Photo: The Blaze
This May Day, protests are underway in cities around the world that are participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement. While the group has been quiet for the past few months, it says it has chosen this traditional day of protests to send a clear message to the top 1 percent.
May Day Protests Call for Work Strikes
The Occupy Wall Street movement has organized protests in cities around the world on May Day, a date chosen because it has historically served as a day of protests for workers.
Organizers say their protests will serve as a general work strike with the purpose of creating a day without the 99 percent. They say they want businesses to know what it feels like to experience a world with no working, shopping or banking.
The Occupy protests are not new for the self-proclaimed leaderless group. The first movement kicked off in New York City on September 17, as crowds voiced their disappointment with corporate greed and a resulting troubled economy.
The movement seemed to quiet a bit in the winter months after protest sites were evicted and hundreds of demonstrators were arrested in New York and Oakland, CA. Many cities, however, did remain active with the help of unseasonably warm winter weather.
Occupy Wall Street Protests Around the World
Occupy Wall Street organizers plan for protests in 125 cities across the globe. Though most cities prepared for gatherings today, Occupy San Francisco reportedly started a bit earlier, kicking off its organized protests at 8 p.m. on April 30.
Other cities involved in today’s demonstrations include:
- New York: Participants will protest at bridges and tunnels, with picket lines beginning at 8 a.m. at the Chase Building, the New York Times building, Sotheby’s and Manhattan’s main U.S. Post Office. Also, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello plans to lead musicians from midtown’s Bryant Park to Union Square.
- Los Angeles: In Los Angeles, protestors are planning a “4 Winds” march to descend on the city from all directions.
- San Francisco: Organizers in San Francisco have scheduled picket lines and other demonstrations. Protesters in Oakland originally planned to shut down the Golden Gate Bridge in support of a local labor union, but called it off on Sunday.
- Chicago: Chicago is a focal point for Occupy Wall Street organizers because the city is hosting the NATO Summit on May 20. Protests are planned on May Day.
- London: In London, a march was planned that ends at Trafalgar Square. Road closures were in the works there while three men were arrested in Exchange Square outside Liverpool Street.
- Istanbul: Thousands of participants protested in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square where they were met with police presence.
Protests were also underway in Greece and Turkey. Two thousand people gathered in Syntagma Square in Athens, while 7,000 protesters gathered outside a factory where employees reportedly haven’t been paid in six months.
No one is clear about how many people will participate in the Occupy Wall Street events around the world, but organizers hope for big turnouts.
