#OccupyPA Report: Erie and Scranton

Poor and working people of Pennsylvania’s northwest and northeast have joined occupations at the urban centers of Erie and Scranton—cities of 100,000 and 70,000 people, respectively. Erie borders the Great Lakes and General Electric is its largest employer. Scranton sits above old coal mines and the state government is the largest employer. Both areas have a history of labor organizing, and both rely on an aging infrastructure. Pennsylvania from Below traveled to the Occupy camps to learn how things are going in these far corners of the state.

 
Erie
Occupy Erie holds a park gazebo on Perry Square. They are occupying 24/7, but cannot set up tarps or tents since they are not legally allowed to sleep there. Around 20 people attend the general assemblies, and the participants say that the community response has been largely positive. They have held marches and demonstrations throughout the city, including one along a major road of commercial shopping plazas.
 
Many Occupy Erie participants are vocal about the deficiencies of the U.S. healthcare system. They have demonstrated outside one of Erie’s three main hospitals, which University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) took over earlier this year. The healthcare giant is currently in a contract dispute with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and has said it will stop accepting Highmark insurance. Erie County employees’ health insurance plans are with Highmark.
 
Occupy Erie’s education committee is planning a series of public forums for the winter, which will include topics such as “How Pennsylvania legislation affects the 99 percent.” They have already held internal forums on messaging, nonviolence and what to do if arrested.
 
Scranton
Occupy Scranton participants said they had not previously been involved with politics but they feel that this is a moment where the realities of people’s struggles are being talked about and a time to get active. They have reached out to labor unions since they began Oct. 15. The firefighters’ union stopped their fire trucks at a prominent intersection and honked for 45 seconds on the first day of protest.
 
About 100 people showed up in Occupy Scranton’s first weekend of marches, vigils, music and speakers. Their five-tent encampment is on county property, and they draw electricity from the Lackawanna County Courthouse. They do not need a permit to occupy the site, but need an entertainment permit to hold events. They have a friendly relationship with the sheriff.
 
The occupation currently focuses on Mayor Doherty’s proposed city budget, which would raise property taxes 29 percent and eliminate 29 firefighters. The city also cut 13 firefighters over the summer.
 
In addition to holding marches to banks and the chamber of commerce, Occupy Scranton is preparing to tackle the issue of local housing foreclosures. Participants said apathy from other Scranton residents is their biggest challenge. Participants have been speaking at city council meetings and volunteered at soup kitchens.
 
Occupy Scranton holds general assemblies twice weekly, with between ten and twenty people attending. The encampment faces a street lined with bars. Occupants said they’d gotten harassed by patrons from one bar but others have been supportive. They have dealt with conspiracy theorists trying to use their platform by explaining their purpose and that topics like the Illuminati cannot be solved in that space.
 
 
Scroll down to see video of Occupy Erie and Occupy Scranton participants describing why they are part of the 99%.