This is our second journalcompilation from the Occupiesin Wisconsin and fromWisconsinites who aretraveling to other Occupies.This version is the first printedfor Occupy Madison. Therewill be a blog site that all theOccupies can add to when it isup and running. If you areinterested in blogging pleaseemail
jonathandedering@gmail.com
so that we can add you as acontributor and therefore giveyou autonomous freedom towrite news as you see it oropinions about Occupy.
Thanks for reading and thanksto Occupy Madison DirectAction Committee.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Solidarity withEgypt
Report from Manitowoc Strike Rally
News from Occupiesin Des Moines, Denver,Cleveland, Boulder, andRiverwest, and More
Discussion of Women and People of Color inOccupy Madison
Civil Disobediencewith the Solidarity Sing-a-long
ONE WORLD ONE PAIN: Solidarity Statement from OccupyMadison to the Egyptian Revolution
Occupy Madison stands with the true revolutionaries of Tahrir Square andthe rest of Egypt, those who have not opted for opportunism, and remainsteadfast in their struggle against a military junta backed by our governmentthat seeks to strangle the birth of democracy in its cradle.The images of brutality at the hands of the SCAF, the police and their hiredthugs have shocked, but not surprised, us. While the Obama administrationseeks to keep those in power whom they "can work with", we support theEgyptian people's right to self-determination, which they have been deniedfor so long as a consequence of imperial machinations.Egyptians know all too well that the new boss is just the same as the old boss,and that erstwhile allies will abandon the fight when they deem it in theirparochial interest.Occupy Madison and others in this country see the situation for what it is,and demand our government end all support for this repressive regime.The Egyptian revolution stood with Wisconsinites this past winter in thestruggle for our rights, the rights of poor and working folks. The inspirationwe took from that support still warms our souls during these cold days as wecontinue that struggle.
We in turn stand with you, our sisters and brothers, in your fight for self-determination and democracy. We are all in this together. We face a commonfoe, and have throughout history, in those whose greed and lust for powerdominates our world.Solidarity is shoreless.Your bravery in the face of the deadly force deployed against you is atestament to the depth of the human spirit, and has inspired us and so manyothers across the globe. If we are to realize our dream of freedom and justice,we all must muster that courage, and stand united in our determination toforge a new world in which dignity is accorded every single person on thisplanet.In the end, that is our only hope. And it is our duty, and our honor, to keepthat hope alive.
مسلانوكي،كعقفر
(Peace be with you, our comrades)
Issue #2 , Occupy 2012! (tks MR!)
occupy-madison.org @occupymadison99 FB: Occupy Madison
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Friday 12/30 4:30pm onthe corner of State andJohnson
-Sign Making Fri Dec 30at Rainbow Books-Direct Action: Next MeetingThursday, January 5 - 6:30 pmat Steep and Brew
-"Take the Hood Back" Cam- paign Milwaukee:Saturday, January 7 2:00pm until 4:00pm-Washington park library(Sherman & Lisbon Ave)
STRIKING WORKERSAT MANITOWOCCRANES ARE THE 99%
By Anne Lyttle
On a frigid windy day inDecember, hundreds(thousands?) of people traveledto Manitowoc, WI to show theirsupport at a solidarity rally forthe workers at ManitowocCrane. Members of IAM Local516, the International Aerospace
and Machinists union, voted180-2 to go on strike onNovember 15 after the companyintroduced last-minutelanguage into their contract that
mirrored the “reforms” that
Governor Scott Walker imposedon public employee unionsearlier this year. Manitowoc
Crane’s “freedom to choose”
proposal includes forcing theunion to make membershipdues optional and extend unionbenefits to non-union workers.
The crowd was a colorful mix ofpublic and private sector unionsincluding AFSCME, SEIU, TAA,Ironworkers, Steelworkers, andTeamsters, as well as many non-union supporters. Many of theunions represented at the rallypresented donations they hadcollected for the Manitowocmachinists. It was inspiring tohear some public employeestalk about how they felt they
were “returning the favor” after
the huge display of solidarityput on by private sector unionsand the larger community at theCapitol in February.I drove up from Madison with asmall contingent of occupiersfrom Occupy Madison. Our
“We Are the 99%” banner fit
right in at this rally, and severalof the striking machinistsexpressed thanks and helped uskeep it from blowing away.After about an hour of listeningto speeches, we put on ourcomfy shoes and marched to thepicket line, completely shuttingdown a major street for blocksand chanting slogans like
“United we stand! Divided we
fall! An injury to one is an
injury to all!” and “What’sdisgusting? Union busting!”
Some wonderful folks fromOccupy Milwaukee joined oursmall Madison group andhelped lead the chants throughchattering teeth.Once at the plant, we joined thepicket line briefly and marchedwith the striking workers.Amazingly, these workers areout picketing from 6am to 6pmMonday through Friday. This isnot a one-day publicity strikeaimed at making the company
look bad; they’re really in it for
the long haul.Overall, I think the rally was ahuge success. It wasencouraging to see such a greatshowing of support from somany different unions.However, and this might havesomething to do with havinglistened to hours and hours ofspeeches through a PA systemat the Capitol last winter andspring, but I wish the formathad been different. Personally,
I’m a bit put off by a parade of
union officials expounding on
the virtues of the “middle class”
and shouting the word
“Solidarity!” repeatedly until it
starts to lose meaning.Having spent some time at acouple different Occupies, andhaving spent a great deal moretime sitting at home anxiouslywatching the live feed frommany more Occupies, I sawstark contrast between thegeneral assembly format used atthese gatherings and beingtalked at by union leadershipfrom a stage. More and more
I’m buying into the idea of
horizontal, hierarchyless
democracy, and it’s time we
apply this model to unions, too.
A lot of the frustration I’ve
heard expressed by unionmembers relates to having littleor no control of or involvementin (or even knowledge of) whattheir union leaders actually do.Why listen to Phil Neuenfeldt orMarty Biel talk about the strikewhen you could hear it from therank-and-file workers who areactually on strike?
I would love to see a rally likethis take advantage of thegeneral assembly model toallow a greater diversity ofvoices to be heard. And whileusing the human megaphonecan be a long and messyprocess, it brings a group ofpeople together like nothing
I’ve seen. I’ve heard what
union leaders have to say
(repeatedly), and I think it’s
time for the hardworking, duespaying members of the workingclass to step up and take it fromhere (just imagine if the top-down business union modelsuddenly became obsolete!).Workers already have a greatdeal of power; we just need tolearn how to wield it. TheManitowoc Crane employeesare demonstrating this already.In an era marked by lesseffective methods of directaction like publicity strikes andcorporate campaigns, not tomention the failure to build anadequate strike fund, theseworkers are making asignificant financial impact onthe company by stoppingproduction and withholdingtheir labor. Rank-and-filemembers must wake up and
realize that we can’t w
ait forsomeone to fight on our behalf.Spending a couple hoursoutdoors in the biting windreally makes one appreciate thehardship these workers endureon a daily basis. Not only arethey sacrificing their comfortand health to hold the line, butthe machinists receive onlyminimal funds from the strikefund to pay bills and feed theirfamilies. Sometimes strikingworkers are able to secure part-time work to make ends meet inlieu of a paycheck, but from
what I’ve heard, employment
opportunities in Manitowoc aretoo scarce.The machinists at Manitowoc
Crane aren’t just fighting for a
better contract and the right tohave a union, they are standingup for the entire working class.You can help by sending moneyto the strike fund, sending foodand toy donations to the districtlodge, and making sure to tellyour friends and families aboutthe strike.MCI Strike Fund c/o MachinistsLocal 516P.O. Box 222Manitowoc, WI 54221-0222IAMAW District Lodge 101650 S. 38th St.Milwaukee, WI 53215
OCCUPANTSTOUR UPDATE-WEST
Dear Occupy FamilyGreetings from OccuPants. Weare down to two. Dennis will sitfor 28 days at Winter dathünand Malikhi has returned toMadison. Aly and Kevin areholed up in Denver with plansto head West soon. Uponarriving in Denver, we testedthe effects of pepper spraylargely out of curiosity. Thespray was given to us by ourhost in Burnsville for protection.We now know a sliver of thepain to be
endured in the caseof chemical warfare. Thecapsaicin present in policemace/bear spray ranks at leastseveral thousand units higheron the Scoville scale and thepolice are more inclined to
brutality outside of the Mid-West (it would seem). So wechose to brutalize ourselves inpreparation. The experiencelasted for about one and onehalf hours. Our host, Maggie, joined us. Aly had a strongallergic reaction, and the pepperspray affected her the greatest.Kevin had to pluck a film ofwhite gel from his eye. Denniswas accustomed to pepperspray, and handled it the best(though after spraying the threeof us, he admittedly had a lesserdose as the canister was nearlyempty). A milk of magnesiarinse was used to neutralize thecapsaicin (the active ingredientin mace). Water is NOTeffective, as capsaicin is notsoluble in water. However, it ISsoluble in oils and alcohol.Thus, the most effective methodwe tried was coating affectedareas in vegetable oil, andrinsing preferably with rubbingalcohol or friction and water(Note: do not get ethanol [orwhichever alcohol you use] inyour eyes). We have visitedoccupations in La Crosse,Minneapolis, Burnsville, DesMoines, Lincoln, Boulder, andDenver. We are welcomed withopenness, generosity, and joyacross the board. Everyone has
stories to share, and we delightin sharing. The occupations alllargely resemble Madison innumber, structure, and process.Minneapolis and Denver inparticular seem to represent alarger base of the ethnicallydiverse (which is likely the caseas they are larger cities). Yetthey have subtle differencesespecially in "local flavor" (i.e.in response to immediateconcerns in their respectiveareas).
What works… The 99% of Des
Moines are structurally mostsound, both in terms of GAprocess and buildings(including fire-retardant tarps, afantastic kitchen, etc.). They pay$25/week for a permit tooccupy a park two blocks fromthe Iowa State house. DuringGAs, proposals are introducedand clarifying questions areasked. The proposal is then setaside for 24 hours of reflection.Proposals are revisited at thenext GA after allowing fordiscussion and consensusdecision making. Des Moines
occupants are preparing for aweek of action leading up to theIowa Caucus and urge the rest
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Occupy Wisconsin State Journal II
The Newspaper of Wisconsin's 99%, produced by Occupy Madison
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