About 100 Occupy Denver demonstrators trudged through slushy sidewalks during Saturday’s march for workers’ rights.
The march marks the group’s 11th straight Saturday demonstration, which has included themes. Last week, protesters spoke about the housing market and foreclosure rates, and several demonstrators said they plan to focus on immigration next weekend.
Betsy Beatty, who joined the protests in October, said the group continues to gain momentum as it transitions from an occupation in the park to an intellectual movement.
“There is no stopping us now,” Beatty said. “Now, it’s a different crowd from the crowd we had the first day and the first month.”
Protesters gathered in Civic Center about 11 a.m., where they waited for instructions and gave speeches. The march left the park just before 1 p.m.
The group walked down the 16th Street Mall to a Verizon Wireless store where they planned to meet a group rallying outside.
Before the Occupy group arrived, about 40 demonstrators from the Communications Workers of America held a rally protesting Verizon’s employee wages and benefits, said Jay Boyle, who helped organize the rally.
The group initially planned the rally to coincide with Occupy Denver’s march, Boyle said. By the time the march arrived at the store, fewer than 10 people remained.
After the march, about 50 people gathered at the west steps of the state Capitol, where they spoke for about 45 minutes.
As an extension of Saturday’s protest, demonstrators have planned the “1 2/12 Action Rally” on Monday, at a Wal-Mart Stores distribution center in Loveland.
