At the October 20 Executive Committee meeting the EC voted to approve the following resolution in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The Occupy Wall Street protests, and the actions they have inspired across the country and throughout the world, have focused attention on the obscene concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a small minority. Through the simple statement – “we are the 99 percent” – Occupy Wall Street and its offshoots have zeroed in on the heart of the crisis that we are experiencing today.
For too long, the greed, corruption and often illegal actions of big corporations and financial institutions have gone unchecked, plunging the nation and the world into a profound economic crisis that has caused millions of people to lose their jobs and their homes. Countless millions more are just one paycheck away from that fate. The collapse of the economy has devastated State and local governments, leading to layoffs, pay cuts, attacks on public workers pensions and health benefits, and cuts to vital public services such as education, health care, transit, affordable housing, and infrastructure work – precisely when those services are needed most.
Our collective future has been sacrificed so that the privileged few can continue to amass wealth and power on an unprecedented scale. It is time to hold them accountable for their actions. We must demand that instead of chasing speculative profits, our economic institutions must focus on creating productive jobs that support our families, our communities, and the environment – and that corporations and the wealthy must pay their fair share of taxes. If those institutions are unable or unwilling to do so, then together we must change them and put them in service of the many instead of the few.
The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, which represents 8,000 workers in public agencies around the Bay Area, declares its support for the peaceful and nonviolent actions of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
We are proud to say that we, too, are the 99 percent.
In solidarity…
IFPTE Local 21
