Friday, October 28, 2011

Occupy strikes back

This is very interesting. In Oakland, the violence of the police crackdown on Occupy members has resulted in a young former US Marine, Iraq veteran, and movement member in hospital with a fractured skull. Aside from the awful optics of a war veteran wounded at home by the state he served, this event has created an opportunity for the movement to show it's clout.

In response to police violence, the Occupy Oakland folks have called for a general strike on 2 November. This is interesting because it shows Occupations how they can non-violently strike back at governments that allow violent police crackdowns or try to ignore or dismiss the movement.

The key ingredient here is unified union support in the local area. Even better, and I probably dream here, labour support across Occupy movements so that a general strike in place spawns solidarity strikes in other places.

Even countries.

The unions become strategic and tactical weapon, not just of their membership, but of The 99%. There is much potential here.

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