| At noon today students and workers demonstrated at the Wells Fargo Bank on South Russell with a message aimed at the U.S. Congress.
One sign put it this way: "It's time for an economy that works for everyone."
The event was one of about 100 actions in 35 states held today and involving a total of about 10,000 people. The Missoula group gathered because they were frustrated with an economy weakened by years of corporate excess.
The Wells Fargo branch on Russell may seem innocuous enough, but the bank is part of the problem. Despite profits of about $95.8 billion over the last decade, the median wage of a Wells Fargo bank teller is only $10.21 per hour or only about $21,000 a year.
Since last fall, Wells Fargo has collected $25 billion in federal bailout funds. During that time, the bank has used some of that money -- taxpayer money -- to lobby against banking reforms, like the $690,000 spent in just three months to fight the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, the Foreclosure Prevention Act, the Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act and legislation that would let judges modify mortgages to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Lately, Wells Fargo has continued its fight against the Employee Free Choice Act. The measure would make it easier for workers to bargain with employers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions by ensuring they can exercise a free choice to join together in a union without management interference or intimidation.
"Americans have had enough of an era of unchecked corporate excess," said Andy Stern, president of the 2-million member SEIU, the Service Employees International Union. "Congress needs to fix the underlying problems by ensuring workers can have a voice, health care, and a financial system that works for people, not lavish corporate lifestyles."
The nationwide protests challenge Congress to take immediate steps to rebuild an economy that works for everyone by passing:
• The Employee Free Choice Act so workers have the freedom to form unions for a voice to share in the economic progress they help create.
• Affordable, quality health care for all where everyone, including big corporations, does their share and Americans no longer have to go without quality health care or face health costs that sink a family's budget.
• Strong banking reform to make sure the financial services industry can never again bring our economy down by prioritizing huge profits and executive pay over responsible lending, or by preying on consumers, gambling with families' hard-earned money, and hiding their dealings.
(Robert Struckman writes for Montana Change That Works, a project of the Service Employees International Union.) |
