When Occupy Wall Street protesters target banks and corporations, they have a more effective message and broader appeal than when they target ports that employ blue-collar workers, says this author. 'Demonstrations should unite, not split the movement. Based on posts at the Occupy Wall Street website, the port demonstrations have caused a rift. ... If the Occupy movement continues to be hijacked by special interest or splinter groups, they will lose what support they garnered by their persistence and message.' Pictured is an Occupy protester in front of Manhattan bank.
The Occupy Wall Street message has been effective. They initially chose the right common enemy. The banks and bank bailouts angered not just the student demonstrators. The banks and financial giants generated anger among home owners, those who owe more than their homes are worth, millions who have lost their homes, or watched bank bailouts, or saw their jobs eliminated or threatened by the subsequent recession. Targeting the banks and government bailouts was an effective common theme.
But for a second time, Occupy demonstrators have targeted West Coast ports. A total media misfire. Ports are not banks. They provide jobs to minorities, and independent contractors. The demonstrations alienated union dock workers and teamsters delivering containers, and muddled their primary message. Worse, the demonstrations closed the West Coast’s leading job-generating export, the port of Oakland. They were unable to stop work at the primary import ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The Occupy movement, or those who participated in effort to close down West Coast ports violated several of Saul Alinksy’s direct action rules: First, find a message and persist. Second, don’t alienate your base; find a common enemy that unites the community. Third, if you’re going to conduct a symbolic demonstration, target the most guilty, not the most accessible. Fourth, don’t cause rifts in the movement – an action must be transparent and draw consensus. Finally, your primary goal must be to turn public opinion in your favor through effective symbolic demonstration.