Painters Local 10 Stands in Support of Occupy Portland

RESOLUTION

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 10

Stands in Support of the Occupy Portland Protest and the international Occupy Movement

October 21, 2011

WHEREAS, Members of IUPAT Local 10, like citizens across the United States, are reeling from a continued economic crisis that threatens the fiscal stability of individuals and the communities they are a part of, and also threatens our quality of life;

WHEREAS, Oregonians from all walks of life came together on October 6, 2011, in a demonstration of solidarity with and support for the national movement started by the “Occupy Wall Street” protests that began on September 17, 2011;

WHEREAS, On October 6, “Occupy Portland” staged a demonstration downtown that culminated in the holding of public space for a visible, long-term, peaceful protest in Chapman and Lowendale Parks, and that continues to this day;

WHEREAS, the central grievances of the “Occupy Wall Street”/”Occupy Portland” movement are common grievances of American working class citizens, including union members nationwide, namely:

• Corporations, Wall Street Bankers and Financiers, and the wealthiest in the top 1% have undue influence on the American political system and public policy, and
• The voice of the common citizen (the 99%) is unheard because of this influence—and that even when workers join their voices together in labor unions, we are vilified and scapegoated as the cause of the crisis, and our needs go unmet;
• That those responsible for crashing the economy have never been held to account and instead have enjoyed large bailouts, record profits and bonuses while the majority of Americans continue to suffer from high unemployment, the raiding of their pensions, foreclosures, erosion of the social safety net, bankrupt local governments, etc, and
• That the inequalities in terms of the distribution of national wealth (the top 10% control 69% of wealth), income inequality (where CEOs average wages 185 times an average American worker) and unfair taxation (where the average working person pays a higher tax rate for productive labor than a billionaire speculator) have become morally indefensible;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Portland, Oregon, stand in solidarity and support of the brave and committed citizens expressing their First Amendment rights by peacefully holding public space in the “Occupy Portland” movement. And furthermore,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT IUPAT Local 10 loudly enjoins Occupy Portland in their central demands for a responsive government that meets the needs of working class Americans, including:

• Placing stiff regulations on the Banking industry and fairly taxing the wealthiest 10% in America,
• Ending the wars and bringing the war dollars home from Afghanistan and Iraq,
• Making major public investments in education, infrastructure, public transportation, and clean energy jobs,
• Absolutely No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social safety net programs and a full investment in a National Health Care system.