For years, American working families have shouldered the burden of an economic crisis they didn’t create, while those who caused it now reap record-high profits. Last Thursday, tens of thousands of us stormed the belly of the beast, Wall Street, to demonstrate that we are no longer willing to tolerate a status quo of tax giveaways for the rich and sacrifice for the rest of us. For a few shining hours, Wall Street wasn’t the territory of the bankers who drove this country to near collapse. It was, undeniably, the people’s territory.
On May 12, twenty thousand New Yorkers of all ages and from all walks of life flooded Wall Street from end to end for three hours. We marched, sang, chanted jubilantly, and led over 100 teach-ins in the middle of the street to protest Mayor Bloomberg’s recently-announced New York City budget, which would eliminate over 6,000 teachers and cut $400 million in funding to vital services to low-income communities, while leaving $1.5 billion in tax breaks to the city’s wealthiest untouched.
The Big Banks – yes, the same ones that cause the economic crisis, demanded a bailout, and are back to record profits and bonuses while joblessness remains at crisis levels – are trying to undo the financial reforms we won last year and trying to get out of being held accountable for their financial fraud.
We can’t let them get away with it. Please take three minutes to keep banks accountable.
Call your state’s Attorney General TODAY at 866-200-6444 to demand a strong settlement against the Big Banks. Say something like, “My Name is [NAME]. I am a resident of [STATE]. The Attorney General must come out in support a settlement that provides justice for millions of homeowners and holds the big banks accountable for their crimes. Nothing less is acceptable.” Today is a national call-in day.
Email Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to demand that derivatives, a financial tool that was a major cause of the financial crisis, not be exempted from regulation
The same Wall Street and corporate CEOs that created the economic crisis which caused budget shortfalls are financing the attack on workers and the middle class in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and elsewhere.
Wall Street recklessness and corporate greed wrecked our economy, eliminated millions of jobs, damaged our communities and forced millions from their homes. The corporate criminals got bailed out and are back to record profits, record cash reserves and big bonuses as usual. Jobs with Justice coalitions and allies won some valuable bank reforms in the first round, but the struggle continues. Don’t let them get away with corporate crime!
Wall Street and the US Chamber of Commerce are quietly trying to undermine any effort to hold banksters accountable for their massive fraud. They are trying to block new regulations stemming from the financial reform bill and weaken the investigation into
Winning the Dodd-Frank Bank Reform bill was an important victory for JwJ groups and our allies, but far from the end of the struggle between working communities and Wall Street.
The nation’s biggest banks, the ones that enriched themselves while driving our economy into ruin, have been foreclosing on homes and evicting families without even filing the proper paperwork. In a ruling that could shake the very foundation of these bailout bandits, the Massachusetts Supreme Court recently said the banks have to show they have the legal right to foreclose before doing so.
That such a common sense question (should banks follow the law when kicking people out of homes?) went to a state supreme court is a sign of how monumentally out of whack our system has become and how much the big banks have been getting away with recklessness.
Across the country, community groups have been challenging foreclosures and abusive bank practices, including the infamous ‘robo-signing’ of documents. Some union and community groups have launched a “Where’s the Note” campaign to help families challenge improper foreclosure procedures.
This important victory is just the beginning. We will continue organizing to hold the big banks accountable and work to ensure that the banks who profit from our money benefit our communities.
Last summer, insiders pronounced banking reform “dead.” They said ‘everyone’ had forgotten about the Wall Street bailout and the obscene bonuses — and that Congress was too dependent on bank money as it approached election season to do anything that would actually make a difference. But a series ofmobilizationsacrossthe country kept the heat on Congress and an important step towards breaking the power of the banks is within our grasp.
Let’s be real: The Dodd-Frank bill, already passed by the US House, is not the end of the struggle. The big banks are still too big. They still need to be broken up and reined in further, and Dodd-Frank will not end the foreclosure crisis
Yesterday was an exciting day of education and action at the U.S. Social Forum!
JwJ coalitions convened and spoke at a variety of workshops, including: Uncovering the Truth on Police & ICE Collaborations (DC JwJ), Social Networking for Social Justice (KY JwJ), Writers’ Circle (Missouri JwJ), The Impact of Financial Restructuring on Michigan Workers and the Union Response (SE Michigan JwJ), Good Jobs for All: Winning Full and Fair Employment for a New Economy (National JwJ), and The TRADE Act as a Tool for Global Justice (Southern Oregon JwJ).
Jobs with Justice members participated in the Excluded Workers Congress People’s Movement Assembly which focused on how we can expand workers’ rights to organize. We heard inspiring testimony from a variety of workers who are fighting for their rights on the job (stay tuned for more on this, including video).
In the evening, JwJ co-sponsored a march and rally with AFSCME Council 65 and the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO to demand, “Money for JOBS, not Banks!”
On May 17, thousands of union members, community activists, and allies from across the country came together on a rainy Monday morning to send a message to Congress & the corporate lobbyists on K Street: Wall Street reform now!
The protest was organized by National People’s Action, SEIU, the AFL-CIO, and Jobs with Justice.
The crowd rallied in McPherson Square park before shutting down K Street and then marching to the Bank of America. Check out the video & photos from the action below.
In Washington, D.C. today, Jobs with Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta joined Wall Street and economic experts and consumer, development and global health advocates for a press conference to push for a Financial Speculation Tax.
“Jobs with Justice will be in the streets today in over 40 cities demanding that Congress tax Wall Street to pay for jobs,” said Gupta. “Wall Street bankers recklessly gambled away our economy, and they should be made to pay for recovery programs like the Local Jobs for America Act.”
The group called on President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to embrace this tax and called on Congress to move swiftly to enact it. The tax is a very small levy on financial short-term transactions, which will curb excessive speculation by Big Banks, but with minimal impact on long-term investors. It also would raise an estimated $100 billion a year for job-creation, important public goods like investment in rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and clean energy, and providing global health and development aid.
John Fullerton, a former Managing Director at JPMorgan, explained that the tax is needed
The income gap between the richest 10% of Americans and the rest of us has been widening for 30 years.
Unemployment rates are still hovering around 10%. If Wall Street paid it’s fair share, we could put millions of people to work fixing our infrastructure, teaching our children, making our factories more sustainable and improving our public services.
For 30 years, corporate CEOs and Wall Street speculators have put the squeeze on workers with globalization, privatization and union-busting.
They used their rising profits to buy Congress, convincing them to hand out tax breaks to the rich and gut banking regulations and consumer protections. Then they
They used their rising profits to buy Congress, convincing them to hand out tax breaks to the rich and gut banking regulations and consumer protections. Then they
