Labor Union Blog

Wall Street got $700 billion in our taxpayer bailout dollars after fueling an economic disaster that has left America’s workers without jobs and communities without hope, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka writes today at the Huffington Post.

Now the financial industry is mounting a public relations campaign instead of supporting new rules for Wall Street to prevent a repeat of this disaster.  

Trumka spells out a three-point plan for the banks that used and abused taxpayer bailout money.

First, Big Banks must resume lending to help credit-starved communities create jobs.

Next, they must embrace a small tax to curb destabilizing short-term speculation and pay for the jobs they destroyed.

Finally, Congress also must reform the rules for Wall Street, including creation of an independent consumer agency that will crack down on abuses by big banks and their CEOs and credit card companies to protect working families and small businesses.

Read the entire post here.