Top-Hatted ‘Bankers’ Peddle for Taxpayer Cash in D.C., and More Good Jobs Actions
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On Monday, in Cleveland, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told a crowd of union activists outside a Morgan Stanley office:
“We’re here at Morgan Stanley to make one thing clear. We need good jobs now. And we are going to make Wall Street pay.”
Meanwhile, in another of the AFL-CIO’s 200 “Good Jobs Now, Make Wall Street Pay” actions taking place through the end of this week, top-hatted “bankers” panhandled for even more bonus bonanzas on a sidewalk in front of a Washington, D.C., Bank of America branch.
The rallies and marches are demanding the Big Six Wall Street banks—Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia-Wells Fargo—take the following actions:
- Pay their fair share to restore the jobs their actions destroyed.
- Stop their multimillion-dollar lobbying blitz to kill financial reform.
- Start lending to communities, small businesses and others starved for credit.
A Thousand Philly Marchers Tell BofA: It’s Time to Pay
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More than 1,000 Pennsylvania union members, laid-off workers and community allies rallied outside a downtown Philadelphia Bank of America office, hundreds streamed through the bank lobby along with a delegation carrying a $145 billion check. Shouting, “No jobs, no future,” they demanded BofA endorse the check and help finance creation of the 11 million jobs Wall Street gambled away.
After all: Wall Street’s Big Six—Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia-Wells Fargo—received $145 billion taxpayer bailout funds.
Kelle Sallard, an unemployed Verizon worker and member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) from Verizon, told the crowd she lost her medical benefits but doesn’t qualify for free health care.
While the CEO of Verizon makes $18 million and gets lifetime free health care, I lost my job at Verizon, lost my benefits and make too much on unemployment to qualify for free health care. How is that fair?
JPMorgan Chase Greed Brings ‘Guilty’ Verdict
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was found guilty yesterday of conspiracy to wreck the economy, destroy jobs and the immoral use of taxpayer bank bailout money for millions in Wall Street bonuses.
The courtroom was on a Madison Wis., street in front of a JPMorgan Chase bank branch and the jury included dozens of union and community activists. The street theater was part of the AFL-CIO union movement’s two weeks of action across the country to make Wall Street pay to create jobs and fix the economy they ravaged.
Jim Cavanaugh, president of the South Central Federation of Labor, which organized the curbside drama, says:
We bailed out Wall Street. Now, it’s time for Wall Street to bail out Main Street.
