S.F., Chicago Activists Tell Big Banks ‘Pay Up’
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In Chicago and San Francisco this week, more than 1,000 union and community activists in each city marched and rallied and told Big Banks on Wall Street it’s time for them to pay their fair share to rebuild the economy after nearly wrecking it with shady practices that killed millions of good jobs.
The events are part of a week of mobilization that culminates with today’s massive New York City march and rally on Wall Street and included demonstrations in Kansas City, Mo., and Charlotte, N.C.
All the actions target Wall Street’s Big Six banks—Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo/Wachovia. The San Francisco and Charlotte events coincided with the annual shareholder meetings at Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
The Chicago march began outside the offices of Goldman Sachs and wound through the heart of the city’s financial district. Along the way, activists dressed as greedy bankers, stuffed wads of taxpayers’ bailout cash into their pockets and some, to feed their greed, even chowed down on the money.
Wall Street Reform Actions Go Nationwide
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When Wells Fargo shareholders gather for the big bank’s annual shareholders meeting today in San Francisco, they’ll have a lot of company—about 1,000 workers and community and religious activists. They plan to tell Wells Fargo CEOs it’s time to start paying for the jobs they destroyed and that working people “will not be your ATM.”
The San Francisco march and rally is part of a huge week of mobilization for Wall Street reform spearheaded by the AFL-CIO, Working America and community allies, including a Thursday march and rally on Wall Street that is expected to draw 10,000 marchers and nearly as many “virtual marchers.” Click here for more information on the virtual march.
Diversity Summit: Future of Unions Depends on Including All Workers
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| UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn (center), Nat LaCour, recently retired AFT secretary-treasurer, and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney were among speakers at the AFL-CIO Diversity Conference today. |
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| More than 500 participants took part in the standing-room only AFL-CIO Diversity Conference. |
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The future of the union movement depends upon our ability to recruit and promote people of color and women, the fastest growing groups of union members. Today, at the AFL-CIO National Summit on Diversity, more than 500 union activists celebrated the progress made since passage of the historic adoption of Resolution #2 at the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention, which set goals to make the movement more diverse. They also mapped strategy to increase diversity at every level in the future.
In a strong and emotional speech, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the priority on diversity in his leadership may well become the biggest legacy of his 14 years leading the federation.
“If we are to have equal educational opportunity, and equal job opportunity, and equal economic opportunity in America, then we must also have equal union opportunity in America.
“We are motivated by our moral imperatives but we also are moved toward our goals by practical persuasions. Simply put, we cannot expect more from our younger and women and minority members unless they can expect more leadership opportunity from our federation.
“Brothers and sisters, we don’t have one dues rate for African American, or Hispanic, or Asian Pacific-American members, and another rate for the rest of our members. Our women members don’ t pay lower dues than our male members. We don’t have lower dues for our gay and lesbian and transgender members or for members with disabilities. So why should they get fewer opportunities to lead and to learn?”
Sweeney’s message resonated with the audience, which interrupted his speech about a dozen times with applause and gave him six standing ovations.
UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn and former AFT Secretary-Treasurer Nat LaCour, co-chairs of the Executive Council Committee on Diversity, praised Sweeney for his leadership and determination to bring diversity to the union movement.
Solis Vows to Work with Obama on Employee Free Choice Act
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told a group of Chicago area union, community, business and academic leaders the Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field for workers who want to form unions and bargain of a better life.
I believe what you all believe. Union jobs are good jobs, paying higher salaries and wages.
In a speech yesterday before the Union League Club of Chicago—co-sponsored by the Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL)—Solis pledged to work with President Obama “to make the strongest case possible for the Employee Free Choice Act.”
I believe workers have the right to fairness and balance in the workplace and in order to rebuild the middle class, we need to level the playing field for all workers.
