CWA and Occupy Team Up and Take On Verizon
Thursday, November 3, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)At 5p last night a crowd of red-clad CWA members gathered in Freedom Square.
They were joined by activists from Freedom Plaza and, soon after, a large group
from McPherson Square who were on their way back from a solidarity march against
police brutality in Oakland. The activists gathered to picket Verizon for unjust
contract demands; workers there still don't have a new contract. As the sun set
on a perfect autumn day, the crowd chanted “Get up, get down, there’s a
labor movement in this town.” Said CWA President Larry Cohen, "We need Occupy,
we understand (the need for) solidarity.” The crowd marched from Freedom Plaza
to the F Street Verizon store, taking over the street and sidewalk outside the
store, pushing signs against store windows, yelling “What’s disgusting?
Union busting!” The march then wound through McPherson Square and continued to
the Chamber of Commerce where activists banged on the doors, and – referring
to the oversized “JOBS” sign covering the building – asked the Chamber
where all the jobs were. From the Chamber, the group turned toward the White
House where a Free Tibet rally was wrapping up. After a brief moment of
hesitation, the groups began chanting in unison, with protestors exchanging
high-fives and dancing around one another. Occupiers from Freedom Plaza and
McPherson Square marched back to Freedom Plaza chanting “how do we end the
deficit? End the war and tax the rich!” The action was "a great warm-up"
for today's major midday Make Wall Street Pay demo (see DC Labor Calendar), said Metro Council
President Jos Williams. Thousands are expected for the demo & march at
11:30a, beginning at Lafayette Park. “We will not let the 1% continue to steal
our money or cut Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security--the programs that help
keep us housed, healthy, and fed through hard times and older age,” say
organizers. Join the demand that Wall Street pay a Financial Transactions Tax
(FTT), creating $350 billion yearly in revenue, holding corporations responsible
for some of the devastation they’ve caused us. - photo by Julia Kann