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http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/13630/the_death_and_life_of_occupy
The Death and Life of Occupy
Occupy Wall Street redefines itself
BY Rachel Lears
Some groups are redefining ‘occupation’ away from symbolic, utopian
visions, toward concrete, local victories grounded in strong personal
relationships that endure beyond the 24-hour news cycle.
Occupy Wall Street is dead, at least as far as the chattering classes
are concerned. But for Mahoma López, a deli worker at the Hot & Crusty
bagel cafe on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, it’s very much alive.
In late May, López and his coworkers won official recognition from the
National Labor Relations Board to form a brand-new, independent union,
the Hot & Crusty Workers Association. This virtually unprecedented
victory in a hard-to-organize sector was accomplished in just a few
months, on a shoestring budget. Along with leadership training from the
innovative non-profit Laundry Workers’ Center, the campaign received
crucial support from the Immigrant Worker Justice working group (IWJ) of
Occupy Wall Street. IWJ stepped up pressure on the cafe chain through a
series of actions targeting owner Mark Samson’s private equity firm,
including showing up with a demand letter at his office and
orchestrating a massive picket outside on May Day.
According to López, “Occupy Wall Street has definitely played a very
important role in our campaign.”
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