Occupy Wall Street growing rapidly | Make the Road New York

September 29, 2011

Occupy Wall Street growing rapidly

By Chris Bowers / The Daily Kos

Occupy Wall Street is experiencing a burst of rapid visibility and support. Several established groups are now getting involved:

A loose coalition of labor and community groups said Thursday that they would join the protest next week. They are organizing a solidarity march scheduled for Wednesday that is expected to start at City Hall and finish a few blocks south at Zuccotti Park.[...[

Some of the biggest players in organized labor are actively involved in planning for Wednesday's demonstration, either directly or through coalitions that they are a part of. The United Federation of Teachers, 32BJ SEIU, 1199 SEIU, Workers United and Transport Workers Union Local 100 are all expected to participate. The Working Families Party is helping to organize the protest and MoveOn.org is expected to mobilize its extensive online regional networks to drum up support for the effort.

“We're getting involved because the crisis was caused by the excesses of Wall Street and the consequences have fallen hardest on workers,” a spokesman for TWU Local 100 said.

Community groups like Make the Road New York, the Coalition for the Homeless, the Alliance for Quality Education and Community Voices Heard are also organizing for Wednesday's action, and the labor/community coalitions United New York and Strong Economy For All are pitching in as well.

It should also be mentioned that the Teamsters have been vocal in their support of Occupy Wall Street.

In addition to rapidly increasing support for the action in New York City, Occupy Wall Street confirmed over the phone that there will be at least 26 solidarity occupations in the U.S. by Oct. 6. Further, they said that up to 70 were possible by the end of October, and recommended visiting Occupy Together for more information.

Beyond institutional support, the use of pepper spray against demonstrators has significantly increased organic interest in Occupy Wall Street. Tech President reports that there are now more online searches for Occupy Wall Street than for Speaker John Boehner:

After a pepper spray incident, Occupy Wall Street now gets a level of attention on Google somewhere between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner.

The occupiers inNew York City say they are prepared to stay through the winter. Their numbers also appear to be growing, after suffering steady declines during the first week of the action. At this point, how long Occupy Wall Street lasts, and how big it gets, is anyone's guess.

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