Watch it on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch

As part of national actions on Nov. 17, 2011 several thousand mostly labor activists marched from the Thompson Center (State of Illinois Building) to briefly take over LaSalle St. Bridge. The police arrested 46 people who had sat down on the bridge. Afterwards, the marchers went over to the Occupy Chicago site at Jackson and LaSalle, then the combined forces went on to other locations in the Loop. First using in the planning stages the slogan "Jobs Not Cuts", the event organizers added: "Resist Austerity, Reclaim the Economy, Recreate Our Democracy!" as Medicare and Social Security became targeted by Congress and the White House. This was also during the week when the Chicago City Council and the Mayor voted for huge cuts and layoffs in city services.

Marking the growing intersection of unions with the Occupy movement, the day represented interesting processes going on within the growing national movement against the dictatorship of the 1%. In an extended interview enhanced by choice street videography, AFSCME 2858 President Steve Edwards assists in sorting out these developments. Length - 19:22

Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info: mail (at) laborbeat.org, www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330. For other Labor Beat videos, visit Google Video, YouTube, or blip.tv and search "Labor Beat".

Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Urbana, IL; St. Louis, MO; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY. For more detailed information, send us a request at mail (at) laborbeat.org

Labor Beat depends on donations and sales from rank-and-file workers and union locals to keep going. Will you help us continue covering labor's story on tv?
Donate to Labor Beat (Committee for Labor Access):
www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr

Visit Labor Beat's YouTube Channel:
www.youtube.com/user/MiloWolf

Visit Labor Beat's facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/LABOR-BEAT/167503422257

To order this dvd from Labor Beat (Committee for Labor Access):
www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
(Put title of DVD, "Holding LaSalle St. Bridge" in Description box. Put $15 in Unit Price box. $20 for Canada, and $25 for other countries outside the U.S. NTSC format only.)