AlterNet: Thousands March in 3-Day Showdown with Banking Industry

Thousands March in 3-Day Showdown with Banking Industry

By Kari Lydersen, AlterNet. Posted October 28, 2009.

Tired of bailouts and fat paychecks for those that created the economic catastrophe, marchers made clear demands to tame an out-of-control financial system.



Workers gave pink slips to the country's top bankers Tuesday morning to culminate three days of protests, billed as the Showdown in Chicago, during the American Bankers' Association's annual meeting.

Bbefore a jeering and cheering crowd of 5,000 union members and activists, Armando Robles, president of UE Local 1110 and a leader of the Republic Windows factory occupation last year, attached big, fluorescent pink slips to larger-than-life cutouts of retiring Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf and JP Morgan Chase CEO James Dimon.

The three CEOs were probably among the bank officials meeting in the Sheraton behind the stage that featured speeches by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Change to Win Chairwoman Anna Burger, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and workers and community leaders.

After "firing" the bank CEOs, Adam Kader of the workers group Arise Chicago presented a notice that the banks' $17.8 trillion "loan" in taxpayer-bailout funds is due since, he said, banks have not complied with the conditions placed on the handout by the people.

Tuesday's march and rally, like the previous two days of protest, featured individual stories of families and communities impacted by foreclosures, high interest rates and frozen credit markets sparked by the economic crisis and unrelieved by the various bank bailouts. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/143547/thousands_march_in_3-day_showdown_with_banking_industry

Paulsen gave the banksters a bunch of our money. Isn't that one of things the tea partiers are supposed to be angry about, too?

I may actually be sympathetic to the teabag cause if they were really interested in fighting government waste. The racial overtones really put them on the fringe.

particular. Let's see what kind of coverage an actual grassroots protest with a clear and legitimate focus gets.

I predict crickets.