Business & Tech

Occupy Shoreline To Protest Pfizer

Protest in Groton part of "Shut Down Corporations" event

A group associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement will stage a protest of Pfizer in Groton on Wednesday as part of a coordinated “Shut Down The Corporations” event.

Occupy Shoreline’s call to action mentions Pfizer’s involvement in eminent domain at Fort Trumbull, but is more specifically a protest of the company’s involvement with the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Occupy Wall Street cites Pfizer as one of the largest members of ALEC and accuses them of attempting to “buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves only the interests of corporations and not people.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

According to its website, ALEC originated in 1973 out of a membership association of conservative legislators “who believed that government closest to the people was fundamentally more effective, more just, and a better guarantor of freedom than the distant, bloated federal government in Washington, D.C.”

The organization says it has worked to influence public policy and says its accomplishments have included mandatory minimum sentences for violent criminals, pension reforms, and competency tests for teachers.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Occupy Wall Street says the protest against ALEC was first called for by Occupy Portland in Oregon. Occupy Shoreline calls for Pfizer to sever its relationship with ALEC and declares, “If need be, we will interfere with Pfizer’s normal operations at their Groton facility.”

The Occupy New London movement declared its support for the event on its Facebook page. The Occupy Shoreline group states that the protest is focused on the Groton facility, but is critical of Pfizer’s past association with New London.

“Pfizer executives deceived the people of New London and Connecticut into granting the company huge tax advantages to locate a facility near Fort Trumbull,” Occupy Shoreline declares. “As soon as the tax advantages expired, Pfizer closed the doors to this facility and transferred its work force out of state. In their greedy whimsy, Pfizer executives demanded the demolition of an entire neighborhood near Fort Trumbull so that their executives could have lavish accommodations and shopping there. The neighborhood was leveled, but Pfizer simply abandoned New London and its people. Where a neighborhood once lived, an empty field now stands!”

Protesters will meet at Eastern Point Beach at 7 a.m. and march to Pfizer at 8 a.m. The protest is scheduled to run until 4 p.m.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here