Public Employee Press

Forum focuses on Occupy Wall Street movement

The decline of the American economy and the growth of the Occupy Wall Street movement were hot topics at a forum presented Dec. 9 at the union by the DC 37 Campus of the College of New Rochelle.

Moderated by Dr. Nibaldo Aguilera, the forum included as panelists CNR Adjunct Professors M.A. Samad-Matias and the Rev. Claudia de la Cruz and DC 37 Education Fund Librarian and radio producer Ken Nash.

Nash started the discussion with an overview of the current financial crisis, which he said had its roots in the early 1970s.

"Since then, the real wages of American workers have been stagnant or falling," said Nash, who co-hosts "Building Bridges: Your Community-Labor Report" on WBAI radio (99.5 FM). "For these workers that American dream has become a distant memory," he said.

The Rev. Claudia de la Cruz, who teaches a course on comparative religion at CNR, addressed the significance of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which she called "historic."

Although the Bloomberg administration evicted OWS from its original physical base in Zuccotti Park, de la Cruz observed that the ideas of the movement had spread across the country and created a public space for a national conversation on economic inequality and other issues that confront Americans. "Workers need to be a part of that conversation," she said.

Prof. Samad-Matias expressed great concern over the lack of solidarity among working people in different unions and different economic sectors and said labor needs to emphasize similarities instead of focusing on differences.

"Our common struggles as working people are much more important than any differences we may have," she said.

The CNR series of forums will resume in the spring semester, said DC 37 Campus Director Dr. Patrice Marks. For more information on upcoming forums, call her at 212-815-1710.