OWS Attacked by New York Police; Labor Leaders Condemn
 Attack; Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order Allowing
 Return to Zuccotti Park

 [Moderator's Note: In response to today's early morning and
 attack and eviction of Occupy Wall Street, a number of
 international labor leaders condemned the police action of
 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

 Later this morning, lawyers for Occupy Wall Street got
 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lucy Billings to sign an
 order at 6:30 AM that explicitly said the protestors should
 be allowed back in Zuccotti Park with "tents and other
 property." New York Mayor Bloomberg in defiance of this
 court ruling said the city would wait and see what a full
 court panel would rule later this afternoon. A ruling had
 been expected by 3:00, however as of 5:00 p.m. EST no such
 ruling had been issued.

 Portside compilation and notes prepared by Jay Schaffner]

 * RWDSU, UAW and AFL-CIO Leaders Condemn Attack * Occupy
 Wall Street Attorneys Win Court Order Blocking Evictions

 =========

 RWDSU President Appelbaum's Statement on Occupy Eviction


 http://rwdsu.info/en/archives/11/rwdsu-president-stuart-
 appelbaum-zuccotti-park-eviction-cowardly-and-
 irresponsible-11

 The illegal eviction of protestors from Zuccotti Park was
 cowardly and irresponsible. City Hall knows it was an
 indefensible act - that's why it was carried out in the
 middle of the night and reporters were kept at arms length
 and prevented from covering the full story.

 Mayor Bloomberg should apologize to the media and to the
 protestors whose constitutional rights were trampled on by
 his militaristic misadventure. He has escalated tensions
 unnecessarily and shown an alarming lack of judgment and
 leadership.

 He needs to recognize that the Occupy movement is not about
 geography or a specific location. It's about calling
 attention to unacceptable forms of economic inequality and
 injustice in this city, around the country, and throughout
 the world. It's about allowing long-ignored voices to speak
 out.

 He has grown more defiant and tone-deaf to the concerns of
 the 99% in recent days precisely because he is governing the
 city as an all-too-proud spokesman for the 1%. He has yet to
 learn a simple lesson: how to listen.

 [Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW (United
 Food and Commercial Workers)

 ==========

 Statement of UAW President Bob King condemning overnight
 raids on Occupy Wall Street Protesters

 http://www.uaw.org/articles/statement-uaw-president-bob-king-condemning-overnight-raids-occupy-wall-street-protesters

 DETROIT -- The UAW, an early endorser of the Occupy Wall
 Street movement, today condemned Mayor Michael Bloomberg's
 overnight raid on the Occupy Wall Street protesters in lower
 Manhattan.

 "The right to protest and free assembly are sacrosanct in
 our country," said UAW President Bob King. "Mayor Bloomberg
 has been publicly critical of raising taxes on the 1 percent
 and the message of Occupy Wall Street. The manner in which
 this raid was carried out can only lead one to believe that
 the mayor was doing the bidding of Wall Street once again.

 "Cities across the country from Oakland to Portland and
 Chapel Hill took similar reprehensible actions, raiding
 encampments across the country in military fashion," King
 added.

 "Occupy Wall Street has driven home the stark reality of
 corporate greed and the ever-widening income gap in
 America," said Julie Kushner, director of UAW Region 9A,
 which covers the northeast, including New York City. "It is
 highly suspicious that on the eve of a day of national
 action focusing on Wall Street, Mayor Bloomberg chooses to
 come in under the cover of darkness to squash the voice of
 the people."

 Both King and Kushner heralded New York Supreme Court
 Justice's Lucy Billing's order directing the city to allow
 the protesters to return to the park and resume their lawful
 protest.

 Kushner noted that Billings once worked as a legal services
 attorney in a program where the UAW represents the staff
 attorneys, legal workers and clerical staff.

 (International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and
 Agricultural Implement Workers of America)

 ==========

 Tarps and Tents Don't Make a Movement

     They can take away the tarps and the tents. But they
     can't slow down the Occupy Wall Street movement.

 They can take away the tarps and the tents. But they can't
 slow down the Occupy Wall Street movement.

 The 99% is undaunted. Occupy Wall Street's message has
 already created a new day. This movement has created a
 seismic shift in our national debate - from austerity and
 cuts to jobs, inequality and our broken economic system.

 Show your solidarity by attending a Nov. 17 action near you.
http://local.we-r-1.org/all

 And send a message of solidarity to the Occupy Wall Street
 protesters - which will be delivered by Working America this
 week.
 http://act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=3044

 The Occupy Wall Street movement has been committed to
 peaceful, non-violent action from its inception, and it will
 keep spreading.

 As former Secretary of State Colin Powell put it, these
 protests are "as American as apple pie." Americans must be
 allowed to speak out against pervasive inequality, even if
 the truth discomfits the 1%.

 The AFL-CIO will do everything in our power to make sure the
 free speech rights of these peaceful protesters are
 protected.

 Click here to find a Nov. 17 action.
http://local.we-r-1.org/all

 And click here to send a message of solidarity directly to
 the Occupy Wall Street protesters - Working America will
 deliver it this week.
 http://act.aflcio.org/c/18/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=3044

 We are the 99%.

 In Solidarity,

 Richard L. Trumka President, AFL-CIO

 P.S. Share this on Facebook Facebook and Twitter Twitter.
 http://act.aflcio.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZPjNB6jFX9%2B%2FLftfCLLHe3SQZKA4QhJj and
 http://act.aflcio.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=rrvjdotME8GPGQcqg7K22nSQZKA4QhJj

 ==========

 Occupy Wall Street Attorneys Win Court Order Blocking
 Evictions

 By Dan Rivoli

 International Business News November 15, 2011 10:41 AM EST


 http://m.ibtimes.com/occupy-wall-street-restraining-
 order-249815.html

 A Manhattan judge on Tuesday morning signed off on a
 temporary restraining order allowing Occupy Wall Street
 protesters to come back to their home base at Zuccotti Park
 following an early-morning NYPD raid to remove encampments.

 At around 1 a.m. ET early Tuesday, police began to boot
 protesters who were camping out in the park. By 6 a.m.,
 Zuccotti Park was free of protesters as sanitation workers
 cleaned the park that Mayor Michael Bloomberg deemed a
 health and safety hazard.

 The temporary restraining order signed by state Supreme
 Court Justice Lucy Billings in Manhattan prohibits the city
 from evicting protesters from Zuccotti Park and enforcing
 rules that prevent demonstrators from "re-entering the park
 with tents and other property previously utilized."

 The city must show cause for the eviction at a hearing
 scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

 New York City Chapter Secures Temporary Restraining Order

 A group of attorneys with the New York City chapter of the
 National Lawyers Guild -- under the name Liberty Park Legal
 Working Group -- obtained the temporary restraining order
 against the city, its agencies and Zuccotti Park's owners,
 Brookfield Properties.

 "The LPLWG has been fighting to ensure their right to free
 speech from day one of the occupation," attorney Gideon
 Oliver said in a statement. "The occupiers' right to free
 speech is based in our most core legal principles and we
 will be here till the end to fight for those rights."

 About 70 people have been reportedly arrested, among them a
 New York City Councilman from Northern Manhattan, Ydanis
 Rodriguez.

 "There was no legal justification that was actually
 vocalized or addressed," said Joel Kupferman, an attorney
 with the National Lawyers Guild, Joel Kupferman. "Excessive
 force was used in many cases."

 Bloomberg held a press conference at 8 a.m. following the
 NYPD raid. He later said in a statement that protesters can
 exercise their first amendment, but cannot use tents,
 sleeping bags, or tarps to occupy a public space overnight.

 While Bloomberg had the final word on clearing out the park,
 its owners, Brookfield Properties, made the request.

 Occupy Wall Street-related groups throughout the country
 from Atlanta to Sacramento have been fighting attempts to
 remove them from public space. A slew of First Amendment
 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts against cities
 and states to challenge policies Occupy groups say are
 enforced arbitrarily to break up encampments.

 In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the National Park
 Service's decision to deny a permit to a group that planned
 to erect symbolic tent cities in Washington, D.C.'s
 Lafayette Park and the National Mall to raise attention to
 homelessness. The majority held that protected speech is
 "subject to reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions."

 For actual Show Cause Order, go to:
 http://m.ibtimes.com/occupy-wall-street-restraining-order-249815.html

___________________________________________

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