Posted 12 years ago on April 19, 2012, 6:45 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
via strikemay1st.com, a new clearing house for May 1st General Strike resources in the Bay Area:
called for by the Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition
Unite in solidarity with Golden Gate Bridge workers and the international call for a general strike on May Day by blockading the flow of capital to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District on the morning of May Day!
The following resolution was passed unanimously by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly on Sunday, April 15:
If any of the unions on the Golden Gate bridge declare a strike or shutdown action on May Day, we will act in solidarity with these striking workers and the international call for a general strike on May Day, by blockading the flow of capital to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. This will be accomplished by a collaboration of pickets and direct action which will shut down all modes of transportation from Marin to San Francisco.
Time: 7am Location: Golden Gate Bridge SF Toll Plaza Bus pickup locations:
6am 19th and Telegraph Oakland
6am B. Manning (Justin Herman) Plaza San Francisco
WTF is M1GS? What are the caravans? 4 winds? There’s too much happening – how do I get involved? I don’t have a car. What’s the point? Yeah, I’m hearing this all day long. So here’s your handy 101 guide to getting involved, complete with links.
M1GS stands for May 1st General Strike. Occupy LA called for a General Strike back in November. It was approved by the GA, and all the other Occupations took up the call, along with those unions in contract disputes, unions not in contract dispute who want to participate without going against Taft-Hartley, The Black Riders, The Brown Berets, and various other radical left organizations in and around LA.
How are we going to have a General Strike if folks can’t ‘officially’ strike? By calling in sick to work. By school walk outs. And by disrupting the flow of Capital on Mayday. This isn’t that hard to do. Mayday is a big day for immigrants rights in LA. Marches happen all day long. People are used to taking the day off to march. It’s what you do on Mayday. And this Mayday will be no different. Except we’re not just going to march from point A to point B, to protest against the injustices immigrants have to endure in this country. We’re going to converge on downtown LA from four distinct points: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST and WEST with the intent to shut this city down in order to clearly and forcefully articulate the voice that the establishment continues to ignore, our voice which proclaims: we have had enough. We have had enough of being treated like dirt because we are im/migrants, we are brown, we are black, we are poor, we are women, we are queer, we are workers, we are students, we are young, we are old. The 1%’s deliberate oppression and fostering of divisions in order to maintain their iron grip on the government and finances of this country must end.
So what happens on the day? You need to locate a Wind near you on OccupyMay1st.Org. Each wind will be comprised of caravans of moving vehicles – MAYDAY MOBILES. These will be decorated cars, vans, bicycles, skateboarders, rollerbladers – anything and everything. We need to reach CRITICAL MASS with a variety of vehicles, and we need folks to commit to bringing their transportation along to a chosen wind, and giving people rides on the day. Each wind will start in the late morning, from about 10am to 11am, park somewhere nearby, and converge on foot to 6th and Main Street in downtown LA at around 2.30 / 3pm, for food and a secret direct action.
It’s really important people commit to a wind, not just the convergence block party / action, and while we love folks who show up on the day, giving us a concrete commitment now would make us very happy activists. You can locate the East, South and West Wind Planning Teams on facebook, or look at the routes and times on OccupyMay1st.Org. While Occupy San Fernando Valley is coming from the North on May 1st, they will be using the Metro, and we still do not have caravan details for the North planned out, so we’re looking for a group who want to take this on.
After the convergence, our Mayday group will join the Southern Californian Immigration Coalition March at 4pm. This march should end at approximately 6pm, giving folks an hour to enjoy music, eat some food and cause financial disruption before having an Occupy LA hosted General Assembly at 7pm.
As we draw closer to M1GS, times and locations may change. Keep checking OccupyMay1st.Org. But whatever happens, we’ll need you and your Mayday Mobiles. If you’d like to be involved in legal support on the day, please email occupylalegal@gmail.com
If you are unable to participate in M1GS, but would like to help with a financial or other contribution, our WePay donations page is here, and we are always grateful for loans / donations of food, water, phones, radios, PA systems, trucks, plain black t-shirts / hoodies, bullhorns, mobile hotspots, battery packs for livestreamers and whatever else you can think of!
NEW YORK – On May 1, 2012, autonomous direct action groups within Occupy Wall Street, as a part of the global mobilizations for general strike and economic non-compliance, will block one or more Manhattan-bound bridges or tunnels to protest the shameful opulence of the 1%. Working and unemployed people across this country have seen no improvement to their lives in spite of all of the chatter about a recovery from the Financial Crisis of 2008. We don’t care what Obama or Romney say because only working people —domestic laborers, rank and file union members, undocumented workers, restaurant, retail and chain-store workers— can solve today’s problems.
Last fall, when Occupy Wall Street blocked the Brooklyn Bridge for several hours, we were acting within a long line of protest in New York City that stretches back to the so-called Fiscal Crisis of 1975, which much like now, was a bank led assault against working people. In the summer of 1975, striking hospital employees, including doctors and nurses, blocked the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was even blocked by thousands of laid-off police, the very people who act as the guard dogs of the 1%. More recently, both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Holland Tunnel were shut down during protests of the shooting death of Sean Bell. But this May 1, we will create the biggest shut down the city of New York has ever seen.
We are announcing these blockades now as a fair warning to the rest of the working people of New York and New Jersey who are considering joining the strikes and mobilizations of the day: the city will be shut down, so enjoy the day without the 99%!
These weekly marches are intended to be a low-risk activity carried out in a creative way to make it to the NYSE, where we counter the closing bell with the “People’s Gong.”
This week, in preparation for General Strike on May 1st, we become familiar with the public and privately owned public spaces in the Wall St area with a game of Capture the Flag. We will practice moving in smaller groups, making quick decisions and achieving our goal of countering the NYSE closing bell with the People’s Gong.
Bring sleeping gear for later that evening to join protesters in sleeping on Wall St!
Although these weekly marches are intended to be a low-risk activity carried out in a creative way each week, as our numbers have grown, so has police repression. Nonetheless, we are within our rights as peaceful protesters and we will carry on our tradition of the People’s Gong until May Day !!
