Alameda Central Labor Council Supports Occupy Oakland/Wall Street

Categories: Announcements, Open Mic, Solidarity Statements

Support the Occupy Wall Street Oakland Movement

ALAMEDA LABOR COUNCIL

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF OCCUPY WALL STREET AND OCCUPY OAKLAND

Whereas, the Occupy Wall Street protest and its Oakland counterpart is an action opposed to the income inequality, the unfair tax structure, the bank bailouts, and the undue corporate influence and greed that has created America’s current economic malaise, undermined its social contract, and laid to waste its ideals, and;

Whereas, the negative effects of this elemental economic injustice are borne by middle class working families and the poor, while the financial racketeers most responsible for it are not only not held accountable but are allowed to continue to extract outrageous profits from it, and;

Whereas, in a nation where 25 million people are out of work, where 50 million people have no access to health care, and where 1 in 5 children grow up in poverty without adequate access to food, clothing and shelter, where funding for public education is gutted, where infrastructure is left to decay, and where millions of Americans have lost their homes due to a flawed and sometimes fraudulent process of foreclosure, causing misery and hardship and lost tax revenue, and;

Whereas, the salaries and bonuses of corporate executives continue to skyrocket while real wages for most workers have stagnated for the last 30 years during which period the gains in the economy have accrued almost entirely to the top 1% who now control at least 40% of the nation’s wealth, and where the top 400 Americans control more wealth than the bottom 180 million, and;

Whereas, in a nation where corporations are treated as people and money as speech, exacerbated by the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Citizen’s United v. Federal Election Commission to allow unlimited spending on elections to vault corporate influence to a new extreme and gaining further advantage over an already tilted political system, a system which now threatens to reduce the voice of the people to irrelevance, and;

Whereas, the rights of working people have been routinely attacked by the same unfair corporate power structure that led to new era of robber baron income inequality. Such attacks include illegal interference with right to form or join a union and have used the economic crisis in both the public and private sectors as a pretext for rolling back benefits, cutting wages, and limiting the rights of unions, and;

Whereas, the Alameda Labor Council has for more than 100 years supported the rights of workers and protesters to peaceably assemble and engage in non-violent demonstrations to expose economic and social injustice and attempt to adjust inequality and discrimination in any form, now;

Therefore be it resolved, that the Alameda Labor Council shares the outrage, frustration and resolve of the protesters, commits to the fight, and goes on record in support of the Occupy Oakland and the entire Occupy Wall Street movement, and;

Therefore be it further resolved, that the Alameda Labor Council supports the right of the protesters to peaceably assemble and opposes any effort to unreasonably evict protesters based on unsupported claims of public safety, and, in light of last night’s eviction calls on the City of Oakland to release the arrested, drop the charges, restore the occupation or otherwise reverse the silencing of the voice of the majority of Americans by providing continuous forum for this message and;

Therefore be it further resolved, that Mayor Quan and the City Council are on the wrong side of history. It is clear that what occurred in Snow Park and Frank Ogawa Plaza this morning is nothing but silencing the voices and stomping out the rights of Americans. Participants of Occupy Wall Street are now in their ninth week of declaring that “we are the 99%” because our system is desperately, decisively out of whack—the top 1% is pocketing massive profits and dominating our politics while everyone else struggles to make ends meet. It is shocking that Mayor Quan and the City Council feel that this is a message that needs to be silenced. The Alameda Labor Council stands with Occupy Wall Street and the 99% of Americans just trying to level the massively unequal playing field.

Therefore be it finally resolved

, that the Alameda Labor Council supports the non-violent efforts of the protesters to seek a more democratic and equitable society and repeats the demand for an economy that works for all Americans.

_______________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alameda Labor Council

Where: Sixth and Washington, Oakland CA

When: 11:30 am, Oct. 25th, 2011

The Alameda Labor Council condemns the eviction of the Occupy Oakland protesters

Early this morning hundreds of police from all over the Bay Area surrounded Frank Ogawa Plaza in an unprovoked raid on peaceful protesters. Police then evicted protesters at Snow Park. In a nation where 25 million people are out of work, where 50 million people have no access to health care, and where 1 in 5 children grow up in poverty without adequate access to food, clothing and shelter, where funding for public education is gutted, where infrastructure is left to decay, and where millions of Americans have lost their homes due to foreclosure, this outrageous act to silence the voices of the protesters puts Mayor Quan and the City Council on the wrong side of history. At a time when resources are stretched in Oakland it is shameful that City funds are expended to silence the voices of the people. The Alameda Labor Council stands with the 99% in supporting the right of the protesters to peaceably assemble. We oppose the eviction and call on the City of Oakland to release the arrested, drop the charges, restore the occupation or otherwise reverse this silencing of the voice of the majority of Americans.

Contact: Josie Camacho, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, 510 632 4242 office, 510 502 1454, cell. Jean Cohen, Political Director, 408-206-6880 cell.

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