Teamsters Occupy NY, DC, TX, CA, CT, MO, OR, WA
Teamster Nation
Posted November 18, 2011

Teamsters marched and rallied all over the country today, just as they did in the spring and just as they have been doing throughout their 108-year history.

They brought the Teamster truck to a march on Steel Bridge in Portland, Ore.; they held rallies at airports in Dallas and Los Angeles; they marched down K Street in Washington, D.C.; they converged on Foley Square in New York City; they rallied on a bridge in Denver; they joined the chants in Kiener Plaza in St. Louis; and they marched around a giant insurer in Hartford.

Right now, Teamsters from Joint Council 7 are headed to the camp in San Francisco's Financial District to try to fend off an expected eviction. Writes Rudy Gonzalez, representative for Joint Council 7:

We are staying through the night to help keep it peaceful.

Groups of Teamsters from Local 117 in Seattle are leaving the union hall now, heading toward the rally and march to University Bridge in Seattle.

Many of the rallies and marches ended at bridges that need repair. The point, of course, is that the bridges need work -- and so do we.

Stories of other actions can be found here and here.
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'Occupy Wall Street' protesters march on Brooklyn Bridge after clashes
The Raw Story
Posted November 18, 2011
Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Thursday after earlier clashes with police led to over 200 arrests on the two-month anniversary of the anti-capitalist movement.

The evening march, which took place without incident, was a show of force for the Occupy Wall Street campaign which has gone global, despite some recent setbacks including the clearing of the movement’s home base in a New York park.

The New York protests were part of a “Global Day of Action” with hundreds of demonstrations planned across the United States. Police evicted protesters in Los Angeles and Dallas, arresting dozens of people.
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University Bridge seized Occupied in rush-hour Jobs rally
Teamster Nation
Posted November 18, 2011
Hundreds of demonstrators marched onto Seattle's University Bridge on Thursday, snarling traffic during the evening rush hour in one of several rallies nationwide for "Jobs Not Cuts."

Seattle police escorted the group from the University of Washington to the University Bridge, and later reported there had been no conflicts in what they termed "the peaceful demonstrations."

This was in marked contrast to Tuesday night, when a group of Occupy Seattle demonstrators was pepper-sprayed by police while blocking downtown traffic, first in Belltown and then near Westlake Center.

The Thursday rally, started at about 3:30 p.m. in the triangle near Husky Stadium and the UW Medical Center, with about 700 people in rain and near-freezing weather.

Among them were union workers, students, Occupy Seattle activists and clergy. The rally was organized by Working Washington, a coalition of labor and community groups.
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Can't Get Arrested in this Town: Police Stand By as Protesters Occupy University Bridge
The Stranger
Posted November 18, 2011
It was raining so hard I was soaked to the bones, my fingers so numb with cold that I couldn't feel the shutter button on my camera, and yet a thousand-plus protesters braved the weather and marched through the streets from opposite sides to occupy the University Bridge and claim it for the 99 Percent.

Both lanes of traffic were blocked for at least an hour while helicopters buzzed overhead and the police stood idly by, as some occupiers held a general assembly in the middle of the bridge while others defiantly climbed the girders to wave their signs and stake their ground. About a dozen union volunteers, trained in nonviolent civil disobedience, had planned to seize the roadway and sacrifice themselves to arrest, but either unwilling to force their way through the peaceful yet boisterous crowds, and/or still smarting from the international scorn that comes from pepper spraying old ladies and clergy, the police never made their move. The occupiers eventually dispersed on their own.

Before the march, hundreds of union members and progressive activists rallied across the street from Husky Stadium, huddling together beneath umbrellas and tents as part of a series of national protests aimed at promoting investment in repairing aging infrastructure, and the many thousands of jobs that would create. It was an impressive crowd despite the weather, and a carnival like atmosphere, replete with balloons, free hotdogs, and a man on stilts.

I know folks keep predicting/hoping that the Occupy movement will soon fade away, but I didn't see any fading this evening.
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Teamsters Occupy CO, OR, NY
Teamster Nation
Posted November 18, 2011
Not all the action is in Lower Manhattan today. We've had Teamster sightings in Oregon, Denver and New York. In Portland, Oregon, Teamsters joined the march on Steel Bridge.

NWCN.com tells us:

Protesters walked onto the Steel Bridge about 8:30 a.m. in defiance of police, the beginning of what was expected to be a day-long series of demonstrations.

One group of about 20 protesters sat down as they reached a line of officers in riot gear. Police started taking them into custody a few minutes later without incident.

Another group stood, held signs and chanted behind the group sitting.

Sgt. Pete Simpson said the first priority of police was to arrest those sitting, then assess what to do next with the group standing. He said they are more than welcome to walk about to the Rose Quarter transit station and take the MAX across the Steel Bridge.

We learn from @EconFairnessOR:

Taking a stand on the Steel Bridge. Crowd includes occupy, teamsters and active citizens http://t.co/KWoK5wz7 

Later, from @SueZalokar:

Bridge opening to traffic. Occupies, teamsters on the move. #occupypdx #opdx

@alison_barnwell notes:

A Teamsters truck blocked traffic at NE Oregon and 1st, blasting "Have you been to jail for justice?" #OccupyPortland

Read the source story here.

1st reports of Teamsters Occupying
Teamster Nation
Posted November 18, 2011
We're hearing that hundreds are marching on Wall Street to protest our corrupt financial system, but only people with corporate IDs are allowed on Broadway (a public thoroughfare). Watch it live here.

Shouting "God Bless America," the protesters are tearing down the barricades surrounding Liberty Park. It's part of the International Day of Action.

Actions are scheduled around the country by unions, faith groups and community groups to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Interfaith Worker Justice, just as an example, will protest wage theft in Houston, Ithaca, New Brunswick, Madison, Fayetteville and San Francisco. Marches to bridges are planned to showcase our crumbling infrastructure and demand that Congress create jobs.
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Occupy Idaho
The Maddow Blog
Posted November 18, 2011
To the question of reach of the Occupy movement comes this item in our mailbag:

This photo was taken in Stanley, Idaho - population 100. It is an Occupy Wall St. photo taken on Wall St. in Stanley, Idaho. [...]

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Report: The Billions Corporations Avoided Paying In Taxes Would Have Created Over 100,000 Jobs In Education
Think Progress
Posted November 18, 2011
With income inequality in the U.S. at its highest level since the Great Depression, Americans from every end of the income spectrum are clamoring for corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes. But because of the numerous tax loopholes and credits worked into the tax code, corporate taxes are at historical lows.

Bank of America paid nothing in federal taxes in 2009. While earning billions in profit, companies like Boeing, Exxon-Mobil, and Wells Fargo also paid nothing in recent years. Other corporations, like Google and Pfizer, dramatically lower their tax rates by deferring profits they make overseas. After making more than $14 billion in profits last year, General Electric not only got a pass on paying any corporate income taxes, but actually received a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

Thanks to this propitious tax code, corporations kept $222.7 billion in federal revenue from 2008 to 2010. But the loss of that revenue comes at a cost, a cost being paid by middle class and low-income Americans who are already reeling from a sluggish economy — most notably, students. According to a new report from the National Education Association, $9.8 billion of the lost revenue from corporation would have gone to public schools and colleges over the same period. Those funds would have added over 100,000 jobs in public education and ensured that an extra 400,000 kids living in poverty could enroll in preschool.
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Complete transcript of the November 16, 2011 edition of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'
Current.com
Posted November 18, 2011
KEITH OLBERMANN: Which of these stories will be you be talking about tomorrow?

Soulless in Seattle? So, a priest, a pregnant mother, and an 84-year-old woman walk into a protest and — unfortunately, it’s no joke, they get pepper sprayed at Occupy. The cops say, “Don’t worry,” pepper spray “is not age-specific. No more dangerous to someone who is 10 or someone who is 80.” Our guest, 84-year-old pepper spray victim Dorli Rainey. Occupy Wall Street regroups.

(Excerpt from video clip) CROWD: Take down the barricade!

OLBERMANN: Plans to shut down Wall Street itself in the morning, to occupy the subways in the afternoon, to occupy Courthouse Square at night.

(Excerpt from video clip) GABRIEL MARANTZ: Tomorrow is a very big day. It’s a day of international action.

OLBERMANN: But it was the NYPD which did the occupying to a New York City councilman.

(Excerpt from video clip) YDANIS RODRIGUEZ: I went down to the park to observe the situation. Unfortunately, I was assaulted by a police officer.

OLBERMANN: And then denied counsel and detained for 17 hours! Our guest, New York City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez. [...]
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Senate Hearing Room Erupts into Chant: 'We Are the 99 Percent!'
AFL-CIO Now Blog
Posted November 18, 2011
Today’s National Day of Action, called by Rebuild the Dream, the Alliance for Retired Americans and embraced by members of the Occupy movement, took an unlikely turn on Capitol Hill, as working and retired Americans joined together to tell lawmakers not to balance the budget on the backs of the 99 percent, as a joint congressional committee has threatened to do through proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

In a packed hearing room at the U.S. Senate, participants in a “Jobs, Not Cuts!” rally, keynoted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), erupted into the chant that has come to identify the Occupy movement: “We are the 99 percent!”  Most of the chanters bore little resemblance to the stereotyped image of an Occupy protester—many were senior citizens, and the young people in the audience bore a distinctly clean-cut look.
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The tea party occupies the supercommittee
The Washington Post
Posted November 18, 2011
“The Gestapo kicked us out!” shouted a large, bearded man in a black windbreaker, blocks away from the U.S. Capitol. A police crackdown on Occupy Wall Street? Nope. It was a group of tea partiers from Freedomworks who had been kicked out of the Senate’s Russell building after Senate officials had determined the group’s presentation on deficit reduction had violated the chamber’s rules for outside group events by calling itself a “hearing.”

Instead, the tea partiers — joined by some of their elected allies in the Congress — left the Russell building to reconvene in a constitutional study center across the street from the Heritage Foundation. “Tweet this: We the people #Occupy US Senate!” Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of Freedomworks, told the crowd, a packed gathering of mostly gray-haired activists.
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Teamster organizing victory: A tough union for tough times
Teamster Nation
Posted November 18, 2011
We have more details about our 20,000 new Teamster brothers and sisters -- correctiona, probation and parole officers -- with the Florida Department of Corrections. 

The vote for Teamsters Local 2011 was a decisive win over the Police Benevolent Association and the International Union of Police Associations. Teamsters General President Hoffa called it "a great day for Teamsters and FDOC officers."

FDOC officers have shown that in tough times, they want a tough union to represent them. On behalf of the 1.4 million Teamster members, I congratulate these officers for joining the growing movement of public service workers nationwide seeking Teamster power.

Read the source story here.

Politics Major Factor in Decreased Unionization
AFL-CIO Now Blog
Posted November 18, 2011
Many economists and policymakers say the drop in unionization rates is an inevitable consequence of the changing global economy and advancing technology. But a new report finds that national politics plays a bigger role than globalization or technology in the decline in unionization in the United States and the 20 other nations studied.

The report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) looked at 21 countries with advanced economics facing the same globalization and technology changes. It found that economies with few labor protections such as the United States showed a higher decline in unionization rates than nations with economic and national policies where workers’ rights have a more prominent place in the market.

National politics are a major determinant of national unionization rates and changes in those rates in recent decades. At the same time, the data contradict the view that a decline in unionization rates is an inevitable implication of “globalization” or technological change.

Click here for the full report.
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Big Labor shells out for GOP friends
Politico
Posted November 18, 2011
For House Republicans, it pays to be a friend of Big Labor.

Major unions are giving a heftier slice of campaign donations than usual to pro-labor Republicans this election cycle, even as overall union contributions to members of Congress lags.

Labor insiders say there’s extra incentive to support their GOP friends this cycle as unions look to reward lawmakers who rebuff their leadership on key votes, ingratiate themselves to freshman Republicans and ward off primary challengers as many tea party candidates campaign on anti-union platforms.
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In New Jersey, support jumps for Millionaire's Tax. Coincidence?
The Washington Post
Posted November 18, 2011
Okay, so it seems some people out there are actually denying that Occupy Wall Street is doing anything at all to shift the debate on inequality and tax fairness.

So let’s take a look at this Quinnipiac poll that came out today on the nationally watched proposal in New Jersey to balance the state budget with a higher state tax on the wealthy — the so-called Millionaire’s Tax, which Governor Chris Christie has repeatedly oposed.

It turns out support for this tax is higher than ever, and Quinnipiac’s polling director, Maurice Carroll, thinks Occupy Wall Street might be the reason why.
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The corporate income tax in two charts
The Washington Post
Posted November 18, 2011
Felix Salmon posts a chart measuring corporate income tax as a share of corporate profits. “It’s the main thing you should bear in mind when people start saying that the U.S. corporate income tax is too high,” he writes.

And just so you know there’s no funny business going on, he also posted a chart of the corporate income tax as a share of GDP:

“Once upon a time,” writes Salmon, “the corporate income tax generated a significant share of tax revenues; now, it’s bumping along in the 2%-of-GDP range. Yes, the marginal rate of corporate income tax is high, at 35%. But U.S. companies are extremely good at not paying that.”
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Sen. Gillibrand Introduces Bill Allowing SEC To Prosecute Members Of Congress For Insider Trading
Think Progress
Posted November 18, 2011
With his ear to the ground in Massachusetts, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is bolstering his Wall Street reform cred with a new bill to stop members of Congress from participating in insider trading. Responding to a 60 Minutes report citing lawmakers who earned thousands from trading on information learned in private briefings, Brown’s Stop Trading On Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2011 requires lawmakers to report transactions of at least $1,000 in bonds, commodities or stocks within 90 days. Today, Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) took it one step further with a bill that will not only ban insider trading for congressional members but will “empower the Securities and Exchange Commission to prosecute lawmakers for insider-trading cases as well as make insider trading against the rules of the House and the Senate.”

Noting that “the American people don’t have a lot of trust in Congress,” Gillibrand told CBS’ Early Show host Chris Wagge that “it’s incumbent upon us to make the kinds of changes that the American people would expect we would make so that we live by the exact same exact rules that everyone else does.” While there is disclosure now, she said, “it has to be illegal, just like it’s illegal for everyone else.”
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