When taxpayers gave Bank of America a $25 billion bailout, the country's largest bank was supposed to use the funds to help jumpstart the economy.
What multiple news sources have found, unfortunately, is the opposite. Rather than using the loan to keep money flowing through the financial system to ensure that the bank continues lending to consumers, as was the original intent, Bank of America has instead misspent the money on foreign investments, executive salaries, and corporate jets.
As of yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reports that Bank of America wants "billions" more in bailout funds.
But a simple blog post can't cover the sheer amount of facts that you need to know about Bank of America. That's why today we, along with Brave New Films, produced a short web video giving an overview of Bank of America, the bailout, how it treats its employees, and just how much of a "bad actor" the company is.
Watch the video here:
Our multi-media nationwide effort to take on Bank of America's business practices and use of bailout money is part of a greater multi-industry effort by SEIU to identify corporate practices that have helped deepen the nation's financial crisis--and hold these corporations accountable for the damage they've done to our economy and the damage they continue to do.
Here's what CNN Money wrote about our campaign:
Treasury already has provided Bank of America with $25 billion in capital through its controversial $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Congress has released half of the funding for that program.
"It is clear so far that the money we've spent has not changed anyone's business model," said Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union."Why are we going to give them more bailout money if they're going to keep making the same mistakes?"
Someone has to say that enough is enough. Bank of America needs to either use its bailout to help the economy and its workers, or give back the bailout. We're counting on you to stand up and take action.
What can Bank of America do? We've created a list of common sense ideas that will help hundreds of thousands of working people get by in these tough times.
In addition to launching this online campaign, activists and SEIU members descended on Bank of America headquarters in Los Angeles, Charlotte, New York City, and Boston to present our demands of the campaign:
- Provide health care for its 247,000 workers using the money it spent last year on executive salaries and bonuses. By providing its workers with inadequate health coverage, BofA is able to keep down its payroll costs at taxpayers' expense.
- Keep over 12,000 troubled borrowers in their homes with executive bonus money
- End the practice of unilaterally changing credit cardholder agreements.
- Sign new leases with renters who live in buildings that are being foreclosed upon
Learn more about Bank of America's practices and this campaign at www.seiu.org/bankofamerica. Read our complete report, "Bank of America: A Billionaire's Boondoggle," here.
