Occupy Oakland General Strike

by Rashid Patch

The high point of Oakland’s General Strike, was when a huge semi-trailer emblazoned “Teamsters” backed up into the plaza and began unloading a free barbeque lunch provided by the East Bay Labor Council.

I was at Occupy Oakland on Wednesday from just before noon till about 5:00 p.m. It was huge - filled Oscar Grant Plaza and spilled out to fill Broadway, extended blocks in every direction.

Peaceful, festive, hopeful faces of every age, race, and background. Scents of incense, copal, sage, and ganja - very little of tobacco. Buddhist monks drummed with Native Americans in meditation for peace. A dozen sound systems on bicycles played for that many circles of Rasta and hip-hop.

Last Friday, when Michael Moore spoke to the assembled crowd, I had thought, “I would rather see one longshore worker here, than a hundred Michael Moore’s.”

At the General Strike Wednesday, there were many hundreds of union members from a dozen or more unions- teamsters, mechanics, electrical workers, public employee unions, others, alongside the SEIU, teachers, and nurses who have supported the Occupy movement since it’s begining.

Teamsters were carrying posters saying, “Stop the War on Workers!”, and set up a sound system, and besides “Solidarity Forever” and “Which Side Are You On?”, they played things like “Times are a’Changing”, “Get up!, Stand up!”

I remembered how the unions had opposed the anti-war movement in the 1960s, and had supported Nixon. Labor has finally returned to the left. If, across the U.S., unions are supporting the Occupy / 99% movement, then not only is the Tea Party dead, but the Republicans will conclusively loose their majority in 2012.

Provocateurs and “Black Faction” vandals can’t bring it down now.

There are supposed to be federal monitors over Oakland’s crowd-control operations. The City of Oakland seems in clear violation of federal court orders in it’s operations.

When “Black Faction” vandals and provocateurs started street bonfires several blocks away from the Occupy Oakland encampment at Oscar Grant Plaza on Wednesday night, police responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Since Oakland Mayor Jean Quan had stated unequivocaly on Saturday that “Oakland doesn’t even own any teargas!”, and stated that under police “mutual assistance” guidelines, other police agencies should not be bringing into Oakland equipment prohibited to the Oakland police, it is clear that: Quan is not telling the truth, or doesn’t know what she is talking about; the “mutual assistance” command and control is corrupt or non-existent; and the federal monitoring has failed.

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