Oakland teachers plan sit-in at Wells Fargo banks demanding economic justice

[Hannah Bell]

Oakland California teachers plan to sit-in at Wells Fargo bank on Monday, April 4, 2011, citing the failure of Wells Fargo to give back to the community after receiving on of the largest bailouts of the "Too Big To Fail" banks from the Bush and Obama administrations. The sit-in, on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., begins a week of protests sponsored by labor unions and various community and other groups across the USA.

In a letter from OEA President Betty Olson-Jones, the OEA asked to meet with Wells Fargo President John Stumpf and any other financial leaders he chose to invite. Noting that Wells Fargo has received a $50 billion bailout from our tax money and that Mr. Stumpf—with a $20 million annual salary—the highest paid bank CEO in the country, OEA proposed to discuss the following:

1. Wells Fargo publicly calling on the State to forgive the Oakland USD debt, which tripled to $100,000,000 during the state administration of the district....

CONTACT: Betty Olson-Jones, OEA President [phone] / [e-mail] Kelly Jacobs, OEA Site Representative, [phone] / [e-mail] Bob Mandel, OEA Executive Board member, [phone] / [e-mail]

http://substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2147§ion=Article


If Stumpf would forgo his salary for a year that would pay off 20% of the District debt.

How out-of-balance things have gotten.

[dkf]

1. Getting that salary IS paying down the debt through taxes.

I guess what you are really advocating is a 100% tax?

[LooseWilly]

2. Firstly, I've never seen Oakland cops respond as quickly as when called about a fraud at Wells Fargo

... a patrol car with 3 cops inside (not even remotely usual in Oakland), as well as 2 beat cops from around Civic Center converged on the City Center Wells Fargo when a client of mine tried to con them out of some money. He was taken away in handcuffs and I was left swinging in the breeze as far as payment for the taxi-fare went.

If teachers want to pretend that they'll be treated any better... good luck to them. Let's be honest... Jerry Brown (ex-Mayor of Oakland, now Governor of CA) doesn't give a shit... he's sympathetic to K-12 teachers but he'll flay their hides off their asses if need be to balance a budget. I don't even know who's mayor in Oakland now... but the city was barely finding its feet during the dot-com boom... now it's just plain hemorrhaging... and Oaksterdam revenues are the only thing I can imagine saving the city—If Obama's DEA assholes can be called off long enough to let the trade develop.

Calling on the banks to give a shit about the consequences of their behavior?... are we really gonna pretend that it's even as likely as Obama issuing orders to the DEA to leave medical marijuana establishments in states where it's legal the fuck alone?...

Neither is gonna happen. Obama doesn't have the courage, and the bankers do. So the question is—what's the OUSD made of?....

[Mojeoux]

3. Hey Hey Ho Ho, Too Big to Fail has Got to GO!!!!

Cheer leading for teachers. I am grateful that the truth is stranger than fiction.

There is power in shaming, when there is a great truth.