99% Confront the 1% at Conservative Conference

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Over 1,200 labor and community activists turned out in force at two demonstrations Friday outside the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Chanting “Whose America? Our America!” as many as 700 labor and community activists shut down Woodley Road at noon with an impromptu sit-in and a brief take-over of the  Marriott Wardman Park Hotel driveway. Well-heeled CPAC attendees gawked as the huge crowd turned Woodley Road into a multi-hued street festival of music, “Occupy”-style tents, the snappily-attired “Tax Dodgers” and their giant “Mitt.” "I want Romney and CPAC to stop giving tax breaks to the rich and create good jobs for the District,” said District resident John Butler of OurDC. “We want them to see us, hear us, and feel us. We are the 99%"  Added retired DC School District counselor Sandra SV Williams, "I'm here to fight for jobs, unity, and to keep the union intact." Later Friday afternoon, as darkness and temperatures fell, UFCW Local 1994 kicked off the evening demo by parading their “golden throne” – a gold-painted toilet – in front of the Marriott Wardman, “representing (Wisconsin Governor Scott) Walker’s greed and arrogance,” 1994 President Gino Renne said. The crowd swelled to 500 or more union rank-and-file, Occupy DC activists and community supporters, as limos slowly made their way in and out of the conference, accompanied by chants of “What’s disgusting? Union-busting!” and “We are the 99 percent!” - report by Chris Garlock & Julia Kann; photos by Chris Garlock