Occupy Pittsburgh has now logged more than 50 days at its camp on the Mellon Green in downtown, and this weekend they'll join people around the world taking to the streets to demand human rights. Through the "human rights, not corporate rights" rally and march, occupiers hope to highlight the plight of the millions of Americans living in poverty.
"Human beings deserve to have a good job that they can support themselves on, a living wage, fair housing, and things of that nature," said Jeff Cech of Occupy Pittsburgh. "Instead of addressing these concerns, our government tends to let more of their attention go toward creating tax loopholes for corporations and trying to create benefits for the super-rich."
The power of large corporations has been at the forefront of the nation-wide Occupy Movement. Beyond that, organizers of Saturday's rally say that local government can take a role in improving living conditions.
In April, a city proclamation declared Pittsburgh as a human rights city. But, Occupy Outreach Coordinator Bob Glidden said that they're not living up to that title.
"The city needs to establish policies that would promote human rights, such as housing, food, education, health care, livable wage, and freedom from discrimination," said Glidden. "That could be done in a whole variety of ways, but first, the city would need to have a human rights commission that can look at ways the city can move forward."
The indoor human rights rally takes place on Saturday at the Kingsley Community Center, 6435 Franktown Avenue. Doors open at noon, with the rally beginning at 1:00 PM. A march will take place afterward. December 10 marks the day that the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.