After pocketing a sweet $25 billion bailout, Bank of America has announced plans to lay off about 35,000 workers within the next three years.
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Despite getting a generous slice of the bailout pie, Bank of America is not about to share it with its workforce or those who are desperately seeking credit. The bank recently denied credit to Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors for payment of the company’s obligations to employees. Workers seized the plant in protest of the company’s violations of their contract and Bank of America’s shameless indifference to the workers and their families—the only reason Bank of America reconsidered its decision, allowing the workers to receive their hard-earned pay.
But prior to the workers’ victory, Bank of America showed its true profiteering nature. Officials from Bank of America said the bank was not responsible for the Republic Windows and Doors’ obligation to the workers. Curiously enough, Bank of America’s spokespersons never pointed out that taxpaying workers should not be responsible for bailing out banks that are going under.
The struggle of the workers at Republic Windows and Doors quickly garnered enormous support. While the occupation was ongoing, teachers at a United Teachers of Los Angeles labor demonstration expressed solidarity with the workers’ takeover of the plant. “Bank of America was bailed out specifically so that they could keep their lines of credit open,” said Los Angeles elementary school teacher Maria Sala. “It is criminal what Bank of America is doing to the workers in Chicago.”
Bank of America is not the only one cutting workers short. Soon after insurance behemoth American International Group received an $85 billion bailout, it threw a lavish party for its management at a cost of almost $500,000. The company quickly secured close to $38 billion more in additional bailout money, yet AIG has been laying off employees from its auto insurance sector since late October. According to a company spokesperson, the investment arm of the company has laid off just under 6 percent of its total workforce.
The bailouts have lined the pockets of the fat cats of financial corporations at the expense of workers who are now footing the bill. The pretense that the bailout would be used to thaw credit lines and “help all Americans” quickly disintegrated.
Banks and corporations should be obligated to keep their lines of credit open, and put a moratorium on foreclosures and layoffs rather than providing for the sumptuous lifestyles of their top management. The mass response of U.S. workers against the bailout plan was the decisive factor that led its first draft to fail in Congress. As the Republic Windows and Doors workers have shown, by organizing and fighting back against these criminal profiteers, workers can win.
