This release was given to the Occupy Boston media team at Dewey Square.
The Greater Boston Labor Council applauds the efforts of Occupy Boston to place a spotlight on the imbalance of power in our nation and the role that Wall Street has played in devastating our economy.
Faced with the worst economy since the great depression and saddled with college tuition debt young people are saying what labor has been saying for a long time. Shared sacrifice is a one-way street in our nation.
Occupy Boston and similar organizations in New York and across the nation are using valid tactics to expose the reality that there are two economies in America. One for real people and another for financial elites, the same people that created the economic crisis and have been untouched by its consequences, while millions of Americans have lost their jobs and their homes.
Richard M. Rogers.
36 Responses to “AFL-CIO Supports Occupy Boston”
The workers have spoken, success is at hand!
You may be jumping the gun just a little Aria…..
Let’s give this thing a little time to grow.
how do i join this couse?
Show up. Take the red line to South Station and look for the tents.
First you should understand where tent city came from before you just gather a bunch of college kids and hipsters together while sipping your starbucks crying that corporate america is evil. Tent city came about because of the need for housing for the homeless during the depression. When things got REALLY bad during the depression and families had nothing, that’s all AMERICANS had. This, this is a bunch of ignorant americans that are spending their time complaining instead of trying to get a job to be contributing taxpaying americans. If YOU selfish americans remember, you’re just as much to blame as “corporate america”. If you knew how to subtract your $1k monthly income from the $3k mortgage you got foreclosed on OUR COUNTRY wouldn’t be in this mess. Now, millions of people also like you who couldn’t add or subtract have lost their homes dragging down entire city’s, town’s, and the whole country. You cry blaming the banks because you can’t add, so they pass a financial reform bill regulating the banks further creating even more expenses for them. The banks have passed those fees onto the middle class. WE are paying our bills, we are suffering from all the excess fees being put onto us that were brought on by you! So, thank you for continuing to be a drag on Boston, Mass, and the USA! BTW, how much is your presence downtown costing the city? Money spent to babysit you instead of creating jobs. Ironic isn’t it. Think about that while sipping your starbucks in the am.
Corporate CEO’s got a 27% raise this year. 9 TRILLION dollars in off the books loans have gone out of the FED, we are fighting two endless wars in distant nations. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Highest health care cost for inadequate service; but all of our financial woes are upon the people who expected the professionals who told then that their loans were ok before they sold them to other agencies because they knew that they would fail. Come on. All you have to do is read the papers, you nincompoop.
Most of us have jobs, thanks.
i agree these little punks have made this worse with their uncaring and arrogant attitudes toward the poor [who cannot get work and the disabled and elderly ]these punks are always blaming us the hell with the middle class they have been blaming the category named above as well
No they want to cut and gut and send out the debt collectors (robocalling) students for student loans. So instead of job creation…… we get robocalls!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141031478
The News Hour just reported that Corporate CEO compensation rose 27% in 2010. Shared sacrifice is not a only a one way street but big wigs hop into the HOV lane and bypass it completely!
and these banks and others are stealing both our rights and our money my bank stole most of my ssi check this month and these bigbox dumps are stealing peoples rights to pursue a hobby [collecting store signages their stupid wasteful policy is to destroy it .
hates corporate america bigboxdumps walmart,toys r us bestbuy,target and big banks at least….with the bigbox dumps i dont have to set foot in them [which i dont] but….alas stuck with these bigbanks unfortunately
try to find a credit union, or small local bank.
This site can help you find alternatives
http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/
Thanks to our Union brothers and sisters. Long live the right to organize. Remember, without it we’d all be slaves as sure as you’re reading this now! In Asia and other places where labor is essentially free – the people cannot organize. The only rules are the ones made by the man. Read about Foxcon and the suicide rates in the company towns. It’s tyranny. That’s the vision of the future if we let it happen. Power to the People!
God Bless You All!!! This is a worthwhile and necessary struggle/demonstration. We had enough apathy and denial. The power elite are oblivious to the realities of hunger and lack of affordable housing. They will push the limits of our tolerance for their conspicuous greed to the breaking point until we simply stand up together shoudler to shoulder and say NO!!! to greed and conspicuous consumption and waste. They live atop this culture of narcissism where all value is determined by status symbols while the vast majority….the 99%…”US” live on the cusp of insolvency…
The ugliest aspect of Wall Street’s institutional behavior was the recent arrest of 700 in NYC…the Wall Street elite use the police apparatus that “We The People” pay for out of our tax money…against us at no expense to themselves….!!! The jails can contain only so many of us and the absurdity of their fascist approach and strategies has already revealed itself. It’s obvious who and what they are and what they represent….GREED! Self interetest…exploitation…
The American stood by mute for years while the Bush/Cheney administratrion led us all down the path to trillions of dollars of waste and institutionalized hatred with lies and deception that a 5th grader could see through but no one stood up until their behavior became so outragious that it could no longer be denied “hide the bodies” was Cheney’s command…”cover them up” upon return from war…our best and bravest soldiers werer to be denied not only their benefits but our gratitude as well while we continue to consume, consume, consume….consume what? JUNK….that’s what…JUNK and more JUNK….they die to protect our rights to consume more worthless JUNK and create more and more trash to strew all over the streets….food wrappers, plastic cups…JUNK….we are nothing if we don’t consume more, more and more….and when we can’t consume we are trampled by the conscienceless hordes that still can….
No more!!! Say no to greed and conspicuous consumption….say NO! to politicians who pander to the power elite and leave their constituents behind as soon as they are indoctrinated into the good ole boy political establishments….”We The People” say No! to 9 million dollar bonuses paid for by 5 dollar per month fees on already struggling citizens…don’t let them fool you….WE DON’T NEED THEM – let Bank of America crash and burn….from the ashes will arise new institutions run by “We The People”….financial institutions that do not parlay the Peoples’ trust into million dollar bonuses for themselves while thousands of us eat at soup kitchens. Let them crash…don’t panic….don’t let them drive us to panic and bailouts when they lose their money….their money…”is” our money….let them crash….we will survive…we will support each other on the streets…we will invest in local farms and fisheries and “We” will meet each other face to face every day to do honest business…the business of staying alive….the business of growing as people and communities where we can afford to live without prostituting ourselves to the financial giants who demand that we spend half our salaries on clothes to keep up appearances….we know the reality of what’s happening in our cities….
There’s so much more to say but for now I just want to say “thank you” to all you young people who have the courage to stand up out there peacefully….gradually forcing these faceless, conscienceless corporate giants to reveal themselves for what they are….”FASCIST PIGS”…sounds cliche but that’s what they are…its’ very simple….
Your support is appreciated. Now do what you can to help as well; any little thing…
Don’t forget that this goes back to Reagan and was hastened by Clinton, compounded by Bush, and accelerated by Obama. Get the left/right, Rep/Dem out of your head. It only obfuscates the truth.
See “Inside Job” for a blow by blow on how things got to be as they are.
This…actually worries me a little. I’d think a legit anti-corporate movement should be able to draw from a wide range of supporters, i.e. the 99%. It’d be unfortunate if OWS ends up being labeled a mainstream union-organized liberal movement, and the voice and impetus behind it gets lost in the process. At least I hope other types of groups weigh in, as well.
That’s why we have to remain inclusive. Focus on a simple, albeit mountainous goal. If this movement accomplishes one thing it will have a legacy to be proud of . This is about Wall Street. This is about the 99% who are on the outside looking in. This is about a miracle that, if successful, will change the course of our nation.
I think you have a good worry Daniel. Thus far, it seems this movement is entirely left leaning…Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon and now the Unions. I think it’s a good thing to have the numbers increase, but those numbers should be kept as people, not organizations. Celebrities should be mindful of their status and should be for the movement, not against capitalism or whatever axes they have to grind. This movement needs to remain entirely dissonant or entirely inclusive. And, thus far, it is leaning decidedly left which will kill it, like the right killed the Tea Party. Be very careful.
Suggestion?
Right you are… I went to the first Tea Party event in Boston and it was refreshing to be able to talk about real issues with real independents. The ensuing Tea Party Express was a Republican co-opt.
It’s easy for Sarandon and Moore to bellow about injustice. They’re part of the 1% and should fork over whatever money they can to make this a healthy non-partisan movement (that is, if they haven’t forked anything over yet). We’re talking 99% and
that includes the supposed left, right, and center…
I’m hearing about tea party people meeting up with OWS people. I think this is an amazing feat. The tea party seems to have morphed into the know-nothing wing of the republican party, but the grievances and frustration people have are real, and have been squelched. I realize most of my impressions of them come from the same corporate media that distorts other issues, so I’m trying to be more circumspect about what they are all about. They are also part of the 99%.
if occupyboston can somehow find a way to find common ground with the tea party you can really get deeper into the national consciousness.
i dont like the tea party too much at all they believe that people should not get benefits ssi,social security elderly,and disabled should not get benefits they were also caught on you tube making fun of a man that has parkinsons.they are not good people at all sorry lodger
I actually this this is horrible news. This is how the movement gets co-opted. Unions injecting non-human influence into the movement kill make it a branch if the DNC, just like the GOP was able to co-opt the grass roots tea party.
And don’t tell me unions are people too, you will sound like Mitt “my VC firm underwrote a Super-PAC for me” Romney
Replying to the “suggestions” comment above:
Keep this focused on the economy and be specific. The current economic disaster is largely the result of the financialization of the economy and the concentration of huge financial entities.
We need to separate commercial banking from investment banking (reinstate Glass-Steagall)
We need strict regulation of the derivatives market (repeal Commodities Futures Modernization Act)
We need to return the Commodities markets to a place where the real physical hedgers buy and sell goods, and keep the speculators from fueling price bubbles on the things we all need (like fuel and food).
Illustrate the myriad ways the financial economy affects people’s lives, from the obvious (foreclosure, unemployment) to the mundane (having to pay extra for your kids to play sports in high school). In some way, the economy affects every one of us in the 99%.
And furthermore, the writing of financial regulations, monetary policy, and regulation enforcement are all performed by people who used to, or want to, work on Wall St. This is the crux of where the 99% are denied a voice in how business is done. We have civilian control of the military, we need civilian control of the economy as well.
All of this is a small piece of the larger economic puzzle.
I read the OWS Declaration and was amused to see the Vegetarian plank about corporate farming. I myself am a Veggie, but really don’t think this is a core 99% issue, and is exactly the sort of think that will skew this movement Left.
Please know I am with you, this is meant constructively. I brought you socks and have sacrificed three navel oranges, a mushroom and a camembert cheese cheese to the Sun God in the hopes you stay warm and dry. 🙂
You have the leadership of the AFL CIO behind you. Now you have to figure out how to bring in the 10’s of thousands of members of that union. Trust a union steward, it’s a very different thing. Tone it down. Go after the Brass Ring (Wall Street & the FED) everything else is window dressing.
Worrying about the other stuff now equates us with a bunch of mangy dogs fighting over the scraps that are falling from the table while the Fat Cats enjoy a banquet.
Just to clarify…. GBLC is only affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Massachusetts AFL-CIO hasn’t been vocal yet. I work there and have been trying to get them to put something out.
unions have a ton of money on obama for 2012, they’ll take over and the movement will become a sham supporting “change” for 2012…i hope it doesn’t happen but its been my fear since the start. you don’t want the union support, you want the union workers support. having the union name associated will turn off and alienate a lot of people. doesn’t make sense but that’s how it is in this backwards ass country
It actually makes perfect sense for people to distrust union support of a movement. Those unions collect dues from the members, they then use that money to feed into the big money buys political influence machine.
Why Are OWS Protesters Repeating White House Talking Points?
“Make the rich pay their fair share” is an Obama campaign slogan, and his new tax rule won’t even affect the rich
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Many people have rightly pointed out that the Occupy Wall Street protesters are a diverse bunch with different beliefs, and as such have no single set list of demands. However, the one message that has been embraced by the majority of demonstrators is to “make the rich pay their fair share,” which has also been a consistently repeated talking point out of the Obama White House.
The problem with the so-called “Buffett tax rule,” or making the rich “pay their fair share,” which both the Obama administration and OWS protesters have jointly advocated, is that it will do nothing to “make the rich pay their fair share,” and everything to bankrupt middle class businesses, the lifeblood of the American economy.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, the Buffett tax rule, which White House Spokesman Jim Carney made it clear the Obama administration was behind, would mostly impact the middle class, not Warren Buffett or Wall Street corporations.
“Roughly 90% of the tax filers who would pay more under Mr. Obama’s plan aren’t millionaires, and 99.99% aren’t billionaires,” pointed out the WSJ analysis.
An excellent article by Chuck Norris highlights numerous different examples of where “pay their fair share” has become a White House talking point.
From a Sept. 19, 2011, press statement from the White House’s Office of the Secretary concerning the “Fact Sheet: Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future – The President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction”: “… asking the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. …”
From a Sept. 20, 2011, White House Rural Council blog post, titled, “Lessons from the Farm to Strengthen America,” written by Tom Vilsack, secretary of agriculture: “For agriculture, the plan focuses on what the President and I believe is one of the most pressing challenges facing producers right now … safety net and creating a better market for our agricultural goods. And it sets us on a path to compete by asking everyone to pay their fair share. …”
From an Aug. 4, 2011, post on the White House blog, titled, “All about the so-called ‘Super Committee’” and created by Jon Carson, who is deputy assistant to president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement: “… asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.”
From the July 9, 2011, “Statement from White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer on Budget Negotiations”: “We need a balanced approach that asks the very wealthiest and special interests to pay their fair share as well, and we believe the American people agree.”
These are just four out of a plethora of examples where the Wall Street-funded Obama administration has adopted the slogan “pay their fair share” as a talking point, despite the fact that Obama’s tax plan does nothing to make the ultra-rich “pay their fair share,” because the burden will fall on the middle class.
• A d v e r t i s e m e n t
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As the WSJ analysis documents, people like Warren Buffet and the top corporations reduce their tax burden by parking their wealth in offshore havens and exploiting other loopholes that don’t exist for middle class Americans.
In mimicking this “pay their fair share” talking point, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are allowing their message to be subverted by the Obama White House, which is itself a creature of Wall Street.
Obama has deliberately adopted a populist gimmick in calling to “tax the rich,” even as his 2012 run is reliant on Wall Street for financing even more so than four years ago.
“Obama has even added new Wall Streeters who did not work for him in 2008, including former Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine, Evercore Partners executive Charles Myers, Greenstreet Real Estate Partners CEO Steven Green, and Azita Raji, a former investment banker for JPMorgan,” according to a study by the Center for Responsive Politics.
We really need to educate the OWS protesters that supporting Obama’s new tax agenda will do nothing to touch the very Wall Street institutions that financed his 2008 presidential campaign – the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan – it will only cripple smaller businesses and increase unemployment in America.
The Buffett tax rule is also being promoted by MoveOn.org, a Democratic Party front group that has aggressively lobbied in support of Obama and his policies. The organization has also announced its intention to become involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement. For a group that is little more than a soapbox for the Wall Street-financed Obama administration to suddenly proclaim its support for anti-Wall Street protesters and attempt to define their message stinks of subversion
OWS protesters need to keep their promise to stay non-partisan and not be fooled into advocating the same policies that the Wall Street-backed Obama administration is itself aggressively pursuing.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.
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Article printed from Infowars: http://www.infowars.com
URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/why-are-ows-protesters-repeating-white-house-talking-points/
I love the movement but dislike the unions.
yes i agree jim i bet alot of these unions are mobbed up which will make these protests look less credible im worried about that too
There is a movement currently underway by the Attorneys-General across the nation to grant IMMUNITY to the Wall St. institutions that orchestrated the economic collapse of our country and impacted the economies of countries around the world. They would grant this immunity PRIOR to any investigative action yet to take place! This is outrageous. The justice Department should be looking into this action. So far, only 4 jurisdictions, spearheaded by NY and CA, are resisting this collusive activity. I cannot get an answer from Coakley’s office to date and have been trying all week. Needless to say, tremendous pressure is being exerted on the jurisdictions that are resisting this activity. We must pay attention to this and support the Attorneys-General who are on the side of justice. WHERE DOES COAKLEY STAND ON THIS????????
For all those interested in following up with Coakley’s office, please take 2 minutes out of your day and call: 617.727.2200 and demand an answer to this question. She has to realize that this is far more than just a ‘political’ decision. It is a matter of justice. Thanks to all who can do this today.
Leave Martha alone. She’s not on board. Sort of old news.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/pr-watch-iowa-attorney-general-tom-miller-still-flogging-dead-horse-of-mortgage-settlement-negotiation.html