page_title: Reactions to Occupy Wall Street
section_title: Labor unions
hierarchical_section_title: Reactions to Occupy Wall Street / Political response / Labor unions
caption_attribution_description: English: Photos of Occupy Wall Street on Day 20, October 5, the day of the big march with unions in solidarity with OWS.
context_page_description: The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations garnered reactions of both praise and criticism from organizations and public figures in many parts of the world. Over time, a long list of notable people from a range of backgrounds began and continue to lend their support or make reference to the Occupy movement in general.
  Domestic political responses have been both positive and critical, from the President of the United States to the 2012 presidential candidates.
  International responses have come from the Egyptian protesters of Tahrir Square, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Chinese state news agency, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and many others. Most international responses have been supportive of the movement, while some, such as former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair have criticized it.
context_section_description: In September, various labor unions, including the Transport Workers Union of America Local 100 and the New York Metro 32BJ Service Employees International Union, pledged their support for demonstrators.
  Union leaders say that unions and OWS can offer mutual support, with OWS gaining from the union's money, stature, and large membership, and the weakened labor movement absorbing the protesters vitality. The Industrial Workers of the World announced on September 28, 2011, that its General Executive Board (GEB), and the General Defense Committee (GDC) had issued statements of support for Occupy Wall Street. After numerous arrests of protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge, police commandeered city buses to pick up detained protesters and union drivers later sued the New York Police Department. Union President John Samuelsen said, "We're down with these protesters. We support the notion that rich folk are not paying their fair share. Our bus operators are not going to be pressed into service to arrest protesters anywhere". On October 4, representatives from more than 14 of the country's largest labor unions joined the protesters for a mass rally and march. In early November, National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the nation, expressed support for OWS and rallied in front of the White House and Department of Treasury. Karen Higgins, co-president of NNU, said, "A real finance tax would generate $350 billion a year in the U.S. alone and bring relief to families out of homes, friends out of work, patients out of care, communities running out of time. The tax starts a revenue flow back to the 99 percent."
  Noting the growing union support, an article in the progressive-leaning Mother Jones magazine said that union support could splinter and derail the protests rather than sustain them because while unions are tightly organized, hierarchical, and run with a clear chain of command, Occupy Wall Street is the opposite in that they are "a horizontal, autonomous, leaderless, modified-consensus-based system with roots in anarchist thought." However, the article went on to suggest that if the unions and OWS joined together they could work to create a progressive movement that "effectively taps into the rising feeling among many Americans that economic opportunity has been squashed by corporate greed and the influence of the very rich in politics." As the success of the movement has become apparent, union organizers have begun to embrace some of their social media skills, bold tactics, and the simplicity of the 99% slogan. Damon Silvers, the AFL–CIO's policy director, said, "We think the Occupy movement has given voice to something very basic about what's going on in our country right now. The fact that they've figured out certain concepts and language for doing that, we think is really important and positive." The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) has endorsed the movement saying, "We recognize the need to work together and learn from each other. The vitality, energy and dialogue growing from the Occupy Wall Street movement show the potential to organize, build power and win justice for the middle class."
caption: On October 5, 2011 members of the National Nurses United labor union march to Foley Square in support of OWS
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