AFL-CIO to March with Occupy Portland Tonight

The Oregon AFL-CIO—the state branch of the country's largest labor federation—will join Occupy Portland this evening for a march and rally ending at Pioneer Courthouse Square. The rally is scheduled to begin at 5pm in Director Park followed by a march through the SW downtown district at 6pm.

An AFL-CIO flyer promoting the event reads: "We are part of the 99% and we have the same goals as the Oregonians occupying parks across the state. It's time to get back on the street and demand real job creation efforts and an economic system that works for the 99%."

Tom Chamberlain, Oregon AFL-CIO president, addressed the Occupy Portland protesters at their General Assembly Meeting on October 20th.

"America has been asleep for a long time," said Chamberlain in a YouTube video of the meeting. "Today we are awakened. Today we are in the streets...We're about the people of this country and getting our fair share of this economy back. Together, my brothers and sisters, we will not give up. Too much is at stake."

Chamberlain says that he organized tonight's event "to bring attention to this movement."

But Occupy Portland has already made the news today, beyond the cover story by WW's embedded reporter Aaron Mesh. The Oregonian reported that Occupy Portland may have lost as much as $20,000 in online donations. The group's finance committee has also reportedly "hijacked the demonstration's Internet domain name and filed for incorporation against the wishes of the group's decision-making body."    

Unlike the occupation itself, organizers of tonight's march sought and were granted an event permit from the city, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation issued a traffic advisory late this morning.

WWeek 2015