RISE UP AND BE HEARD; THE TIME IS NOW

Protesters line the streets of lower Manhattan on October 5 when organized labor
officially joined the Occupy Wall Street movement. photo: Ove Overmyer/The Voice Reporter

Rochester, N.Y.--  This week already is shaping up to be huge, with actions everywhere demanding good jobs for working families, paid for with fair taxes for millionaires and Wall Street. 

Rochester and Monroe County area residents can vent their frustrations with the status quo at the Liberty Pole in downtown Rochester beginning today at 4 pm.  The rallies are planned indefinitely. The Occupy Wall Street protests, which really took off over the weekend, will continue in cities from coast to coast. Marchers will line Main Street in downtown Rochester tomorrow at 4 pm, starting at the Liberty Pole and meeting up with other area residents at a rally in front of the Monroe County Office Building in support of County workers.

CSEA and FSW will be hosting this rally at the Monroe County Office Building, 39 West Main Street, tomorrow (10.11.11) at 5 pm.  County workers will be protesting the fact that they have been without a contract for nearly three years.  While workers suffer, the Brooks administration is planning 2.5 % pay hikes to her confidential management confidants and political appointees. This is the last full session meeting of the County Legislature before the general election on November 8.


photo:  Ove Overmyer

And the AFL-CIO America Wants to Work national week of action starts today. This is a not-to-be-missed moment to get out and attend an event in your community.

The AFL-CIO is sponsoring a wide variety of activities, from vigils to teach-ins on college campuses, demonstrations outside job-outsourcing corporations and press events. In many places, working people will join the Occupy Wall Street protests that have sprung up and are growing, from Hawaii to Washington, D.C.

Working people will come together in hundreds of events through Oct. 16 to demand action from Congress to promote a real jobs creation agenda and real shared sacrifice from Wall Street and the rich. Find an event near you.

And college students across the country will gather on Wednesday, Oct. 12, for a live national teach-in with events on campuses from 7–8:30 p.m. EDT. If you can make the one in your area, you can watch it live Wednesday night.

Whatever you do this week, don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of something big. To see photos of events and marches from last week in lower Manhattan, you can go here.

Union activists and Occupy Wall Street supporters jam Foley Square in
lower Manhattan on October 5 that drew 15,000 protesters.
photo: Ove Overmyer/Voice Reporter