Citigroup Plans to Lay Off A Third Of Cleaning Force While Taking Bailout Money

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-morse/citigroup-plans-to-lay-of_b_182380.html

Just two weeks after Sam Stein first reported Citigroup's anti-union assault on the Employee Free Choice Act, the financial behemoth is taking their fight directly to the workers. Citigroup plans a second round of layoffs to their cleaning force -- a move that would displace over one-third of their cleaning force for six New York City properties.

As the recipient of a $50 billion tax-payer bailout, Citigroup has come under fire for its corporate spending practices, including a planned $10 million renovation of corporate office suites and a $7.7 million bonus for embattled CEO Vikram Pandit. In laying off these 107 workers, Citi's total savings amount to just over $6.5 million, substantially less than either of those elective expenditures.

In response to the expected layoffs, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) brought a proposal to Citi on Monday. The proposal calls for cutting the number of layoffs and including severance pay and COBRA health insurance to alleviate the impact on those who will become unemployed.

The move pits Citgroup -- who recently hosted a conference call to galvanize opposition to the pro-labor Employee Free Choice Act and who downgraded its assessment of Wal-Mart in response to the retailer's overture to unions -- against 32BJ SEIU, the largest property service worker union in the country.

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Why is it that corporatists can only save money by laying off workers? One of those 'have you ever wondered' questions. At least of late, when corporations sent their workforce packing, their stocks went up.

Perfect illustration of the "trickle down" theory...he didn't trickle down anything to the cleaning staff except pink slips because the greedy bastard is busy stuffing all the money into his own pockets.

These companies cannot remain profitable with this kind of overhead. They are dooming the companies to ruin with these costs then getting billions of dollars from Washington to continue the absurdity.

x(

the CEO only travels business class now, valiantly eschewing the company jet and the COO wore an off the rack suit yesterday.

it's hard times for all of us and if the unions hadn't stopped us from paying total slave wages then perhaps we could have kept on these minions for a bit longer :sarcasm:

People whose tax dollars went toward the bail-outs and now they won't have a job..

Just you watch.