Over the last year, 1199SEIU delegates from New York’s Capital Region and Hudson Valley have had serious discussions about how the big banks brought the economy to the brink of collapse and left working people to pick up the tab.

“For eight or nine months, we have taken some time at each Delegate Assembly to educate ourselves and talk about the 1% versus the 99%,” said Delegate and Executive Council member Gail Cook. “That’s what we’ve been calling it since the Occupy movement was launched in the fall. We had already been talking about the problems that members and their families were having making ends meet, home foreclosures, student debt….and how the wealthiest Americans weren’t paying their fair share.

“Then in September, Occupy brought worldwide attention to those very same issues and we haven’t stopped discussing the issues or taking action since. Most of us have been involved with solidarity events for Occupy in Albany, Poughkeepsie and New York City, so we decided to invite some Occupy folks to a Delegate Assembly at ‘our home’ at the Albany union office.”

On February 23, Shanna Goldman of Occupy Albany addressed the Assembly and told her story. “I’ve been a community organizer for a decade, but I had never seen anything as wonderful and as diverse as the tent city in Zucotti Park in New York City,” Goldman reported. “As occupations started to pop up across the world, a group of us in Albany realized it was time for us to pitch our tents in the state’s capital and bring attention to the same issues here. They are common problems everywhere: the 1% isn’t paying their fair share, while ordinary working families shoulder more and more of the burden.”

Goldman spoke about the day in December when Occupy Albany’s tents in Lafayette Park were evicted. Several 1199ers marched with the occupiers to protest that eviction. 1199ers carried signs that said, “You cannot evict an idea whose time has come.” It was a peaceful action, but the Albany Police Department pepper-sprayed several protestors, including an Albany City Councilman and Goldman, who proceeded to speak to television cameras with her burning eyes closed.

Currently, Occupy Albany continues to organize from a storefront location just a few blocks from 1199’s Albany office. There are a number of working groups, including Direct Action, Political Strategy, Education, Outreach and more. Statewide and national actions are being planned for the spring.

Cook said, “We share values with the Occupy movement and we’re excited about continuing to work together. Important elections are around the corner, and we already foresee a number of opportunities to hold candidates accountable to ensuring jobs, affordable health care and housing, and making sure that everyone can prosper, instead of just the 1% -- a minority of wealthy individuals.

“With the voices of the occupy movement, our country is getting past the boundaries that have kept the public from talking about class inequality, which is now at the center of all public conversation.”