CWA and Occupy Team Up and Take On Verizon

(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