Forum Post: May 21: Occupy Chicago Celebrates People Power at Boeing!

Occupy Celebrates Victory of Non-Violent Direct Action with March to Boeing, All-Day Rally: People Power Stops the War Machine as Boeing Corporation Directs Employees to Stay Home, Shuts Down!

9am - Gather in Union Park, Lake & Ashland

10am - March to Boeing Company, 100 North Riverside Plaza

Occupy Chicago will serve breakfast and rally at Boeing all day

Occupy Chicago and members of the international Occupy Movement will hold a joyful, celebratory march and day-long rally at the Boeing company on May 21st in Chicago. We are hosting a victory party, complete with food, clowns, dancing and music after calls to protest the Boeing company on May 21st resulted in the company directing employees to stay home this Monday, effectively shutting themselves down.

We will march from Union Park at 10am, and plan to celebrate the power of non-violent direct action at Boeing all day. Our call to action shut down the Boeing war machine, and we'll be in front of the company celebrating our victory. It's a party, and Chicago is invited. Join celebration!

You can expect to see crowds of people from all walks of life dancing in the streets, listening to live music, and celebrating the power of anti-war voices outside the Boeing corporation tomorrow. When the people of the world said they would speak out against Boeing and the NATO war machine, their voices were heard, and Boeing shut itself down. We're excited to celebrate tomorrow.

In 2001, Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago in a plan that stole over $60 million and 20 years worth of free rent from Illinois taxpayers. In 2010 Boeing made over $4.5 billion, yet in the past three years they have managed to avoid paying taxes. In 2010 they received a federal tax subsidy of $1.56 billion. This cost the State of Illinois $65 million in revenue. This money could have been used to serve an additional 16,000 Medicaid clients, provide Medicare Part B coverage to 13,000 seniors, provide 36 million meals to the hungry, or create 1,625 living wage jobs for the unemployed. Instead this money was given to Boeing in the form of corporate welfare by our elected officials.

In total, Boeing has received over 12 billion dollars [ this figure is grossly understated: http://www.usaspending.gov/search?form_fields={%22search_term%22%3A%22boeing%22} ] from the US Department of Defense to produce war machines, which are used to terrorize communities and murder innocent civilians all over the world. These tools of destruction are produced using prison labor, allowing Boeing to make weaponized products for pennies on the dollar. When not using non-prison labor, Boeing goes out of it's way to bust unions, even moving factories across the country to stifle worker's rights. Boeing production facilities are continually found to be massive polluters, leading to the company being listed as one of the top 50 corporate criminals responsible for environmental destruction.

Occupy Chicago invites all Chicagoans and the citizens of the world who have gathered in our city to oppose the NATO war machine to attend the non-violent march and celebration at the Boeing company tomorrow.

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Source:

http://occupychi.org/2012/05/20/may-21-occupy-chicago-celebrates-people-power-boeing

See also:

http://www.contractormisconduct.org/index.cfm/1,73,221,html?ContractorID=13&ranking=2

http://veritasvirtualvengeance.com/2012/02/10/at-boeing-pay-to-play-is-the-rule-of-the-day/