MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protestors march in Manhattan and camp before London’s St Paul cathedral

A self-styled city with dozen of tents emerged before the cathedral

Occupy Wall Street inspired protestors were on the move on Friday in two emblematic places of both New York and in London: in the financial heart of Manhattan and before St Paul’s Cathedral.

In New York anti-Wall Street protesters joined Verizon Communications workers in a march to denounce corporate greed as the company and 45,000 employees negotiate a new labour contract.

The march by about 500 people to a Verizon store in Lower Manhattan coincided with the top US mobile provider reporting a third-quarter profit of 1.38 billion dollars, more than double its profit for the same quarter last year.

Support from unions across the United States has helped boost the ranks of the Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality, which began five weeks ago and sparked protests nationwide and globally.

The unionized workers negotiating a new contract, who went on strike for two weeks in August, represent roughly half Verizon's wire line workforce.

However some people are asking what will happen next with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which critics say does not have a clear message.

The protesters say they are upset that the billions of dollars in bank bailouts during the recession allowed banks to resume earning huge profits while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and job insecurity.

They also believe the richest 1% of US citizens do not pay their fair share in taxes.

Meanwhile in London landmark St Paul's church was to close according to a senior cleric, because of hazards posed by an Occupy Wall Street-inspired protest encamped in front of the cathedral.

Dean Graeme Knowles wrote an open letter to protesters asking them to leave the square, which they have occupied since Thursday.

“We have done this with a very heavy heart, but it is simply not possible to fulfill our day to day obligations to worshippers, visitors and pilgrims in current circumstances,” Knowles said in a statement.

Fire and health hazards posed by the camp - which has been steadily growing through the week - make it impossible for the cathedral to legally remain open, he added.
What started as a few dozen tents soon grew to a self-styled city - with its own university, library, canteen and toilets - governed by a burgeoning bureaucracy.

The camp was initially spared from clearance by the church, when Cathedral authorities told police officers to back off and allowed the protest to remain for its first night.

The protests are one of a number across Europe which draws their inspiration from similar demonstrations in New York.