SANTA CRUZ, Calif--
Protesters in Oakland called for a general strike, Wednesday, and Occupy Santa Cruz urged folks in their city to do the same thing.
Dozens of occupy Santa Cruz protestors took the day off from work, and they hope you did the same.
"Were asking people to stay home," said Joe Singer, Occupy Santa Cruz. "Produce and consume nothing today and if you work in an emergency occupation, decide to take no pay or donate it to some charity you think is worthy."
Protestors said they're showing support for the day long strike in Oakland. In Santa Cruz, they targeted different organizations. They rallied outside banks including Bank of America and outside businesses who remained open, Wednesday. Terry Rayburn owns MoonZooom and said she would have closed if she knew other businesses would take part.
"I think I would if there was more momentum," said Rayburn. "If it was larger and more encompassing and I felt it was going to be more possibility of some kind of relief from it."
Other businesses said closing down for a day in protest would do more harm than good, and it's not economically possible. Central Coast News asked occupy protestors about that concern and they disagreed.
"I think people under estimate how badly the 99 percent are hurting," said Chris Doyon, Occupy Santa Cruz. "If you talk to people here at Occupy Santa Cruz, I think you'll find that a days lost pay is the least of their worries right now. They're losing their homes, their cars, their jobs. They can't pay for their college educations."
For Rayburn, she said if she knew shutting down for a day could make a difference, she'd do it.
"I guess I'm kind of cynical," she said. Just not really that hopeful that something positives going to come out of it but I'm really glad they're out there doing it."
Occupy Santa Cruz protesters said they plan to hold more general strikes in the future.
