Labor & Employment Law

California Labor Fed Unmasks Wall Street Whitman

By Mike Hall

Meg Whitman, the billionaire California Republican candidate for governor, is running for one reason, says Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation: “to do Wall Street’s bidding.”The more we learn about Meg Whitman’s past and her proposals for our future, the clearer it becomes that Meg Whitman is running for governor to do Wall Street’s bidding. Whitman’s plan is for Wall Street and corporate CEOs to get the cake while the rest of us fight for the crumbs.

Yesterday, Pulaski announced the state federation’s plans for a massive grassroots campaign?including the launch of a new website, Wall Street Whitman?to combat the $150 million Whitman says she will spend on the race. He told reporters:

We will never be able to compete with Meg Whitman’s money. Where we will compete is on the ground with grassroots. We will take advantage of this growing energy where people are angry with Wall Street CEOs who’ve gotten filthy rich.

Whitman, who’s expected to win the Republican primary June 8, served on the board of directors of Goldman Sachs in 2001 and 2002 where, according to Wall Street Whitman:

Whitman was directly involved in the decisions about executive bonuses and mortgage-backed securities that are now cited as major causes of the economic meltdown and the ensuing jobs crisis.

Today, Goldman Sachs is being targeted by investor lawsuits and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuits alleging it hid vital information from investors in subprime mortgage-related securities.

Click here to find out more on Whitman’s record as a Wall Street insider and as a failed CEO, with a record of slashing and outsourcing jobs. Whitman has said if elected governor, she wants to fire 40,000 state workers.

Along with the Wall Street Whitman website, Pulaski says an army of 25,000 working family volunteers is ready to take the message to workplaces and homes about Whitman’s dangerous agenda. Union volunteers also will convey the pro-working family record of Jerry Brown, who’s running as the Democratic candidate for governor. In the next few weeks, a member-led worksite information blitz will reach 150,000 union members with information about Whitman.

Kevin Gorman, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 569 in San Diego, joined Pulaski at the press conference and told reporters:

Millions of California workers like me know firsthand what Wall Street’s agenda has done to our families. Meg and her corporate cronies became billionaires by chewing up companies and spitting out their workers. I’ll be encouraging other workers like me to visit www.WallStreetWhitman.com to learn more about how Meg’s plans to downsize and corporatize California will cost more families their jobs, their homes, and their retirement.

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