Labor & Employment Law

More than 8,000 Set for Virtual March on Wall Street?Join Us Today

By James Parks

This Thursday, April 29, some 10,000 union members, community activists from National People’s Action (NPA) and other groups will march on Wall Street. Our message to the Big Bankers: Americans are angry that their reckless greed made a mess of the economy and destroyed jobs?and it’s time they pay to restore those jobs. If you can’t make it in person, join the more than 8,000 people who have signed up to be taken to the march virtually.  

To join the virtual march and demand an end to Wall Street’s reckless practices and insist on real financial reform, click here. We’ll print your name on a sticker that one of the marchers will carry. You can add your personal message to the sign that the marcher will carry in your name. Let the Big Bankers know you’re fed up with their shenanigans and that you want real change. The march and rally, which begin at 4 p.m. EDT, is part of the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now! Make Wall Street Pay mobilization.

It’s more important than ever to speak out for financial reform. The Senate yesterday failed by three votes to be able to begin debate on a comprehensive package of reforms to reform Wall Street’s practices and help prevent a future crisis.

And Americans want real reform. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that some two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way banks and other financial institutions conduct their business.

Despite overwhelming opposition to business as usual, Big Banks are spending $1.4 million a day in lobbying and political expenses to fight reform, according to Heather Booth, executive director of the coalition Americans for Financial Reform.

Also this week, Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, is holding satellite events at Big Banks in eight cities, where working people are sending in ”We’re not your ATM” pictures from those events. For more information, click here. Working America also will deliver 70,000 fliers about Wall Street reform to homes around the country and collect 10,000 handwritten letters to members of Congress.

More than 1,000 people in San Francisco will rally at the Wells Fargo shareholder meeting on Tuesday. Hundreds of retirees, family farmers and workers from across the heartland will march on the financial district in Kansas City, Mo., and demand Bank of America divest from payday lending. On Wednesday, hundreds of veterans, clergy members and working families will march to rally at the Bank of America annual shareholder meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Union leaders, community activists, small business owners, economists and working families who have lost their jobs, homes and credit will engage in a major demonstration in Chicago’s financial district, demanding Wall Street banks pay to rebuild jobs and the economy they helped destroy.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on April 27, 2010 (boomark / email).