Why am I not surprised the SEIU is the first union to jump on the Occupiers bandwagon?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Occupy Wall Street movement is about to enter new territory: The strike zone.

By a vote of 1,484 to 46, the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland voted last week to call a citywide general strike for Wednesday.

“[W]e invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city,” the group’s manifesto read. “We liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%.”

After striking, demonstrators plan to converge Wednesday evening on Oakland’s port, one of the country’s largest and the city’s most visible symbol of commerce.

Though a mix of contracts and laws forbid major unions from officially joining the strike, determined rank-and-file will probably take part through vacation days, sick days or other furloughs, union officials speculated.

“We’re calling it a day of action, so we’re encouraging people to participate,” said Roxanne Sanchez, the president of SEIU 1021, one of the largest unions in the area.

Should any employer in Oakland punish an employee for striking, they’ll hear from Occupy Oakland.