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Politics

Occupy London

288 replies

glasnost · 07/10/2011 12:38

p.twimg.com/AbGk1-FCQAAjoi7.png

Well, why not MNers?

What have your kids got to lose? In NY there are alot of families with children protesting and occupying that doesn't get mentioned in the mainstream press.

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TwoIfBySea · 10/10/2011 21:17

Unions give their chiefs six-figure salaries. That says more about them than anything. Supposed to represent the "workers" so should have a cap on wages same as there should be a cap on all top public sector wages.

A few less top dogs on £250,000 plus and there wouldn't be a problem.

Union answer to everything is strike. Damn the rest of us, we'll strike regardless of the rest of society.

They haven't prevented low wages have they? They haven't prevented employees being taken for a ride by profit hungry bosses? In a world where the wages and pension pot of the top earners is so far removed from the regular workers that it isn't funny anymore - what answers can the unions come up with other than...strike. Progress should mean they have intelligent alternatives.

In the late 80s just after leaving school I lost a job because of strikes. Couldn't get to work, end of story. Thanks for that.

glasnost · 10/10/2011 21:34

No hand wringers. But as I posted previously there are unions and unions. Any union that continues to fund New Labour isn't credible. RMT par example doesn't and is.

And strikes are the only effective means of mass protest.

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HoneyMomster · 11/10/2011 11:58

'six figure salaries...that is all'

Rather reductive don't you think? i'm no fan of certain unions/practises/tactics but wholeheartedly support the principle of collective bargaining. Without it few of us would have the pay and conditions, such as they are, that we enjoy today. If you don't have money you need numbers, that's always been the way of the world.

'In the late 80s just after leaving school I lost a job because of strikes. Couldn't get to work, end of story.'

So your work fired you because of political circumstances you couldn't control? Shock And the unions were the 'Evil Ones'? You should have looked into a claim for unfair dismissal. TG workers rights are advanced enough in this country that young school leavers are afforded a bit of protection against those much more powerful. Tht's thanks to the unions, you know.

aliceliddell · 11/10/2011 12:02

Most union Gen Sec's are overpaid and should have their pay c losely tied to that of the workers they represent. Likewise, that should apply to CEO's of private firms (like Ben & Jerry's). Their profits come from us too.

Disputandum · 11/10/2011 16:41

I thought Ben and Jerrys dropped the pay cap about 15 years ago?

glasnost · 12/10/2011 07:45

updated info on occupation

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glasnost · 12/10/2011 07:52

You need to know this. There was a violent police crackdown against the 99% movement in the middle of the night in Boston in the US. As the occupy Boston movement ? now in its second week ? grew beyond its original campsite in Dewey Square ? demonstrators moved into a new space a block away yesterday ? prompting police to shut it down. Among the first line of people to be arrested were those with the group Veterans for Peace ? war veterans who had their American flags yanked from their hands and thrown on to the ground ? before being tackled themselves and arrested. Then police moved on to the rest of the demonstrators who were seated peacefully ? arresting them ? then dismantling and trashing their campsite into nearby garbage trucks. Upwards of 100 people were arrested last night in the one of the largest mass arrests in the history of Boston. But as we?ve seen following crackdowns in New York City ? this sort of police action has only strengthened the movement. More than 900 cities across the nation have hosted some sort of meet-up in support of the 99% movement and until there's some real change we can believe in, it's not going away. The powers that be are getting scared. Even more reason to press on.

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Peachy · 12/10/2011 09:42

I don't know that strikes are all that effective tbh, not above the grass roots 'please reinstate mr smith, that sacking was more about you fancying his wife than his work' level anyway.

But they are the only accessible form of protest often, and that has value. Not that I ahve ever sriked mind: I have worked for big, sometimes Governmental organisation and felt deprived of a voice however. So can understand I think.

Disputandum · 12/10/2011 09:57

Press report from ctv about arrests in Boston

glasnost · 12/10/2011 10:58

If the police are being instruceed to be more heavyhanded it's a sign the powers that be are on the backfoot and are rattled. First they ignored us, then they ridiculed us, now they're resorting to bully boy tactics. Thank god for the internet in getting the truth out.

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aliceliddell · 12/10/2011 15:47

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. As someone said. Hopefully, this time-honoured pattern will be followed again.

glasnost · 12/10/2011 16:45

Was Ghandi wot said it alice.

And we WILL win. They're bricking it.

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aliceliddell · 12/10/2011 18:55

I still think the whole thing needs a more detailed plan. Say what you like about Lenin (and we very often do like), he did have a plan. And that plan worked, if only in the short term. After which we did get Stalin, but apart from the famine, the repression, the purges and the wars....

glasnost · 13/10/2011 13:48

occupy Dublin

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aliceliddell · 13/10/2011 15:43

Loving your work

ttosca · 13/10/2011 20:11

If anyone can make it, the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest begins this Saturday, October 15th:

15th October -- 12pm
St Paul?s Cathedral

The words ?corporate greed? ring through the speeches and banners of protests across the globe. After huge bail-outs and in the face of unemployment, privatisation and austerity we still see profits for the rich on the increase. But we are the 99%, and on October 15th our voice unites across gender and race, across borders and continents as we call for equality and justice for all.

In London we will occupy the stock exchange. Reclaiming space in the face of the financial system and using it to voice ideas for how we can work towards a better future. A future free from austerity, growing inequality, unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its citizens, and work towards concrete demands to be met.

Assemble in front of St Pauls Cathedral at Midday ? please try to be on time and not early or late. When you are there be ready and attentive. Make sure to follow @OccupyLSX on twitter for updates on the day.

Try to come with a friend or group of friends. If you are thinking of staying for a while bring plenty of food and water, wrap up warm and you may want to bring tents and a sleeping bag.

Bring your energy and excitement, and be ready to create a better world!

OccupyLSX Event page: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=255151111189948
Twitter: @OccupyLSX (www.twitter.com/OccupyLSX)
hashtags #OccupyLSX #OccupyLondon
Chat - occupylondon.org.uk/?page_id=55
Email: [email protected]

About #OccupyLSX
On October 15th we will be Occupying the London Stock Exchange. At the same time thousands continue to occupy Wall Street and hundreds of cities from Paris and Madrid to Buenos Aires and Caracas are staging actions and occupations together for a global day of action.

By reclaiming space in the face of the economic systems that have caused terrible injustices across the world, we can open up and engage our communities into public discussions. These assemblies will allow people to voice their ideas for how we can work towards a better future and help us create concrete demands to be met. A future free from austerity within a context of growing inequality, unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its citizens. So it?s time for citizens to represent themselves. To work together to resist the government?s plans and to do this in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of others around the world on the same day.

The problems we face in the UK echoes across the world. We are linked by the same root causes, so we cannot solve these problems in isolation. October 15th will be a global day of action calling for global change.

'O-15: Unite for Global Change' has been called by the ?indignants? movement in Spain, where thousands camped out in the squares for weeks, building massive popular pressure on the government. It inspired the current Wall Street occupation in New York, providing a space for the majority to resist the wishes of the greedy minority.

Join us at the London Stock Exchange to reclaim space and take part in workshops on topics ranging from Debt and The Spanish Indignants Movement to Fuel Poverty and Climate Justice. Contribute in the Open Assemblies and chant songs of solidarity with Samba bands. Exact times and locations to be announced soon.

If you would like to run a workshop, or have any questions, please contact us at:
[email protected]

Lets make the UK part of an international movement!
Website
www.occupylondon.org.uk

glasnost · 14/10/2011 14:17

Any MNters planning on going? If only for a few hours/the day? Perhaps you could all hook up? I'm going to demo in Rome so can't make it.

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MoreBeta · 14/10/2011 14:22

I am watching US televison right now as I write and thay are arresting the 'Wall Street' protestors in New York. The authorities have been angling to do this for the last week. The attempt to remove the protestors 'to allow street cleaning' failed last night so lo and behold a disturbance has suddenly occured this morning right on cue that allows the police to close off the area and arrest people.

Don't even think of taking your children to such a protest in London. The authorities will not allow it.

MoreBeta · 14/10/2011 14:25

Oh and the US Treasury secretary is alos on TV right now telling us that yet another huge bank bailout is being worked out for Europe involving hundreds of billions if not trillions of European tax payers money.

Nothing has changed.

glasnost · 14/10/2011 14:42

Strange.....2000 protesters saved the park from eviction actually. What channel you watching?

The authorities WILL allow it. Stop scaremongering and giving false info. And people don't haveto take their kids. This is how it's happening in real time at Occupy Wall Street. www.livestream.com/globalrevolution. Can''t see any arrests taking place.

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GalloweesG · 14/10/2011 14:46

It'll all be ok when they close the barriers onto Stone Street and the bars open Wine

aliceliddell · 14/10/2011 16:01

glasnost can't go, running anti-cuts stall; with you in spirit. Take care.

glasnost · 14/10/2011 17:25

Even the normally reserved Japanese are getting in on the occupying! This is great! occupytokyo.org/ja/

As is this: www.occupybritain.co.uk/

The 99% WILL be heard and not a herd anymore.

alice good luck with your stall. Just out of interest who are an you activist for? As I may know you in RL! I live in Italy but know comrades in UK.

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MoreBeta · 14/10/2011 18:11

glasnost - I was watching it in real time too.

Here is a report of arrests in New York and others across cities in the USA.

aliceliddell · 14/10/2011 19:00

Recently associated with SLP, Socialist Alliance, TUSC, now local anti-cuts group. Still hoping that left unity thing will happen