Volatile Oakland Faces General Strike on Wednesday

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Volatile Oakland faces general strike on Wednesday

By Dan Levine and Peter Henderson
OAKLAND, California | Tue Nov 1, 2011 4:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - After Oakland emerged as a new center for the Occupy Wall Street movement -- largely because an Iraq war veteran was seriously injured in a clash with police -- local protest leaders decided on a tactic with a storied history in the city: a general strike.

The strike, scheduled for Wednesday, aims to disrupt commerce, with a special focus on banks and other symbols of corporate America. Protesters will also try to shut the city's port, one of the nation's largest, in the late afternoon.

Local labor leaders, although generally sympathetic to the Occupy movement, say their contracts prohibit them from proclaiming an official strike. City officials say government offices are scheduled to be open; it's unclear whether many businesses will heed the call to close down for the day.

Craig Merrilees, spokesman for the International Longshoreman Worker's Union, said workers will be on the job at the Port of Oakland. The ILWU is "encouraging members to participate before work, after work, at lunch and during breaks," he said on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/01/us-usa-protests-oakland-idUSTRE7A06KH20111101

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. Headline should read: General Strikers Face Volatile Oakland Police Force Wednesday

[Marazinia]

2. It's a pity the police union doesn't follow suit

If only the police union encouraged officers to participate before work, after work, at lunch, and during breaks.

Oh wait, they probably do. They just don't tell the protesters they're cops. Well, they should. The ones who agree with the protests should be encouraged to show up and protest openly, in uniform, instead of spying and stirring up trouble.

[panzerfaust]

7. "...before work, after work, at lunch, and during breaks..."

This, then, is the revolution?
Constance Marie Charpentier/Bondelu, 1801

[JDPriestly]

3. This is ambitious. We shall see how effective it is.

[tavalon]

4. Here in solidarity!

[Zorra]

5. Liberte, egalite, fraternite...

solidarite

[red dog 1]

6. Any word about which cop fired the tear gas canister that hit Scott Olsen?