Training sessions will take place at 550 locations around the country beginning April 9. The coalition's first big protests will be on Tax Day, April 15.
Occupy provided the inspiration. Jeff Hauser, a spokesman in Washington for the AFL-CIO, a 99% Spring coalition member, says the labor movement has been "extraordinarily impressed by Occupy." John Cavanagh, director of Washington's Institute for Policy Studies, says of 99% Spring, "We're building a new infrastructure of the progressive movement."
Potentially, 2012's biggest protest targets are the national presidential nominating conventions — August 27-30, in Tampa, Florida, for the Republicans; September 3-6, in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Democrats. Congress has appropriated $50 million for security for each convention.
Lance Tapley can be reached at lance.tapley@gmail.com.
99 % Spring training session sign-up | Here is a Web tool where you can enter your ZIP code and see the training sessions near you, or sign up to host a session: tinyurl.com/99spring
