Taking the Bull by the Horns: Labor Takes on Wall Street

Thousands of people marched on Wall Street April 29, in a major protest of financial sector greed and lending practices by big banks. Taking to the streets of downtown Manhattan, 10,000 labor and community groups shouted and jeered at the offices surrounding them, demanding three major changes to Wall Street culture. The first is to call off the lobbyists fighting regulatory reform. The second is to stop the incessant focus on market speculation over business lending. The third is to tax Wall Street to fund job creation The rally, was one of the largest in recent memory to take place at the epicenter of finance capital Wall Street.
*************************
The Socialist Bank of North Dakota with Dr Rozanne Everson Junker, political scientist

We’ve talked about a public option in health careBut what about for the banks?
Thanks to Michael Moore we have this case study.

Stream or download

Read More...

AFL-CIO To Banks: Pay to Create Jobs You Destroyed in the “Great” Recession
with
Dan Pedrotty, Director, Office of Investments, AFL-CIO

The AFL-CIO is mounting a national campaign to put America back to
work and ensure that the banks, whose reckless acts created the jobs crisis,
pay to create the jobs they destroyed, stop fighting financial reform and start
lending. Saying that neither Congress nor the Obama administration has
proposed an adequate jobs bill, the AFL-CIO is calling for extending
supplemental unemployment benefits, $2.2 trillion for unmet infrastructure
needs, & helping state & local governments overcome an estimated $588
billion shortfall over the next 4 years. The program would be paid for by
imposing fees on Wall Street banks to pay back the cost of the bank bailout,
a special levy on Wall Street bonuses, increased taxes on hedge fund &
private equity managers, & a financial transactions tax.

play or download

Read More...

Labor President Trumka Takes Fight For Workers To Wall Street

Scrooge Bosses Steal From Low-Wage Workers
with
John DeFilippis, Assoc. Professor, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University
Play or download

click below for more information or to post to this blog



Labor President Trumka Takes Fight For Workers To Wall Street

The new President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka called for tough new regulations on the financial industry and a new approach to making the U.S. economy responsive to working people. Trumka took to the streets as part of the new leadership team’s national tour to set out a jobs-focused, progressive vision for the economy, and to fight back against the
corporate agenda that left workers behind.
******
Scrooge Bosses Steal From Low-Wage Workers
with
John DeFilippis, Assoc. Professor, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University

Low-wage workers are routinely denied overtime pay and are paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, concludes that "the sheer breadth of the problem, spanning key industries in the economy, as well as its profound impact on workers, entailing significant economic hardship, demands urgent attention."

Play or download

Read More...