As part of Occupy Wall Street’s call for a nationwide “general strike” May 1, elements within the group are looking to shut down bridges and tunnels in both New York and San Francisco.
Occupy Oakland, the most radical of all the local Occupy groups, passed a resolution April 15 that vows to shut down all travel from Marin to San Francisco.
“If any of the unions on the Golden Gate bridge declare a strike or shutdown action on May Day, we will act in solidarity with these striking workers and the international call for a general strike on May Day, by blockading the flow of capital to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. This will be accomplished by a collaboration of pickets and direct action which will shut down all modes of transportation from Marin to San Francisco,” went the statement on the website Occupythebridge.com.
The May Day Flier from the Golden Gate Labor Coalition calls for a protest next to the bridge that insists the Bridge District also: “don’t reduce vested retiree benefits,” “don’t reduce current employees’ benefits” and “don’t reward non-union employees with raises while breaking promises to union workers.”
The East Coast response to this shutdown call comes from the website Strikeisaverb.net and claims: “autonomous direct action groups within Occupy Wall Street, as a part of the global mobilizations for general strike and economic non-compliance, will block one or more Manhattan-bound bridge or tunnel to protest the shameful opulence of the 1%.”
The announcement went on to cite how Occupy Wall Street had shut the Brooklyn Bridge and another closure of that bridge, as well as the Holland Tunnel. The release claimed: “But this May 1, we will create the biggest shut down the city of New York has ever seen.” “We are announcing these blockades now as a fair warning to the rest of the working people of New York and New Jersey who are considering joining the strikes and mobilizations of the day: the city will be shut down, so enjoy the day without the 99%!” warned the site.
