Occupy Wall Street protestors gain broader support
Adriene Hill: You know those protestors in New York calling themselves Occupy Wall Street? The loosely organized group is trying to call attention to income inequality, among other issues. Over the weekend, more than 700 protestors were arrested.
And as Tracey Samuelson reports, the protests are starting to draw a different crowd.
Tracy Samuelson: For the past two weeks, there’ve been a couple hundred protesters occupying Zuccotti Park, a small patch of open space in New York’s financial district. They’ve been mostly young, scruffy, unemployed. But Sunday, they were joined by more mature, professional types.
Michelle Gittelman teaches global business at Rutgers University. She calls herself the last of the middle class.
Michelle Gittelman: I think that anything like this starts out a little fringy, but hopefully it will speak to a lot of “regular people” who are feeling the pain.
Gittleman joined diehard protesters like Miriam Rocek, who’s starting her third week in the park. Saturday marked her second arrest — but she says it’s only made her more determined to stay.
Miriam Rocek: We’re only getting stronger. Every time they arrest people, more people show up.
Part of that new support is coming from organized labor. Tim Dubnau is with Communication Workers of America.
Tim Dubnau: This is really what democracy looks like, right? When students, when labor, when community groups join together we can start saying enough is enough.
His union and other labor groups are expected to formally join the protest with a march on Wednesday.
In New York, I’m Tracey Samuelson for Marketplace.
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