Wall Street Execs Get Grinch of the Year for Scrooging Workers

by Mike Hall, Dec 23, 2008

So many potential Grinches, but only one top Grinch spot to fill. So voters in the Jobs with Justice (JwJ) ninth annual Grinch of Year contest picked the entire lot of Wall Street executives whose unchecked corporate greed led to our nation’s economic disaster.

Each December, voters in the Grinch of the Year contest tap the CEO, corporation or politician who has done the most to “scrooge” workers. This year, in addition to greed-first CEOs, the field of Grinch candidates included anti-worker corporate lobbyist Richard Berman and soon to be out-of-office Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. Popular write-in candidates included Blue Diamond Growers, American Airlines, United Airlines and that perennial favorite and 2002 winner, George W. Bush.

Over the years, especially under the Bush administration, the bank chiefs, hedge fund sorcerers and stock traders successfully lobbied for deregulation of the financial industry and, in turn, made record profits. But at a price. Millions of Americans lost good jobs and the nation’s economy is in the worst shape it’s been since the Depression. Now that the bottom has fallen out of the market, Wall Street is sending the bill to working people—the very ones who have been forced out of their homes, out of their jobs, out of their health care and out of their pensions by Wall Street’s greed.

Berman’s track record as a hired gun for alcohol, tobacco and the fast-food industries shows he’ll do darn anything for the right price. He made it to the Grinch finals this year for his attack on unions and union workers.

Berman most recently has spent his time—and millions in corporate cash—on a deceptive and outright false ad campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. During the recent elections, his PR blitzes smeared candidates who supported the bill in a multimillion-dollar campaign paid for by corporate special interests who want to deny their employees a fair wage, health care benefits and safety on the job.

Chao’s had an eight-year run as Bush’s hatchet person on workers’ rights, job safety, wage enforcement and more. Chao most recently made last-minute changes to the H-2A agricultural guest worker program, slashing wages and eliminating government oversight and so harming U.S. and foreign workers who harvest our fruits and vegetables.

Too bad Wall Street execs won’t experience the same holiday epiphany of Seuss’ Grinch and return the loot. Now that would be a holiday miracle.

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