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BY SAMEUL JOSEPH
It just doesn’t get any easier for Wall Street.
After criticism that the Occupy Wall Street movement had little substance or support, The Wall Street Journal reports union workers and students are now joining the fight.
JESSICA FIRGER: “There are a lot of scheduled rallies and marches happening that are being union organized, including the local transportation union, the hospital workers union, the teacher’s union and also several school student walk outs.”
Progressive blog Alternet spoke with the SEIU communications director, who says the joint effort makes sense because of shared goals.
“This is not new. We have been calling for some time, along with other unions in the organized labor movement, that the rich should pay their fair share.”
But the unions’ entrance has left some analysts concerned the movement is getting more organized. The founder of The Indypendent tells Democracy Now, Occupy Wall Street has to remain decentralized if it’s going to keep its momentum.
ARUN GUPTA: “The reason that this movement is a success is precisely because it didn’t come in with any demands. Because it was shapeless. Now, there are real limits to that and they have to figure out how to get around that. But if they came in with demands it would have probably failed because then the media would have attacked the demands as either being either inadequate or too pie in the sky. It would have limited the appeal of the appeal of the protest...”
MSNBC spoke with with president of the United Steelworkers of America Leo Gerard- who agrees the movement needs to stay grassroots.
LEO GERARD: I think the problem is people want to look at it traditionally. These aren’t traditional times. The technology that there, the way we communicate with each other, the way we can make decisions. This doesn’t have to be led by one individual. This has to be a grassroots movement, people rising up from the bottom and saying collectively ‘we’ve had enough.’”
But The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capeheart argues, if the Occupy Wall Streeters want a lesson in effective grass roots campaigns, take a look at the Tea Party.
“Until the movement identifies specific pieces of legislation that are languishing in Congress or proposes its own, House members and Senators inclined to hop on board might not, lest they be seen as trying to co-opt the movement. And then bring that anger in full force to Washington. This is what the Tea Party movement has done to great effect.”
Stay with Newsy for more as the protests continue.