Occupy Wall Street: ‘Working Families Are Struggling’
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Ja-Rei Wang, AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, writes about her experience with Occupy Wall Street in New York City.
I was one of more than 1,000 students, working families, parents, freelance artists, union members, health care providers and immigrants who weaved through Manhattan’s sidewalks to Washington Square Park to protest the growing wealth inequality in our country, rising unemployment, powerful corporate influence on politics and the need for financial reform, among other concerns. The marching contingent was made up of a diverse group of people of all ages, genders and ethnicities taking part over the weekend in Occupy Wall Street’s “International Day of Action.”
Parents marched in tow with their young children, some of whom even led protesters in chants. There were supportive honks and cheers from people passing by in cars and on the streets when protesters chanted: “We are the 99 percent! You are the 99 percent!”
The energy, spirit and camaraderie from the march followed protesters into Washington Square Park after a stop at a Chase bank to support people moving their money from large banks to local banks. At a General Assembly organized by physicians practicing in the Bronx, doctors shared their personal stories as health care providers and the stories of their patients that led them to believe we need “Healthcare for the 99 Percent.”
One doctor from the Bronx described the links between the economic crisis, persistent poverty, food insecurity, unemployment, lack of education and poor health:
After Three Years, Reynolds Agrees to Meet with Tobacco Workers
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In a major turnaround, officials of Reynolds American, who have refused for three years to meet with representatives of tobacco workers, agreed last week to look into the labor practices in their supply chain and work with other parties, including the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) to ensure they are not complicit with human rights violations.
More than 50 FLOC members entered the Reynolds American shareholders’ meeting last week in Winston-Salem, N.C., to deliver a report on the horrible conditions in the fields. Nearly 100,000 immigrant tobacco workers in North Carolina are paid sub-minimum wages and are exposed to dangerous conditions in the fields.
The FLOC representatives pressed company executives to ensure that this new stance is more than just words and is backed up with serious action, including meeting with farmworkers and their representatives. No date for a meeting has yet been set.
In a statement, FLOC said:
While this represents a vindication of the past three years of struggle, the campaign will continue until real progress is made in the supply chain of tobacco giant Reynolds American.
Late last month, the workers gained another major victory when executives of British American Tobacco (BAT), which owns 42 percent of Reynolds American, agreed to meet with FLOC later this month. This is the first time any corporation with close ties to Reynolds American has agreed to meet with workers.
Farm workers, union members and members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) also protested at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and at British consulates in nine cities in support of the tobacco workers.
Hundreds Demand Chase Respect Human Rights
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Hundreds of workers, religious leaders, community activists and farm worker advocates rallied and protested in 200 cities across the couintry today to demand that JP Morgan Chase respect the basic human rights of people to have decent places to live and work.
Large banks such as Chase are flush with cash and protestors demanded the bank declare a one-year moratorium on home foreclosures. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chase has $19.5 billion worth of home loans in foreclosure—nearly 7.5 percent of its mortgage portfolio and more than any other big bank.
Nearly 400 people rallied at Chase headquarters in New York City. Speakers stood on the back of a truck with banners declaring “Chase: Morally Bankrupt” and laid out the case that as a result of the bank’s reckless pursuit of profits at any cost, thousands of people have lost their homes.
Protestors Demand Chase Respect Workers, Homeowners
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Across the country late last week, hundreds of union members, religious leaders, community activists, farm workers and victims of bank home foreclosures protested at 200 JPMorgan Chase branches to demand the bank respect the basic human rights of people to have decent places to live and work.
Large banks such as Chase are flush with cash and protestors demanded the bank declare a one-year moratorium on home foreclosures. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chase has $19.5 billion worth of home loans in foreclosure—nearly 7.5 percent of its mortgage portfolio and more than any other big bank.
“Foreclosures are a plague on families and communities,” said the Rev. Charles Williams, a leader in Detroit’s anti-foreclosure coalition, People Before Banks.
It cannot be in any bank’s best interest to pursue a policy that leaves so many people and communities in ruins—and for a bank like Chase that professes to be a good citizen, tearing families and communities apart is morally indefensible.
AFL-CIO’s Holt Baker: Banks Must Modify Mortgages to Staunch Foreclosures
Brandon Rees, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, is traveling with Holt Baker today and sends us this report.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker is meeting today with two of the Big Banks to discuss the foreclosure crisis and the “robo-signing” of foreclosure documents by bank executives. The AFL-CIO has urged the banks to declare a moratorium on foreclosures and to modify mortgages of struggling homeowners as an alternative to foreclosure. Says Holt Baker:
Foreclosures harm working families who have suffered due to the economic recession, foreclosures harm our communities by reducing property values and foreclosures harm the investors in mortgage-backed securities. For these reasons, banks must do everything in their power to modify mortgages as an alternative to foreclosure.
Human Rights Day: Workers Ask, ‘What’s Gone Wrong at Chase?’
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Today is International Human Rights Day and hundreds of union members, religious leaders, activists, farm workers and victims of bank home foreclosures are protesting at 100 JPMorgan Chase Bank branches across the country to demand the bank respect the basic human rights of people to have decent places to live and work.
Large banks such as Chase are flush with cash and protestors handed out fliers asking, “What’s Gone Wrong at Chase?” and demanded the bank declare a one-year moratorium on home foreclosures. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chase has $19.5 billion worth of home loans in foreclosure, more than any other bank.
Banks Should Follow Chase and Declare Moratorium on Foreclosures
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The rest of the banking industry should follow JPMorgan Chase’s example and declare a nationwide moratorium on home foreclosures, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker said today. Chase has announced it is temporarily halting the processing of home foreclosures.
In rallies and town hall meetings across the country, union members have demanded that the banks pursue alternatives to foreclosure such as modifying homeowners’ mortgages to more affordable levels. In July, Holt Baker and Atlanta-North Georgia AFL-CIO President Charlie Flemming were part of a panel in Atlanta that listened to area residents about to lose their homes explain the Big Banks’ role in the foreclosure crisis. After the hearing. Holt Baker and others met with Wells Fargo Wachovia officials and urged them to declare a moratorium on foreclosures.
Last Friday, UAW President Bob King and several faith leaders announced their intention to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from JPMorgan Chase, among other reasons, over its refusal to declare a moratorium on foreclosures in Michigan.
UAW to Withdraw Funds from Chase in Support of Tobacco Workers
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The UAW has joined forces with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and Detroit-area faith and community groups to take on JPMorgan Chase Bank.
Last Friday, UAW President Bob King and several faith leaders announced their intention to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from the bank over its refusal to declare a moratorium on foreclosures in Michigan and its continuing ties with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
For three years, Susan Ivey, the CEO of Reynolds American Inc., the parent of the nation’s second-largest tobacco company, has refused to meet with workers to discuss the conditions of thousands of tobacco farm employees in North Carolina and other states who harvest the tobacco Reynolds uses to make its products. JPMorgan Chase is one of the lead banks in a consortium of lenders that provides $498 million in credit to Reynolds American.
Although Reynolds American does not directly employ the farm workers, through its relationships with growers, it exerts a huge influence on their conditions and has the power to make a critical difference. Reynolds American needs to take the lead on improving the conditions of all tobacco harvesters in the fields of the South.
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Join Us Today for the K Street Showdown
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Congress is poised to vote on Wall Street reform—the most important to our financial system in decades. We are taking our message “Good Jobs Now! Make Wall Street Pay” to K Street, the power corridor in Washington, D.C., where Big Bank lobbyists plot to kill real financial reform and peddle corporate influence on Capitol Hill.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler will lead a large contingent of working families and union staff today, May 17, as we join with our partners from National People’s Action, Move On, SEIU and others to rally and call out the lobbyists for the Big Banks.
The rally kicks off at 11:45 a.m., in McPherson Square at the intersection of K Street and Vermont Ave., N.W.. If you can’t be there in person, join us as we live webstream the rally at www.aflcio.org. Also at www.aflcio.org, you can join in the discussion and leave your comments. Follow the action on Twitter via #bankshowdown and check back here, where we’ll be tweeting the event live. And there’s still time to invite your friends to join us online via Facebook.
Join Us at the K Street Showdown May 17
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We’re getting set for the Showdown on K Street, the Washington, D.C., power corridor where Big Bank and corporate lobbyists scheme and scam to kill Wall Street reform and peddle corporate influence on Capitol Hill.
On May 17, at 11:45 a.m., ET, working families will bring their influence to the nation’s capital. The AFL-CIO, National People’s Action, Move On, SEIU and others will rally to call out the lobbyists who do Wall Street’s dirty work. Click here to sign up to be there in person or join us online.
We’re especially targeting the lobbyists for Wall Street’s Big Six Banks: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo/Wachovia.
From last year to today, Big Banks are spending some $1.4 million a day in lobbying and political expenses to fight legislation that would reform the financial industry and help prevent another economic meltodown. There are four Big Bank lobbyists for every member of Congress.
