Occupy Prepares for May Day: No Work, No School, No Banking
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167602/occupy-prepares-may-day-no-work-no-school-no-banking
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators stand and cheer in front of the George Washington statue on Wall Street as they celebrate the protests sixth month, Saturday, March 17, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Occupy Wall Street hopes to capture headlines once again next week with the May 1 General Strike, long advertised by the group as an event that will prove to the public and media that OWS is currently experiencing a resurgence. Whether workers, students or banking customers, OWS is calling on all Americans to stop offering their labor and money to corporations for one day and join their local Occupy chapter for a day of resistance.
The plan initially drew the ire of some labor leaders who quickly declared their members would not participate in the so-called strike.
It wont happen, Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, flatly told Buzzfeed. They are not working with the unions in a serious way yet; nor are the unions working with them in a serious way. And it is the wrong strategy.
Under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, a general strike in support of other workers is illegal. Furthermore, individual unions must call for a strike, so the participation of workers in a protest does not constitute a general strike.