The executive board of the New York City’s Local 100 Transit Workers’ Union has endorsed Occupy Wall Street. The decision means they will be holding a “coordinating meeting,” according to Lisa Sabater of The Daily Gotham, with community and labor organization to decide how to “come together and better support the Occupy Wall Street campaign.” This is very significant news. It gives the action further credibility and adds to the support New York postal workers and the PSC union of City University of New York have shown to the occupation.
Last night, it was almost like MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and Current TV’s Keith Olbermann were competing to see who could air the most segments on Occupy Wall Street during their program. O’Donnell won giving filmmaker Michael Moore and the occupiers twenty minutes (almost) for two segments that were broadcast live from Zuccotti Park, where the occupation has been taking place. Then, O’Donnell did a segment on Officer Anthony Bologna, whom the NYPD claims they will now be investigating after he pepper-sprayed protesters (we’ll just have to wait and see if they actually do any reasonable investigation). Olbermann had on Rolling Stone‘s Matt Taibbi and WNYC’s Arun Vendogopal to talk about the nature of the movement. And, in all seriousness, it may have seemed like a competition; really this is the kind of coverage the corporate media should be giving to the story. (See yesterday’s live blog for all video links.)
The NYPD’s treatment of protesters, especially when they do something that is “unpermitted” has certainly changed. Contrast how they handled an issue with the media using a tarp to cover their equipment yesterday…