The AFL-CIO labor union is planning a protest during the trading day on April 29th, demanding regulations on the banking industry, taxes on financial transactions and higher levies on hedge funds and private equity. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told the Post, "It's an unprecedented, grassroots campaign that says: Good jobs now; make Wall Street pay."
Trumka says that over 10,000 supporters will participate in the "March on Wall Street," which coincides with Senate action on financial reform. Trumka told Politico.com, “People will be talking, yelling, chanting and letting America — and letting Wall Street, particularly — know that their brand of economics, where the financial economy overshadows the real economy, is no longer acceptable, that we want them to help pay for the jobs that they destroyed." Of course, Wall Street CEOs are not happy about the plan. Kathryn S. Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, which supports many businesses, called the plan "unfortunate," saying, “This is a time when Americans should be pulling together...Demonizing Wall Street diminishes us in the eyes of the world."
However, Trumka hopes the protest will distract bankers from going about "business as usual" like he claims they did during the financial crisis. “I think that's what's angered the American public the most: They destroy all these jobs, they bring us to the brink of financial disaster, they get bailed out, they don't lend money to people that could create jobs, and yet they go back to business as usual.” The march is planned for April 29 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
