Feb. 26, 2011: 100,000 people rally outside the Wisconsin capitol on the 12th day of the occupation

Article via the Portland Occupier. Written by Mark Vorpahl

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker not only defeated the recall, he did so easily, taking 54 percent of the vote. This is a big defeat for the union leadership who threw as many resources as they could afford behind this effort. How is it possible that this could have happened after all that had gone on before?

The massive uprising last winter in Madison, Wisconsin, that was spurred by Walker’s plans to balance the state deficit by slashing public workers’ benefits and wages, as well as stripping them of their collective bargaining rights, was a flood no one saw coming. Walker expected opposition, but nothing of the nature and magnitude that developed. The unions and community members who initiated the state capital occupation were likewise surprised. The powerful current of solidarity and desire to fight austerity policies that benefit the wealthy few at the expense of working people ran wide and deep, though previously it had not risen to the surface. Madison, Wisconsin, charged workers’ political consciousness in a way that prepared for the Occupy Wall Street Movement, as well as greater social movements on the horizon.

This struggle was measurably affecting public opinion. While the many polls taken during this period were not consistent, there was an overall pattern of growing sympathy for the public workers and their supporters as well as increasing anger towards Walker. During the protests a New York Times/CBS Poll found that 60 percent of Americans opposed restricting collective bargaining while 33 percent were for it, 56 percent of Americans opposed reducing pay for public employees and only 37 percent were for it. In a Wisconsin Public Radio poll released on April 22, 49 percent said they disapproved of Republican efforts compared to 39 percent who approved.

How could such momentum be lost? Perhaps even more telling to Labor’s failure to build from these developments is the fact that in exit polls 36 percent of union members voted against the recall. If the task of the day is to reverse the one-sided class war Wall Street has been waging on the 99 percent, it is necessary to draw the correct lessons from Wisconsin.

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Screen cap showing map of locations holding casserole demos in support of Québec

Last night, thousands of people across hundreds of cities once again rallied in solidarity with the Québec student strike during the third weekly Casseroles Across Canada (and the world) wave of demonstrations. Across the globe, we march in a mutual struggle not only in support of the student strike, but opposed to austerity and repression in all countries and in favor of free education for all. The Occupy/15M movement continues to stand in solidarity with the grève générale illimitée. The next wave of demos is schedule for next week.

ggi #gginyc #manifencours #casserolesencours

via NYCGA.net

SOLIDARITY WITH QUÉBEC STUDENT STRIKE GOES ON

INFINITE SOLIDARITY WITH A CALL FOR INFINITE GENERAL STRIKE

May 22 marked the 100th day of the ongoing Québec student strike, one of the largest student mobilizations in history. Demonstrations against the massive tuition hikes (which would increase tuition by 60% over five years) occurred daily across Quebec, with over 160,000 students on “infinite strike.” The Québec government enacted a draconian emergency law (Bill 78) intended to break the strike. The legislation in effect outlaws public assembly, imposes harsh fines for strike activity and criminalizes protest, just as the struggle is gaining popular support and escalating to unprecedented levels. Many are questioning the law’s constitutionality.

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Occupy Oakland gathered in front of Lakeview Elementary School last November

via Occupy Oakland

WHERE: Lakeview Elementary School, 746 Grand Avenue, Oakland CA 94610
WHAT: Sit-in Protest To Reverse Closures of Oakland Public Schools
WHEN: Beginning Friday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m. PST
WHO: Teachers, parents, students, allies, and all who believe in public education

At the end of this school year, the Oakland Unified School District plans to close five public elementary schools and hand children’s school buildings over to private charter schools and district administration offices. Hundreds of the displaced students have been placed by the district in elementary schools that are 10 miles away, and the school district has offered no guarantee that transportation will be provided for families. In response…

Oakland Parents and Teachers Are Sitting-in to Keep Neighborhood Schools Open!

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via Occupy Our Homes

Occupy Our Homes DC - Wednesday June 13th, five members of Occupy Our Homes DC temporarily silenced former J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon while he stood in front of a Congressional hearing.

Deborah Harris, a disabled former paramedic who lost the title to her home due to J.P. Morgan’s unethical business practices and is now facing eviction, confronted Mr. Dimon over a microphone, asking him to face the thousands of homeowners like herself that are loosing their homes because of his work. She was quickly dragged away while fellow Occupy Our Homes members chanted and loudly accused Mr. Diamond of being a crook.

The protesters, including Ms. Harris, were held in jail for most of the day and by 6:00pm all had been released.

“I told him to face up to the little people, like me, who had saved up for years only to have their homes taken by giants. When they slapped the handcuffs on me, I felt very proud that I was a voice who stood-up.” Deborah Harris, an Organizer with Occupy Our Homes who is facing eviction.

“I found it shocking that Jamie Diamond a billionaire who is responsible for taking thousands of people’s homes can go before a congressional committee, just apologize and walk away. While those of us who are standing for those that lost their homes are hand-cuffed and thrown in jail.” said, Micah Bales, an Organizer with Occupy Our Homes-DC.

Links to Video Coverage:

MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/NBCNightlyNews/#47805703

C-Span: Action begins around 4:00:
http://www.c-span.org/Events/Banking-CEO-James-Dimon-Details-JPMorgan-Chase-Loss/10737431430-1/

The Occupy/15M movement in Rio de Janeiro, along with allies from across Brazil and the world, are planning to Occupy the coming Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (the Earth Summit) on June 20-22. Tens of thousands are expected to gather in Rio during the conference, many to attend the Rio+20 Peoples Summit. Unlike the Rio+20 UN conference or the Peoples Summit — hierarchical institutions guided by the logic of representation and Malthusian ¨green capitalism¨ — Ocupa Rio is organizing an open, bottom-up movement to take direct action. As one blogger stated:

¨It is worth remembering that Occupy proposes an alternative society - not yet another alternative project of society, or merely a self-managed counterculture. [...] Capitalism works in paradoxes: excess and lack, abundance and poverty. Much of their [the Summits] effort to create sustainability is put into re-balancing the capitalist equation. They want to restore the profit of the 1%, and to find new ways to control the 99%. Many initiatives of the Summit assume there is not an alternative to capitalism, and offer no more than a kitten´s purr, a mannequin called "global consciousness" or "environmental responsibility."

In addition to online and social media organizing, Ocupa Rio has been holding open meetings attended by Occupiers from across the region in the city center to plan the actions. For more, follow them on Twitter (@OccupyRio).

The Peoples Petition

We, members of the Occupy movement and civil society, highlight the critical window of opportunity at the Earth Summit to vastly scale up political, financial & public response to the environmental, social & economic crisis of our time, & to raise ambition to the level that science demands. We are exceeding 3 of 9 planetary boundaries (climate change; biodiversity loss; changes to the nitrogen cycle) and our economy has outgrown the ecosystems we depend on. We denounce debt-created money and demand urgent regulation for a steady-state economy. We vow to respect and protect the beauty and diversity of life on Earth, realising our interconnectedness with nature. Governments, corporations and financial institutions must wake up and dramatically prioritise people & the planet over abusive exploitation for short-term profit & “growth.”

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