10,000 people, from all walks of life and representing the diversity of the 99%, to engage in nonviolent direct action. All told, there will be more demonstrations connected to corporate shareholder meetings than at any point in American history. Together we fight to build a political and economic system that offers equal opportunity for all.

Shareholder Meeting And Other Actions Coming

Here’s a list (click through, in case it gets updated):

Gala of the 99%
Thursday April 19, 2012

Occupy Walmart
Thursday April 19, 2012

People’s Moratorium – Singing Foreclosure Auction Blockade
Friday April 20, 2012

BP is Creepy Charivari
Friday April 20, 2012

BP Oil Spill Anniversary March
Friday April 20, 2012

Support Newport Post Office
Friday April 20, 2012

TELL SCOTT WALKER HE IS NOT WELCOME IN LAKE COUNTY
Friday April 20, 2012

Roll out the Red Carpet for Philly’s 1%
Friday April 20, 2012

Informational Meeting
Friday April 20, 2012

We are here 99% rally
Saturday April 21, 2012

stop walmart petition
Saturday April 21, 2012

Dump ALEC: Legistlative Public Forum
Saturday April 21, 2012

The 99% Declaration Petition to Redress Grievances
Saturday April 21, 2012

Occupy the Trees
Saturday April 21, 2012

Earth Day Exposing ALEC
Saturday April 21, 2012

OCCUPY WALL STREET WEEKLY ORIENTATION
Saturday April 21, 2012

Occupy Earth Day (part 1) Melt-In at Grand Central
Saturday April 21, 2012

Community Audit
Saturday April 21, 2012

iMatter March – Mobilize the Earth!
Sunday April 22, 2012

Occupy Earth Day
Sunday April 22, 2012

Koch Brothers Exposed Movie Matinee
Sunday April 22, 2012

Rally to Save Stadium Woods
Sunday April 22, 2012

99% Spring Direct Action Training
Sunday April 22, 2012

99% Spring Direct Action Training Sunday
Sunday April 22, 2012

Cultural Healing Walk and Earth Day Rally
Sunday April 22, 2012

test action
Monday April 23, 2012

Occupy Wells Fargo
Monday April 23, 2012

Stop the Cuts!
Tuesday April 24, 2012

The 99% Take Over the Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting
Tuesday April 24, 2012

Occupy CEHKC (Committee to End Homelessness in King County)
Tuesday April 24, 2012

Wells Fargo People Over Profits Protest
Tuesday April 24, 2012

Grand Circus Park Staging Location for GE Shareholder Meeting
Wednesday April 25, 2012

GE Shareholder Meeting
Wednesday April 25, 2012

PROTEST GE TAX DODGING
Wednesday April 25, 2012

Debtopia – a carnival of student debt
Wednesday April 25, 2012

Healthcare not Corporate Welfare
Wednesday April 25, 2012

1T Day
Wednesday April 25, 2012

Direct Action Training
Wednesday April 25, 2012

End Walmart’s Takeover of the DC Government
Thursday April 26, 2012

What
Thursday April 26, 2012

Get On The Bus for Amnesty International!
Friday April 27, 2012

Get On the Bus – DC
Friday April 27, 2012

Support Your Local Post Office
Friday April 27, 2012

Unite Against The War On Women March and Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

AZ Unite Against the War on Women Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Women CT Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

UNITEwomen.org
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Woman
Saturday April 28, 2012

Santa Fe Riverdance
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

99% Spring 3 Hour Training
Saturday April 28, 2012

Eviction Protection Organizers Training
Saturday April 28, 2012

Move Your Money
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Women’s Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women March
Saturday April 28, 2012

Rally For Women’s Rights. Make Them Fear Our Numbers!
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women March and Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

Community Rally for SeaTac Airport Workers
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Women – MS Rally at the Capitol
Saturday April 28, 2012

Detroit/Windsor Workers Memorial Day
Saturday April 28, 2012

Unite Against the War on Women – AL Rally
Saturday April 28, 2012

UNITEwomen.org
Saturday April 28, 2012

TEXANS UNITE AGAINST THE WAR ON WOMEN RALLY‏
Saturday April 28, 2012

Sharing Day Family Picnic and Potluck
Sunday April 29, 2012

May Day General Strike and Block Party
Tuesday May 01, 2012

May Day General Strike
Tuesday May 01, 2012

Occupy Vallejo May Day
Tuesday May 01, 2012

OCCUPY LAGRANGE
Tuesday May 01, 2012

title="May Day">May Day
Tuesday May 01, 2012

May Day Long Beach March & Rally
Tuesday May 01, 2012

Put People and the Planet First: March and Rally
Tuesday May 01, 2012

Mayday! M’aidez! May Day!
Tuesday May 01, 2012

May Day Rally; Join the Nationwide Call to Strike
Tuesday May 01, 2012

May Day // Primero de Mayo
Tuesday May 01, 2012

May 1st Workers Solidarity Festival and March
Tuesday May 01, 2012

Let’s Keep Massachusetts Public Schools On the Right Track!
Tuesday May 01, 2012

May Day at Chase Bank
Tuesday May 01, 2012

Tesoro Sharholder Meeting–Drawing the Line for a Fair Deal @TSO
Thursday May 03, 2012

VeriGreedy (Verizon) Shareholders Meeting
Thursday May 03, 2012

Reynolds American Shareholders
Thursday May 03, 2012

Joining Hands in Hope
Thursday May 03, 2012

Fair Elections: Town Hall Meeting
Thursday May 03, 2012

Fair Elections Public meeting
Thursday May 03, 2012

Clean up a lot with trees where there was an arson and give love
Friday May 04, 2012

Genetic altered food labeling
Saturday May 05, 2012

Connect the Dots to Renewable Energy and Transition
Saturday May 05, 2012

Join the Human Wave – 350.org day of action on climate change
Saturday May 05, 2012

CONNECTING THE DOTS – DOWNTOWN MIAMI AND SEA LEVEL RISE
Saturday May 05, 2012

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
Sign up here for the CAF daily summary .

March 22 Verizon Day Of Action!

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Dave Johnson

Tomorrow!
On March 22, workers from the Communication Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will be joined by thousands of supporters to rally around the country to stand up to corporate greed, and in support of good jobs for the 99%. The rally will also support the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act that I have been writing about. This is a chance to stand up against Verizon’s fight to destroy unions and middle class America.
Click here to sign up to help out, and for more information.
Go to this site and scroll down a bit for event locations.
From the site:

MARCH 22: VERIZON DAY OF ACTION
Verizon has made tens of billions in profits and its top executives walked away with $283 million in the last four years. But when it comes to the 45,000 workers who made Verizon’s success possible, suddenly the company cries broke.
Verizon has sent thousands of American jobs overseas and wants to outsource even more jobs, gut pensions, charge current and retired employees thousands of dollars more for health benefits, and cut disability benefits for workers injured during their jobs.
On March 22, CWA and IBEW workers and thousands of others will be rallying around the country to support good jobs and the U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act. Join us.

About The Call-Center Bill
The U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act is a bipartisan bill to help fight the offshoring of call-center jobs and protect consumers. This proposed legislation would let the public know which companies are engaging in sending jobs out of the country, let customers ask to use an American call center instead, and ban federal grants or guaranteed loans to American companies that move call center jobs out of the US.
Today many call-center jobs are being moved out of the country, mostly to India and the Philippines. This costs American jobs, and can be very frustrating to consumers who have to speak to people who they cannot understand because of language problems or cultural differences. The U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act gives consumers the right to ask where the person they are speaking with is based, and ask for an American-based representative instead. Among the things this bill would accomplish:

Require the Department of Labor to publicly list firms that move call center jobs overseas.
Make these firms ineligible for any direct or indirect federal loans or loan guarantees for five years.
Require 120 day advance notification of a proposed move off-shore.
Require call center employees to tell U.S. consumers where they are located, if asked.
Require that call centers transfer calls to a U.S. call center if asked.

Previously:
March 7: It’s Time To Pass The Call-Center Bill
Dec 13: Call-Center Bill Would Let Customers Ask To Talk To Americans
Dec 16: Who Protects Info You Give To Offshored Call Centers?

You Should Know About The “99% Spring”

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Dave Johnson

Action Coming — Spread The Word!
This is a Big Deal, just look at end of this post for the list of organizations that are signed on to this so far – and more coming.
April 9-15, 2012, the 99% Spring: 100,000 Americans will train for non-violent direct action. Sign up. And spread it around.
This spring, the 99% Spring.
The following is in case you haven’t looked around lately: millions of jobs destroyed, wages cut, working people told “shut up and take or we’ll send your job to China, too,” homes foreclosed, crushing student loan debt, unions denied collective bargaining rights, budget cuts, crumbling schools with skyrocketing class sizes and teacher layoffs, and a huge rise in the number of children in poverty.
These things are a result of rampant greed—the deliberate manipulation of our democracy and our economy by a tiny minority in the 1%, by those who amass ever more wealth and power at our expense.
From the Christian Science Monitor, here is what happened to the workers in one company when the Romney/Bain machine “came to town”:

The new owner, American Pad & Paper, owned in turn by [Mitt Romney's] Bain Capital, told all 258 union workers they were fired, in a cost-cutting move. Security guards hustled them out of the building. They would be able to reapply for their jobs, at lesser wages and benefits, but not all would be rehired.

Watch the first teach-in on the economy, National Teach-In To Take Back The American Dream for background on how we got here, and ideas about what next. And spread it around.
99% Spring
Campaign for America’s Future and more than 30 major grassroots organizations in the “99% Spring” are coming together to help train 100,000 people across the country to participate in sustained non-violent, direct action to stand with the 99%, and reshape our country.
“From April 9-15 we will gather across America, 100,000 strong, in homes, places of worship, campuses and the streets to join together in the work of reclaiming our country. We will organize trainings to:

Tell the story of our economy: how we got here, who’s responsible, what a different future could look like, and what we can do about it
Learn the history of non-violent direct action, and
Get into action on our own campaigns to win change.”

The coalition is calling for a national convergence of training, education, and action between April 9 and 15 to: shape a collective vision of an economy that works for all Americans – not just the wealthiest 1%; learn about the history and application of non-violent direct action; and put what we learn into direct action to expose the injustices of the moment and demand change from those responsible.
You can read more about “99% Spring Movement” here: http://the99spring.com/
Read the letter from key movement leaders & organizations calling for a 99% Spring.
350.org, Alliance for a Just Society, American Federation of Teachers, The Campaign for America’s Future, Change to Win, Citizen Action of New York, Citizen Engagement Lab, Color of Change, Communications Workers of America, Engage, Fuse Washington, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Greenpeace, Institute for Policy Studies, Jobs With Justice, Leadership Center for the Common Good, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, MoveOn.org, Movement Strategy Center, National Day Laborers Organizing Network, National Education Association, National Guestworker Alliance, National People’s Action, New Bottom Line, National Domestic Workers Alliance, New Organizing Institute, The Other 98%, The Partnership for Working Families, PICO National Network, Progressive Democrats of America, Pushback Network, Rainforest Action Network, Rebuild the Dream, The Ruckus Society, Right to the City Alliance, Service Employees International Union, smartMeme Strategy & Training Project, UNITE-HERE, United Auto Workers, United Electrical Workers Union, United States Student Association, United Steel Workers, United Students Against Sweatshops, UNITY, Working Families Party.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
Sign up here for the CAF daily summary .

The National Teach-In to Take Back the American Dream

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Dave Johnson

From CAF, National Teach-In To Take Back The American Dream:
On February 21, the nation will have an opportunity to hear the true story of who broke the economy for the 99%, and what we need to do to fix it. And you can help us make sure that story is heard.
The Campaign for America’s Future, along with Free Speech TV, Rebuild the Dream and Thom Hartmann’s “The Big Picture,” invite you to participate in the National Teach-In to Take Back the American Dream.
The National Teach-In to Take Back the American Dream
Who Caused the Mess? How Can We Rebuild the American Dream?
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Tune in to “The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann” on Free Speech TV (DirecTV channel 348 and DishTV channel 9415), RT TV and online at FreeSpeech.org. Click here for details.
Featuring

Thom Hartmann

Robert Reich

Heather McGhee

Leo Hindrey

Natalie Foster

Robert Borosage

We want to encourage you to invite friends to your home and have a house party teach-in when this program airs in your area. Even better, invite LOTS of people to your union hall, student activities center, or city municipal building and lead a community teach-in.
Click here to find out how to organize and publicize your own teach-in event on OurFuture.org.
If enough people do this, we can turn the “teach-in” into a massive movement-building event!

FAA Bill Still Anti-Labor! Call Your Senators!

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Dave Johnson

Not long ago, in A Win For Labor – FAA Bill Drops Anti-Union Language, I wrote that, “negotiators have dropped the anti-union language for votes to start a union. Republicans were insisting that no-shows be counted as “No” votes. Delta’s check must have been mailed late.”
Well, not so fast. While dropping a blatant anti-labor requirement that any non-voters be counted as ‘no’ voters, it turns out that the bill remains solidly and sneakily anti-labor. This is supposed to be a bill about airline safety and security, but the fight is over anti-labor provisions… what’s up with that? Laura Clawson at Daily Kos writes in, Unions call on Democrats to reject poison pills buried in Republican ‘compromise’ on FAA,

When Republicans suggested that they would agree to a compromise on Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, dropping their demand to count workers who did not vote in union representation elections as having voted against the union in exchange for raising the threshold of workers asking to get a union representation election from 35 percent to 50 percent, there were two possibilities: Either Republicans were dropping a huge demand in exchange for something relatively minor and it was a bit of a win, or there was something sneaky buried in what Republicans now wanted.

Why This Fight?
The reason there is a fight over labor rules in an FAA bill at all is that Delta Airlines is trying to keep unions out, so the 1% can keep from paying good wages and benefits to the 99%. And, as usually happens, they are offering the Republican Party a share of the take if they can just make it happen for them. Such is our present-day political system. It seems to come down to who is giving the most money to the Republican Party gets priority in legislation. (“Drill, baby, drill!”)
Compromise?
If you start with a bill that says, “kill all the unions, kill all the unions, kill all the unions, kill all the unions” and take out one “kill all the unions” is that a compromise? The unions are still killed three times over.
The FAA bill contains a number of provisions that make it nearly impossible to establish a union, including but not limited to:

the percentage of workers that say they wan a vote on unionization increases from 35 to 50 percent
tricky election run-off rules open up elections to even more company interference
a procedure allowing for the wholesale decertification of a whole host of unions through mergers

So Will Dems Cave?
So the question is, will Democrats cave on this? Some are saying that they have “made compromises” but what has happened is they took out one part that makes it almost impossible to form a union while leaving in other parts that make it nearly impossible to form a union. The only “compromise” appears to be from almost impossible to nearly impossible and labor is screwed either way. Or, from above, the unions are killed three times over instead of four times over.
As David Dayen reports at Firedoglake, a number of labor organizations have signed a letter rejecting this “compromise.” The unions signing the letter are the United Auto Workers union; Teamsters; Communications Workers of America; Association of Flight Attendants-CWA; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees-IBT; American Federation of Government Employees; International Association of Machinists; National Education Association; Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen-IBT; Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; Service Employees Local 32BJ-National Conference of Fireman and Oilers; Sheet Metal Workers; United Steelworkers; American Train Dispatchers Association; Transportation Communications Union-IAM; Amalgamated Transit Union; United Transportation Union; and UniteHere.
Fight Back Against Attacks By The 1%
Stand with these unions to help protect the middle class from attacks by the 1%. CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY and tell them you want the FAA bill to be about airline safety and security, not busting unions.
Then, click here to sign a letter, Stop This Radical Threat to Workers’ Rights:

Radical anti-union members of Congress are attempting to rewrite the Railway Labor Act and change the role of the National Mediation Board without debate or discussion. They have included drastic changes to the law in the FAA Reauthorization bill.
The changes these radicals are seeking would:
Make it much harder for airline and railroad workers to hold union representation elections.
Threaten airline and railroad workers’ right to a secret ballot during union representation campaigns, allowing for management intimidation and retaliation.
Allow airline and railroad management to decertify unions without an election in a merger.

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
Sign up here for the CAF daily summary.

Freeway Blogger

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Dave Johnson

Tales of the Freewayblogger: Portland OR
Go see!
Go DO!

Unemployed Confront Congress At Take Back The Capitol

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Dave Johnson

Today thousands of unemployed people and others came to D.C. to tell Congress and “K Street” that they need jobs not cuts; that we should tax the rich, and that unemployment benefits must be extended before they run out at the end of the year.
I am in Washington to join them at the Take Back the Capitol “99 In DC” event. This is not the OccupyDC group, but it is supportive and very much like the Occupy group, with “Mic Check” and “We are the 99%” and “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out” chants going on everywhere. (Special note: There are no drum circles!)
The center for the activities is a series of large tents on the Mall in front of the old Smithsonian building. There is a stage for entertainment in the evening, a food tent with GREAT food, a New Media tent, a Peacekeepers tent, and other facilities. The event is organized by a number of groups, including the Service Employees International Union, along with local groups around the country. I talked to several people who came out from Idaho last night who organize food distribution and other services for poor and unemployed people, and they had stories about the terrible way unemployment is affecting people there.
Today people gathered in the morning in groups to prepare to visit members of Congress. There were three tents where groups gathered. There was the A-G tent, the H-O tent and the P-Z tent. I was joining the group that was heading over to Rep. Darrell Issa’s office, and thought it was appropriate that we would meet in the H-O tent because he is such a big corporate … well, you know.
Anyone Can Visit
A lot of people don’t realize it, but anyone can visit the office of any member of Congress. You can come to D.C. and locate your member of Congress’s office and go in and say you live in that district and want to say, “Hi.” Or say other things. They work for you. Everyone in our delegation was from California, which is why Rep. Issa was chosen for a visit.
The group walked in the rain down the mall to the Capitol and turned right to the Rayburn building where some of the members of Congress and various committees are located. We had to pass through security which involved putting any bags and computers through an X-ray machine, and walking through a metal detector. We didn’t have to take off our shoes.
Rep. Issa’s Office
The group collected and went to Issa’s office, walked right in, and asked to see the Congressman. He was over at the Capitol, an aide said she would speak with the people there, but the people wanted to see Rep. Issa himself. She asked if the group could please move to the hall, and they said they would wait right there, thank you. After some back and forth, please clear a path for visitors, please move to the hall, I’ll meet with you instead, etc., she called the Capitol Police who said that the office had requested them to please leave. So they left the office and waited in the hall.

After a while the group decided to leave a few people at Issa’s office and head over the another California Congressman’s office, Rep. Dan Lungren. They arrived at Lungren’s office, same story, we want to meet with the Representative, the aid said she would talk with them, no thanks we want to talk to the Congressman himself, etc. But this office did not call the Capitol Police, and they were especially nice, even bringing water and coffee. (Pretty good coffee.)
Meanwhile Rep. Issa showed up at his office, demanded that the people there show ID to prove they are from his district. One of them was, but she pointed out that Issa gets campaign money from donors and corporate PACS from all over the country, and that his committees represent the entire country, so why wouldn’t he talk to citizens. He said no, booted them from his office, and took off.
This is going on in offices of dozens of members of Congress today, demanding that the 99% and the unemployed be heard, just as much as the corporate donors and billionaires be heard. They are asking for unemployment benefits to be extended, and for infrastructure projects that will employ millions and improve the economy, providing jobs for the long term. They are asking Congress for legislation to allow judges to “cram down” mortgage amounts so people do not lose their homes. They are asking for tax increases on the rich and new taxes on Wall Street speculation to pay for essential services so those services do not have to be cut.
Tomorrow they are going after K Street.
This is a slide show of pictures so far:

I also have videos with stories told by people about their situations, and will be posting those in their own posts later. Stay tuned.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
Sign up here for the CAF daily summary.

Tomorrow’s Day Of Action – A Big Deal

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Dave Johnson

Thursday’s National Day Of Action looks like it will be really big. People will be out doing things all over the country. There will be all kinds of events that say, “We are the 99%!” My favorite is people will be gathering in front of various decaying bridges, to demonstrate that our #1 need is jobs and our #1 place to put people to work is rebuilding our decaying infrastructure.
To find events near you see American Dream Day Of Action at http://november17.org/ and We Are One at http://we-r-1.org/
Isaiah Poole writes about the Day of Action in his post today, The Evictions Won’t Stand: Make Nov. 17 A Day Of National Occupation,

“You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.” That was the message posted on OccupyWallSt.org as early this morning, police began to storm the Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.
To prove it, supporters of the Occupy movement have vowed to pull out all the stops to make November 17 a day of national occupation. That day is the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests that sparked a national and international movement. There were already 303 “We Are the 99%” protests scheduled for that day around the country, organized with the help of MoveOn.org. Now those gatherings have added urgency as a rebuke to the efforts to squelch the occupations and silence their voices. As the OccupyWallSt.org statement says, “This burgeoning movement is more than a protest, more than an occupation, and more than any tactic…This moment is nothing short of America rediscovering the strength we hold when we come together as citizens to take action to address crises that impact us all. Such a movement cannot be evicted.”

Bridges
Here are just some of the bridge events this Thursday, Nov. 17:

These demonstrations are part of a National Day of Action against policies that have enriched the 1% and impoverished the 99%. People nationwide will march and rally at structurally unsound bridges and other sites in need of repair to demand that America be put back to work now and that the economy work for the 99% once again.

New York, NY – 6 p.m. March on Brooklyn Bridge
Chicago, IL – 3:30pm, LaSalle Street Bridge
Washington, DC – 4:30 p.m. protest at Key Bridge
Los Angeles, CA – 7:00am, 3rd St. and Hope St. in downtown LA (to march and demonstrate at the structurally deficient 4th Street bridge)
Philadelphia, PA – 4 p.m., Market Street Bridge, near historic 30th Street Amtrak Station
Pittsburgh, PA – 3 p.m., Greenfield Bridge
Seattle, WA – 4:00pm, Montlake Bridge
Miami, FL – 40p.m., Brickell Drawbridge
Baltimore, MD – 4:30 p.m., Howard Street Bridge
Boston, MA – 4:30 p.m., Charlestown Bridge
Portland, OR – 8:00am, Steel Bridge (east side of bridge)
Houston, TX – 3:30pm, Travis Street Bridge
Detroit, MI – 3:00pm, 2nd Avenue/94 Bridge
Milwaukee, WI – 3:30pm, North Ave pass over I-43
Minneapolis, MN – 4:00pm, 10th Avenue Bridge

CWA / Verizon Worker March
The biggest labor action right now is Verizon’s workers who are trying to preserve middle-class jobs from a predatory giant corporation that is trying to send all the money to the 1%. Verizon workers have been marching from Albany to New York City and will arrive at Verizon HQ on Thursday.
I received this statement from the Communication Workers of America:

“The Communications Workers of America strongly condemns the decision by Mayor Bloomberg to forcibly remove protesters from Zuccotti park. In two short months, Occupy Wall Street has focused the world’s attention on the deep frustration felt by working people about an economy that no longer works for the middle class. The 99% have seen good jobs disappear while the rich get richer and the big banks make billions with impunity. Mayor Bloomberg may have cleared the park for now, but Occupy Wall Street’s message cannot be silenced. No one can evict an idea whose time has come.
“Now more than ever, CWA members will join the massive day of action on Thursday, November 17. Verizon workers who have been walking for over a week from Albany, NY — over 150 miles in total — will arrive at Verizon Headquarters at 140 West St in New York City on Thursday at 4 pm to join hundreds of their coworkers in a March to Foley Square. Their message is the same message we are hearing from Occupy Wall Street and beyond: The 99% are standing up against corporate greed and against a government that more and more puts the interests of the 1% ahead of the middle class.“

See also from The Nation, Occupy Verizon, Occupy the Labor Movement,

Forty-five thousand union members at Verizon, no longer a majority at their company, are negotiating with a company set on imposing conditions more like those of their non-union co-workers: higher healthcare costs, job insecurity and raises left to management discretion. Workers (most from the Communications Workers of America) struck for two weeks when their contracts expired in August, then returned to work with an agreement to “restructure bargaining.” Since then, Verizon has relented on some insulting but comparatively low-cost concessions, like eliminating the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. But overall it maintains “pretty much the same position they had when we went on strike,” according to Bob Master, who coordinates CWA actions against Verizon in New York and seven other states.

Social Security
If you are in DC, there is a Wake Up Washington rally to stop the “supercommittee” from cutting Social Security, which would harm seniors and the economy. Here is info:
What: Rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders, other Champions in Congress, and hundreds of activists
Where: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 608 (Corner of Constitution and First St., NE)
When: Thursday, November 17, 10am-11am
Repeat:
To find events near you see American Dream Day Of Action at http://november17.org/ and We Are One at http://we-r-1.org/
Also, if you follow Twitter, follow the #N17 hashtag for ongoing information, by clicking here.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
Sign up here for the CAF daily summary.

Why You Should Attend An Occupy Meeting

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Dave Johnson

Please forward this to friends, relatives, “centrists” and conservatives you know. You may have heard about the “Occupy” protests that are occurring in cities around the country. They aren’t what you are hearing. Please come to one and see for yourself. If you are young, old, white, black, brown, poor, rich, left, right, centrist, even Tea Party you will find people just like you. You might agree, you might disagree, you might love it, you might hate it, but you owe it to yourself to come and see for yourself.
A lot of people feel frustration with the huge and increasing gap between the rich and the poor and the effect this is having on our country, culture, politics and the way we relate to each other as Americans. It seems like everything in the country is now geared toward the top 1%, and the rest of us are divided and supposed to keep quiet and accept this. Somehow the Occupy movement started at just the right time, when just the right number of people were fed up with the way things are going and the lack of solutions coming from our political leaders. It grew quickly, because people were tired of keeping quiet while our government seems to operate only for the benefit of the top few and expects the rest of us to sacrifice to pay for that.
This all brings us a chance to restore democracy not just in our communities, but within ourselves. By attending and participating, we are exercising the “muscles” of democracy, of speaking up and being part of something. The thing is, you won’t just see it, you’ll feel it. You’ll feel what it is like to have so many people around you who agree with you. You’ll feel what it is like to be part of something important.
How To Find One Near You
The “Occupy” movement has now been going on for just over six weeks, and has spread to hundreds of towns across the country. You can probably find one near you. Start at Occupy Together which is at http://www.occupytogether.org/. Take a look at the page where they show you what is happening in your area, using a map. Also, try typing ‘Occupy’ and the name of your town into Google just to see what pops up.
Also see them on Facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/occupyeverywhere, and http://www.facebook.com/Gilded.Age . Also visit the Rebuild the Dream movement, and, of course, MoveOn.org.
So now that you know where one is, come on down, and see for yourself. If you need a ride ask your niece or your aunt. If your aunt needs a ride, give her a ride.
What To Expect
Warning, there might be some people with beards, and God forbid, drum circles.
People are out there speaking for themselves, and learning how to be citizens again, instead of just consumers. This will have a lot of interesting outcomes, most of them good, some of them won’t work out. But it will be people who want to be involved again.
Depending on your community, there will likely be a turnout of some people with signs and leaflets, maybe some people set up with tables to do things like register people to vote, organizations with literature, groups that know each other, people who don’t know each other standing around, etc. There will be a diversity people people.
These events are self-organizing, no one is “running” these events, but volunteers will be helping to organize them. The character of the event completely depends on who shows up, who volunteers to help run it, and how much the people speak up. So it’s up to you to do your part.
See the website How To Occupy and the Field Manual wiki.
Occupy events have a “General Assembly” meeting once or twice every day. In New York the meeting is at 7pm. At the recent Redwood City, CA Occupy event it was at about 6pm. As I said above, volunteers run things, which means that after you get to know the ropes you might want to volunteer.
From the Occupy Wall Street website:

The occupations around the world are being organized using a non-binding consensus based collective decision making tool known as a “people’s assembly”. To learn more about how to use this process to organize your local community to fight back against social injustice, please read this quick guide on group dynamics in people’s assemblies.

These meetings are the heart of the movement. Please come attend one, even if it is just to watch. You’ll feel what it is like to be say what is on your mind. (And you’ll feel what it is like to sit there while so many other people say what is on their minds. Don’t worry, it works, and people keep comments short.) This is what democracy looks like.
Occupy Redwood City
Friday I attended Occupy Redwood City (California), and took some pictures. It was the first Redwood City event, maybe 50 people showed up, and the General Assembly lasted a couple of hours. They’ll meet again next Friday, and probably should expect a lot more people now that it is up and in operation and people are telling each other about it. If 50 people doesn’t seem like a lot, this is not a huge city, and there are more than a hundred events like it going on, some with thousands of people turning out.

Scary, no? Especially the guy (me) with the little white dog. Was that a beard? Of, that first one is a short video, click here in case it doesn’t work in this post.
Don’t Let Them Scare You Away
Speaking of being scary: There will not be violence. This is a non-violent movement. The media outlets, talk show hosts, columnists, etc. that tell you there is violence are trying to keep you from showing up. They are trying to scare you. When they send large numbers of police to shoot tear gas into these events, it is an attempt to intimidate people, not just there but people who are thinking of showing up.
Another way they are trying to keep people from showing up is with humiliation. This is a remarkably effective technique. Make people ashamed to show up, tell them they will be laughed at, or shunned, and people will stay away. They tell you the “protesters” are “dirty,” even “urine-soaked.” They tell you they are “hippies” and thinkthis will make you ashamed to show up and speak your mind.
This is about what speech is “permissible” and what is not. The corporate-conservatives on the Supreme Court say that corporations are people who “speak” and can use all of their money to swamp our elections. But when people show up to complain about the 1% running everything, they are met with force. The big banks can crash the economy and commit crimes and are offered modest “settlements,” but when people show up to complain they are beaten, maced, tear-gassed and arrested.
Don’t let them make you feel scared or ashamed to stand up for your rights.
Show Up & See For Yourself
If you want democracy you have to fight for democracy. You have to stand up for your rights or they will go away. Please visit at least on Occupy event in your area, and see for yourself.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
Sign up here for the CAF daily summary.

New: Occupy Together

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Dave Johnson

People are starting to go into the streets. You don’t have to go to New York to join the Occupy Movement. See Occupy Together:

Welcome to OCCUPY TOGETHER, a hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. As we have followed the news on facebook, twitter, and the various live feeds across the internet, we felt compelled to build a site that would help spread the word as more protests organize across the country. We hope to provide people with information about events that are organizing, ongoing, and building across the U.S. as we, the 99%, take action against the greed and corruption of the 1%.
We will try our best to provide you with the most accurate information possible. However, we are just a few volunteers and errors are bound to occur. Please be patient as we get this site off the ground and populated and please contact us if you have any info on new events, corrections, or suggestions for this site. You can contact us at info[at]occupytogether[dot]org.
We will only grow stronger in our solidarity and we will be heard, not just in New York, but in echoes across this nation.

Seriously,go look. I think this is catching on.
And while you are getting active, don’t forget to joint the Rebuild The American Dream Movement.

Occupy Wall Street

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Dave Johnson

THIS is what democracy looks like! Occupy Wall Street | NYC Protest for American Revolution
A post I wrote a while back about getting active: Get Active To Recover The Economy And Middle Class
A video I have in that post, from Wisconsin, THIS is what democracy looks like!”

American Dream Movement And Contract Alive And Well And ACTIVE

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Dave Johnson

Have you heard any news in the major corporate media about the Contract For The American Dream, from The American Dream Movement? Probably not. And this means you probably didn’t know there were over 400 protests in 32 different states against 85 members of Congress during the August Congressional recess. Or that the Contract has already been signed by more than 295,000 people. (The Campaign for America’s Future is teaming up with Van Jones’ “Rebuild The Dream” organization to put on the Take Back the American Dream Conference October 3-5 in Washington, DC.)
Equal Time
When President Obama gave his State of the Union address, CNN aired a “Tea Party Response” from Michelle Bachmann’s. Click here to ask CNN to air the American Dream Movement’s progressive response to the president’s major jobs speech on Thursday. The response should come from more than just one side of the political spectrum.
The Contract
The Contract for the American Dream consists of 10 critical steps to get our economy back on track: (Please click through for details, to learn how the Contract was put together, and for ways to sign up and help.)

Continue reading →

Seeing the Forest

Who is our economy FOR, anyway?

Category Archives: Calls to Action