October 5, 2011

The Vermont Workers’ Center and its members from every corner of this state join with you to stand in solidarity with those who have taken to the streets in New York and other cities around the country.

We stand with our brothers, with our sisters and with all people, because we all are struggling. We are homeless or losing our homes to the banks. We lack access to the healthcare that we need. We work in jobs that do not pay us enough to survive; we work in jobs that are not fulfilling or dignified, or we do not have work at all. We are drowning in student debt. We are watching the services that we depend on – our schools, our fire departments, mental health services – be cut deeper and deeper every year. We are told that there is not enough for us, while Wall Street makes record profits.

Systems of oppression keep us divided and ruled. We will confront these systems so that we will not be divided. We will not be divided by the color of our skin, by the language that our parents speak or by the gender of the person we choose to love. We will not be divided young against old or student against laborer. We will not be divided against our neighbor who is a little more or a little less poor then we are.

We see clearly that our and our neighbors’ poverty is the same – that our small differences amount to nothing compared to the obscenity of wealth accumulated by a corporate ruling class whom we must not continue to allow to make all the rules.

We will no longer fight against our neighbor over the crumbs that fall from the table upon which the corporations feast, because we recognize that it is the feast – not the crumbs – that belongs to us, and there is plenty to share, once we are all at the table.

Here in Vermont, we have learned that people joining together can overcome the politics of greed. The people of Vermont have demonstrated that healthcare is a human right, and we will demonstrate that ordinary people joining together can make a government that puts people first.

We have much to do. We must end war and the militarization of our borders. We must end the destruction of the natural environment – the environment upon which our lives depend. We must build our economy, so that useful work – not greed – becomes its foundation.

We have much to do, but we have the power of masses of people joining together with a common vision of building healthy communities, realizing democracy and winning justice. We stand here today, and we resolve that we will keep organizing so that tomorrow we will be standing with even more of our friends, neighbors and co-workers.

We are the 99%. We will no longer be divided. We will no longer be distracted. We will no longer blame ourselves for our suffering. We will not stay home, now that we understand that, by struggling together, we can achieve our vision. We will organize until we can create a society where we put people first, where our needs our met, and where we, the 99%, are in charge, and not Wall Street and the wealthiest in our society.

We stand in solidarity with the brave people in New York and other cities. We stand here because we share a vision and because we understand that we have the power to make our vision become real. We stand here because we know that our futures and our children’s futures depend on us. We stand here together now because the time has come.

We are the 99%. We are too big to fail.

In Solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Protests, the Vermont Workers’ Center is co-organizing rallies across the state as well as a trip to New York City. As part of our Put People First campaign we are standing together with people around the country.

We’re not just rallying, we’re ORGANIZING too. Together we can build the power to make change and put people first. Organize with us on October 15th before joining us for Occupy Wall Street Solidarity Rallies.

Join us in:

Burlington

Saturday, October 15, 2 pm, Burlington City Hall Park

contact: avery@workerscenter.org

Brattleboro

Saturday, October 15th, 2pm, Wells Fountain Park

contact: kate@workerscenter.org

Montpelier

Saturday, October 15th, 3:00pm, City Hall followed by State House

Monday, October 17th, 4-6:00pm, Candle Light Vigil at State House

contact: sarah@workerscenter.org

Rutland

Saturday, October 15th, 11am Center Street and Merchants Row across from the Farmers Market

contact: kate@workerscenter.org