December 5

D5: Mobilization Against the 2009 WTO Ministerial
March, Indoor Rally and Concert

Downtown Portland
Saturday, December 5, 2009 

12 Noon – Gather at Tom McCall Waterfront Park (under the Hawthorne Bridge)
1:00 pm – March to the World Trade Center, Federal Building and Wells Fargo Building
2:00 pm – Indoor Rally and Concert at Portland State University’s Hoffman Hall

These are permitted events; we are striving for a family-friendly atmosphere.

The ATU bus in the march will be available to carry people who want to participate, but have difficulty walking long distances.  If you need access to a wheelchair lift, please call (503) 736-9777.
   
This is one of more than 200 events across the country, and hundreds more around the globe, opposing the proposed expansion of the World Trade Organization.  

A decade ago, tens of thousands of people converged in Seattle, Washington to protest the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization.  Directly confronting some of the planet’s most powerful corporations, governments and security forces, those activists made history by successfully derailing the WTO’s expansionist agenda.

Today, we find ourselves in the midst of the worst economic and environmental crises in generations. The same corporate interests activists confronted in Seattle are attempting to exploit these crises in order to concentrate their own power. Amazingly, they even have the gall to have scheduled a new WTO ministerial meeting in Geneva in late November and early December—the exact 10-year anniversary of the Seattle protests.  At this meeting, government officials will undoubtedly promote market fundamentalism as a solution to, rather than a cause of, the global economic crisis.

We need to fight back.  It is time to reclaim the “Spirit of Seattle,” come together as affected communities and take control over the policy decisions that affect our economic and ecological well-being.  As part of this resistance, a broad coalition of labor, environmental, faith, human rights and community activists are organizing a large-scale march and rally in Portland for Saturday, December 5, 2009.  Allies in Seattle, Geneva and around the globe are planning similar demonstrations.

On D5, people will come together to demand:

• An end to the undemocratic, “free trade” model. We’ll let elected officials know we’ve had enough of trade agreements that lead to a collective race to the bottom for workers in the United States and across the world; that worsen global poverty; push small farmers off their land; force migration; increase carbon emissions; destroy the environment; deregulate banks; weaken consumer safety; and disappear the middle class.

• The prioritization of human needs over corporate greed. From global trade to global warming, financial services to health care, “free market” corporate rule has been a disaster for most of the world’s people.  Rich corporations have had their say.  We’ll work together to take control of the decisions that affect our lives and the planet.

This is envisioned as a “big tent” event.  It will be a time to highlight the connections between different progressive issues, and strengthen relationships between people working on those issues.  The WTO protests famously brought together “Teamsters and Turtles.”  Let’s use the anniversary of that historic alliance to work together again.

Communities across Oregon are beginning to plan local teach-ins, rallies and other events for the fall in the build-up to D5, and are encouraged to use this website as a platform for sharing information about their work.  D5 organizers are making efforts to connect with other activists across the nation and beyond for “Local/Global Days of Action,” from November 27 to December 5.

For more info, please email info@december5.org.