Large union-community protests target bankers

For three days, from Oct. 25 to 27, thousands of poor and working people from across the U.S. came here to directly challenge the criminal bankers and bosses at an American Bankers Association conference.

Those protesting are fed up with taxpayer-funded trillion-dollar bailouts to the bankers, the foreclosure epidemic, the refusal of the government to implement a federally funded jobs program, the billions spent on U.S. wars instead of for people’s needs and much more.

“We are here to demand that the banks and the government bail out the workers. Everyone has to stand up for dignity, for respect, for our families, for the working class,” said Armando Robles, president of United Electrical Workers Local 1110. This UE local led the successful six-day sit-in at Republic Windows and Doors in December 2008.

Robles and his UE brother Keith Scribner, president of Local 174 at Quad City Die Casting in Moline, Ill., spoke before a sea of 5,000 poor and working people at a massive rally Oct. 27 directly in front of the Sheraton Hotel where the bankers’ conference was being held. The crowd hoisted banners and signs in various languages declaring “Stop foreclosures: State of Emergency NOW” and “We need jobs.” They chanted at the bankers, bosses and government officials, both Democrats and Republicans, who were hiding in the hotel: “We want our money back!”

Other speakers at the rally included Richard Trumka, newly elected president of the AFL-CIO; Anna Burger of the Change to Win Federation; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; and representatives of labor, community and student organizations throughout the Chicago region and beyond.

The rally was sponsored by the AFL-CIO and endorsed by numerous organizations throughout the U.S., including the Chicago-based community organization Action NOW, which says there have been 44,000 foreclosures in the Metro Chicago area since 2007 and more than 5 million foreclosures in the U.S. since 2007.

The main AFL-CIO demands were to stop foreclosures, stop bailout-funded bonuses, invest in jobs and small businesses, and invest in public services.

“We’re sending a message. Business is over. We’re shutting it down. We are not going to let bankers rule our country or our lives anymore. This is a new day,” said Trumka.

Labor-community-student delegations marched to the Oct. 27 rally and drove in. Significant delegations came from youth-student organizations, African-American organizations and immigrant workers, including Asian and Latina women.

A van sponsored by Southeastern Michigan Jobs With Justice carried members of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs from Detroit. Workers from the Service Employees International Union, the Carpenters union, the International Association of Machinists, the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, UE and others participated.

On Oct. 25 protesters had crashed a large dinner meeting at the beginning of the bankers’ conference, resulting in arrests. Other protest actions, such as demonstrations at the hotel, took place on Oct. 26. (www.showdowninchicago.org)

Those protesting in Chicago were clear that the Oct. 25-27 actions were just one part of building massive, organized resistance against the bankers and bosses.