‘We are the 99%’

Published on October 13th 2011
SEIU 1021 retired paramedic Jon Meade and SEIU 1021 Community RN Martha Hawthorne join the occupation.
SEIU 1021 retired paramedic Jon Meade and SEIU 1021 Community RN Martha Hawthorne join the occupation.

Chanting “We are the 99%” and calling for democracy and economic justice, Occupy Wall Street West targeted foreclosure champion Wells Fargo bank in its Oct. 12 action. It was the second big demonstration in San Francisco in two weeks, and came as the movement is gaining momentum and spontaneously combusting coast to coast, throughout the heartland and in the reddest of states.

Gathering near the foot of Market Street at the Federal Reserve Building, more than 500 “occupiers” marched noisily through the financial district. The San Francisco action reflected the recent trend in New York and around the country—the presence of union members, their colors and banners ablaze in the dim early morning light, swelling the ranks of the young, bold occupiers. SEIU 1021 members, teachers, janitors, longshoremen, telecommunications and electrical workers, and many more were welcomed as natural allies.

Click here to view photos of the action

As the march approached the Wells Fargo headquarters, occupiers quickly blocked the entrances on all four sides of the bank building before workers arrived in the morning. The police moved to the back alley entrance, arresting almost a dozen blockaders—who were cited, released and back at the action within an hour—and then moved the necessary workers in.

The demonstration went on unfazed, with rallies at the two main entrances of the bank. They posted foreclosure notices on the doors, claiming the trillions Wells Fargo has stolen in foreclosures and cost communities because of the resulting destruction of neighborhoods and cities, is now due and payable.

In response to the media’s constant and dismissive drumbeat that the movement doesn’t know what it wants, the occupiers listed specific demands:

·       Banks, corporations and the rich must pay their fair share

·       Wells Fargo must implement an immediate moratorium on foreclosures

·       Wells Fargo must divest from private prisons

·       Wells Fargo must cease predatory loans

The police kept up a large and visible presence in the area, as if this movement has ever been anything but completely nonviolent and disciplined. But they stood back, mostly just directing traffic around the crowds and not moving in for more arrests.