Occupy Oakland! Statement of Solidarity from AFL-CIO

Message From San Francisco Labor Council
 Occupy San Francisco Colleagues,
 As you all know by now, the San Francisco Labor Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the Occupy Wall Street actions in San Francisco. I am pleased by the support of our many union brothers and sisters who are already part of this movement and am looking forward to working with everyone to sustain and support your actions.
 We are exploring ways to give material support and finding organizers to attend and participate in your committee meetings and bring back your needs to our council of 150 unions, as well as to our individual affiliates. Many of our rank and file and leaders, as I already mentioned, are part of this movement already. Some of the unions and members who are present every day include the Teamsters, Nurses, Service Employees, Technical Engineers, Sailors' Union, International Longshore Union, teachers, etc.
 We will be building support week by week, and I hope you will distribute and post this on your communication site. We support your presence in San Francisco.
 Below is a message from our national office in Washington, D.C. which opposes any arrests or disbanding of Wall Street protesters. People should and will raise their voices to oppose the banks, mortgage houses, corporations and the Republican Congress—all who are dismantling our Democracy and destroying our Jobs!
 In peaceful Solidarity!
 Tim Paulson
Executive Director
San Francisco Labor Council
1188 Franklin St., Suite 203
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-440-4809
415-440-9297 (fax)
www.sflaborcouncil.org
_______________________________

 For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeff Hauser 202-637-5018
Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
On Mass Arrests of Peaceful Occupy Wall Street Protests
October 26, 2011
 It is a tremendous dishonor to America when the voices for the powerless are suppressed by the powerful—the top 1%. We are extremely alarmed by the increasing number of arrests of peaceful protestors across the country and call on elected leaders to stop ordering the police to make these arrests. The Occupy Wall Street movement has elevated the national conversation by shining overdue attention on the struggles of the 99% for whom the economy is broken. When people can't raise their voices around pervasive inequality, there is a fundamental problem with how we're functioning as a nation.
 Mayor Bloomberg of New York City listened to reason from the community and did not forcibly disband the original Wall Street protestors at Zuccotti Park. We urge all elected leaders across the country to enable peaceful protestors to continue to exercise their most American of rights.