Protesters pushed a mock stagecoach reading "Hells Fargo" through the streets Tuesday and shouted through a loudspeaker next to a giant, cigar-smoking inflatable rat: "The 99% have arrived at the building. The 1% are not getting in,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
In the end, the Times said, stockholders held a 45-minute meeting where they awarded a $19.5 million compensation package to CEO John Stumpf. The company, with the help of San Francisco police, restricted access to the meeting room.
Protesters included clergy, union activists and members of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Eight Minnesotans were among those who traveled to San Francisco from across the country.
“I feel it is important for our future and the future of my children to stand up to what is going wrong in our society and help correct it in any way I can,” said Terri Buttleman, a paraprofessional in the West Saint Paul schools. “If corporations like Wells Fargo were paying their fair share, school boards would not have to make cuts that hurt the kids who need help to succeed.”
“Our community continues to lose homes. We believed in the American dream, but thousands and thousands of families are falling into poverty and losing what little they had,” said Gerardo Cajamarca, an activist with SEIU Local 26 in the Twin Cities. “What is Wells Fargo\'s plan for those communities to recover, and for our families to keep and get their homes back?”
Demonstrators said they want Wells Fargo to pay its fair share of taxes, do more to help fix the foreclosure crisis, cease contributions to anti-immigrant politicians, and divest from corporations that profit from mass incarceration of immigrants.
Wells Fargo has received $17.96 billion in tax breaks over the last three years, according to a study by the non-partisan research group Citizens for Tax Justice.
The St. Paul-based non-profit Minnesotans for a Fair Economy helped coordinate the work of community, faith, and labor activists speaking out at the recent shareholders meetings of both Wells Fargo and US Bank. The coalition also released a recent report taking the banks to task for predatory, payday lending-style short-term loans.
This article is based on information from the Service Employees International Union and the Los Angeles Times.
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Protesters pushed a mock stagecoach reading "Hells Fargo" through the streets Tuesday and shouted through a loudspeaker next to a giant, cigar-smoking inflatable rat: "The 99% have arrived at the building. The 1% are not getting in,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
In the end, the Times said, stockholders held a 45-minute meeting where they awarded a $19.5 million compensation package to CEO John Stumpf. The company, with the help of San Francisco police, restricted access to the meeting room.
Protesters included clergy, union activists and members of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Eight Minnesotans were among those who traveled to San Francisco from across the country.
“I feel it is important for our future and the future of my children to stand up to what is going wrong in our society and help correct it in any way I can,” said Terri Buttleman, a paraprofessional in the West Saint Paul schools. “If corporations like Wells Fargo were paying their fair share, school boards would not have to make cuts that hurt the kids who need help to succeed.”
“Our community continues to lose homes. We believed in the American dream, but thousands and thousands of families are falling into poverty and losing what little they had,” said Gerardo Cajamarca, an activist with SEIU Local 26 in the Twin Cities. “What is Wells Fargo\’s plan for those communities to recover, and for our families to keep and get their homes back?”
Demonstrators said they want Wells Fargo to pay its fair share of taxes, do more to help fix the foreclosure crisis, cease contributions to anti-immigrant politicians, and divest from corporations that profit from mass incarceration of immigrants.
Wells Fargo has received $17.96 billion in tax breaks over the last three years, according to a study by the non-partisan research group Citizens for Tax Justice.
The St. Paul-based non-profit Minnesotans for a Fair Economy helped coordinate the work of community, faith, and labor activists speaking out at the recent shareholders meetings of both Wells Fargo and US Bank. The coalition also released a recent report taking the banks to task for predatory, payday lending-style short-term loans.
This article is based on information from the Service Employees International Union and the Los Angeles Times.