Labor Must Take to the Streets Across the Country To Demand Bailout of Main Street -- Not Wall Street!

Labor Can and MUST Stop Giveaways to Wall St. Bankers!

Labor Must Take to the Streets Across the Country
To Demand Bailout of Main Street -- Not Wall Street!

By the Editorial Board of The Organizer Newspaper

The massive rebellion by the American people against Wall Street's $1.3 Trillion "Grand Theft Bailout" forced a majority of members of Congress this past Monday to vote against this corporate heist.

Working people across the country were heartened by this defeat; with their millions of protest letters to Congress (one Congressman from South Carolina reported that 99% of the letters urged him to vote "NO" on the bankers' bailout), they had compelled the politicians in Washington to heed the massive outcry.

But now the politicians are gearing up their offensive to overturn this vote. The Senate is expected to vote a slightly amended version of the bill that was defeated in the House of Representatives. (The media reported that a few "sweeteners" were added to lure both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House into supporting this new bill.)

The ruling rich are hoping that a "YES" vote in the Senate will in turn compel the House to do the same when they reconvene on Thursday.

Across the country, unionists have continued to express their anger over this corporate welfare plan in demonstrations such as the one in New York City on Sept. 25, with letters to their members of Congress, and with letters to their union publications.

One such letter, posted to the ILWU members' listserv, captures this anger. It was written by the former ILWU Local 142 Contract Administrator. It states:

"I am outraged! The U.S. Senate is now scheduled to vote on the same Wall Street bailout package -- with minor modifications -- that was rejected by the House. According to news reports, the package is receiving bipartisan support, including that of Barack Obama.

"The modifications, as reported, include raising FDIC insurance for your bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000 Š

"I am dumbfounded that everyone regards this situation as a crisis of immense proportions when 40 million Americans lack health insurance. Not a crisis? A public education system in collapse. Not a crisis? Deteriorating infrastructure. Not a crisis? An illogical and insane war in Iraq. Not a crisis? And the list goes on. ...

"I urge each and every one of you to write your Senators and implore them to oppose the Wall Street bail-out provisions."

More and more workers also realize that this Wall St. financial crisis won't go away even if $700 billion of our taxpayers' money is used to rescue the speculators who got us into this message. The press reports that more than 110 major financial institutions are facing bankruptcies. Meanwhile, 10 million families face foreclosure (mortgages amount to $14 trillion, according to reports earlier today on MSNBC). Where is the protection for them in the giveaway bill?


Nor are workers buying the idea that once bailed out, these banks will recapitalize and provide more low-interest loans and credits to consumers and businesses in this slumping economy. For too long, they have seen these speculators off-load their fraudulent securitieså and useless paper on the government, while shoveling the giveaways they get (with our tax money) into foreign currencies, gold, and Swiss bank accounts. To expect that the people who swindled us will help get the economy out of the slump is not only a pipedream, it's a cruel hoax.

And in the meantime, where will the funding come from to help those threatened with home foreclosures? Where will the money come from to stimulate the economy and provide jobs to the millions out of work or on the brink of losing their jobs?

You can't bail out Wall Street and Main Street at the same time. Those who say it can be done are lying through their teeth.

Unions across the country have demanded an economic stimulus package; money for jobs, not war; a moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions; public works' programs to put the country back to work and to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

They're not going to get any of this from the deal worked out by Pelosi, Bush and Paulson.

The trade unions need to issue a call TODAY to mobilize their members in the streets in front of Federal Buildings or other appropriate sites across the country on Thursday and Friday (leading members of Congress have announced that no vote will be taken Thursday in the House on the new bailout plan). They need to hold press conferences immediately to let their representatives in Congress know that they will not be bullied or coerced into accepting a slightly warmed over version of the same slop.

The trade unions have the numbers and the potential power to stop this corporate theft once and for all -- and to demand a packet that bails out working people and the economy. Now is the time to reach out to labor's friends and allies and to the public as a whole. This is a moment for leadership, and masses of people will be gratified if labor provides it.

The time to act is NOW!