NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - Occupy Wall Street vows a day of demonstrations in New York and across the United States on Tuesday, in a crucial test of its staying power some eight months after emerging as a movement against corporate greed and economic inequality.
The "99 Percent" populist movement, which began as a 24-hour encampment in lower Manhattan last fall and spread to cities across the country, will join organized labor for a day of May 1 protests, in what it has called a "day without the 99 percent."
Dozens of actions are planned across the country, though there is some skepticism over how many people will turn out and whether it will spell Occupy's resurgence. The event was first billed as a "General Strike," but organized labor declined to sign on to that call.
Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring, the Wall Street protesters last year targeted U.S. financial policies they blamed for the yawning income gap between rich and poor - between what they called the 1 percent and the 99 percent.
But since last fall, when scores of demonstrators set up a vigil in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park and Occupy boasted it had $500,000 in the bank, donations have slowed to a point where Occupy was left in a cash crunch earlier this year.
There is also evidence of media fatigue, with mentions of the term "Occupy Wall Street" down 75 percent this month compared to late last year. So far in April, the term has appeared in 4,323 articles, according to the Factiva data base. Last October, the same search yielded 17,327 references.
Chris Hedges, a former journalist and one-time vocal supporter of Occupy Wall Street, said the movement has been plagued with internal problems since it swelled in size. He said he did not expect May Day to "resurrect the movement."
"If you look closely at movements, they don't follow a sort of straight trajectory upwards. They stumble, fall, have reverses - sometimes, they're crushed," he said. But Hedges cautioned that writing off Occupy based on the success of May Day would be "short-sighted."
Occupy Oakland has called for protesters to "occupy" the Golden Gate Bridge in a show of solidarity with bridge workers who are engaged in a contract dispute over wages and benefits. In New York, protesters plan to set up a "pop-up encampment" in midtown's Bryant Park and then join organized labor for a permitted march starting at Union Square.
Some in New York have vowed to disrupt commuter traffic, but Occupy said it would have no involvement in that.
The "99 Percent" populist movement, which began as a 24-hour encampment in lower Manhattan last fall and spread to cities across the country, will join organized labor for a day of May 1 protests, in what it has called a "day without the 99 percent."
Dozens of actions are planned across the country, though there is some skepticism over how many people will turn out and whether it will spell Occupy's resurgence. The event was first billed as a "General Strike," but organized labor declined to sign on to that call.
Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring, the Wall Street protesters last year targeted U.S. financial policies they blamed for the yawning income gap between rich and poor - between what they called the 1 percent and the 99 percent.
But since last fall, when scores of demonstrators set up a vigil in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park and Occupy boasted it had $500,000 in the bank, donations have slowed to a point where Occupy was left in a cash crunch earlier this year.
There is also evidence of media fatigue, with mentions of the term "Occupy Wall Street" down 75 percent this month compared to late last year. So far in April, the term has appeared in 4,323 articles, according to the Factiva data base. Last October, the same search yielded 17,327 references.
Chris Hedges, a former journalist and one-time vocal supporter of Occupy Wall Street, said the movement has been plagued with internal problems since it swelled in size. He said he did not expect May Day to "resurrect the movement."
"If you look closely at movements, they don't follow a sort of straight trajectory upwards. They stumble, fall, have reverses - sometimes, they're crushed," he said. But Hedges cautioned that writing off Occupy based on the success of May Day would be "short-sighted."
Occupy Oakland has called for protesters to "occupy" the Golden Gate Bridge in a show of solidarity with bridge workers who are engaged in a contract dispute over wages and benefits. In New York, protesters plan to set up a "pop-up encampment" in midtown's Bryant Park and then join organized labor for a permitted march starting at Union Square.
Some in New York have vowed to disrupt commuter traffic, but Occupy said it would have no involvement in that.
