Setting Schwab straight on Social Security; Albany protest in sync with events across the country
March 31, 2005
The photos on this page are from a protest in front of Charles Schwab's offices in Albany, New York.
From New York to San Francisco, New Hampshire to San Antonio, thousands of working families and community activists carried signs proclaiming "Don't Pick Our Pockets To Line Yours," as they rallied in more than 70 cities at the offices of Wall Street firms demanding Charles Schwab Corp., Wachovia Corp. and others stop pushing the privatization of Social Security.
"I believe I speak for the majority of American workers when I say, 'Mr. Bush, leave my Social Security alone!'" said Reda Johnson, a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1546 who rallied at a Charles Schwab office in Chicago. "Don't give my Social Security benefits away to your friends on Wall Street. I've worked hard for that money for years, and when I'm ready to retire I want it back!"
The union movement's March 31 National Day of Action for Retirement Security is the largest grassroots mobilization yet in the working families' campaign to defeat President George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.
"It's not right for corporations such as Wachovia to advise the public and the government over something that they will make a profit on," said Joe Turner, a retired member of the Machinists who marched in front of the bank's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
