“We put on this play with the help of community allies because absurd crimes call for creative action,” said Jim Cavanaugh, President of the South Central Federation of Labor. “The banks that we bailed out with our tax dollars are using that money to resist financial reform and pad their wallets. That lobbying and bonus money must be redirected towards creating jobs.”
“When JP Morgan and Chase was in trouble, they took $25 billion in our tax dollars to get back on their feet,” said Mark Thomas of AFSCME Local 171. “Now it’s time for JP Morgan and Chase to pay to get working families back on our feet.”
In the past year alone, JP Morgan and Chase has spent $6.2 million to lobby against financial reform. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon took home $17.6 million dollars in pay and bonuses in 2009. Unfortunately, JP Morgan and Chase isn’t the only bank that took bailout money and is now up to the same old mischief.
Since the recession began, America has lost nearly 9 million jobs when we needed to create more than 2 million just to stay even. While Americans suffered, big Wall Street banks took billions in taxpayer bailouts and gave their executives some $145 billion last year alone in pay and bonuses.
According to Cavanaugh, “even a very small financial speculation tax could pay for jobs America needs now.”
The script for Trial of the Tycoons was written by Ron Blascoe of AFT-W 4848. The cast of the play included Jim Cavanaugh, Kim Genich, Joan Grosse, Roger Hayes, Patrick Hickey, Heidi Verbeten, Angella Volante, and Ken Volante. MadTown Liberty players provided puppets and props.
Trial of the Tycoons was covered “Live at 5” on WKOW, the Madison ABC television affiliate. They continued to run coverage during their 6 o’clock and 10 o’clock news broadcasts: http://bit.ly/9vVFlZ
Madison community radio WORT and Workers Independent News also covered the event.
With chants and cheers, Madison activists told the bank to pay a fair share to restore the jobs they destroyed; stop fighting financial reform; and start lending to our community, small businesses and others starved for credit.
Good Jobs Now: Make Wall Street Pay events led by the AFL-CIO are taking place across the country March 15–26. The AFL-CIO is calling on the big Wall Street banks to pay for a major jobs plan to extend unemployment insurance benefits, food assistance and health benefits; rebuild our crumbling infrastructure; increase aid to state and local governments to save critical services and jobs; increase funding for neglected communities to match people who need jobs with work that needs to be done; and use TARP money to get credit flowing to small businesses for job creation. Find out more at www.aflcio.org/createjobs.
In addition to these efforts, Working America, the 3 million-member community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, has kicked off a campaign called "I am not your ATM." People across the country are submitting photos of themselves in front of ATMs, asking "where's my bailout?" and delivering the message to Wall Street: "I am not your ATM.” To see some of the photos collected so far, go to www.notyouratm.com. Working America speaks to 25,000 people across the country every week about the creation of good jobs and holding Wall Street accountable.
(Top Photo: Jim Cavanaugh, President of the South Central Federation of Labor addresses audience. Bottom Photo: Cast of Trial of the Tycoons. Video and Photo Credit: Union Labor News. For additional photos, visit flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wisaflcio/sets/72157623510718401/ For more information about MadTown Liberty Players visit: http://madlibplayers.org/)
This trial decide the future of this federation.
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