Thousands march against corporate greed in Chicago

George N. Schmidt - June 15, 2011 More than 4,000 people, led by labor unions — including the Chicago Teachers Union and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU — and dozens of community organizations and leaders marched on Chicago's Regency Hyatt Hotel on June 14, 2011. The march converged on the Hyatt from three different directions: a group that assembled at the Daley Plaza; a group that assembled at the State of Illinois building; and a group that assembled at City Center. The march, which coincided with a conference of corporate Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), was in protest against the continued rule by corporate elites that have purchased government so that corporations pay few taxes and bailouts go to banks and major financial institutions. Meanwhile children are deprived of adequate public schools, families are losing their homes to foreclosure, and millions have lost their jobs. In some states, union busting legislation is pushed quickly through corporate dominated legislatures. In illinois, corporate millions have bought a less quick attack on teachers and other public employees.

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Thousands Rally for Schools, Jobs, Housing This afternoon thousands of working people from several unions and community groups gathered to protest a regional meeting of Chief Financial Officers at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The "Give It Back" rally demanded that wealthy businesses who receive tax cuts, incentives and bailouts give back some of their massive profits to ensure jobs, schools and housing for Chicagoans impacted by unemployment and cuts in public services, including schools. Some two dozen activists were arrested in civil disobedience.

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The protests began at the three sites across downtown Chicago and converged at the Regency Hyatt Hotel, which sits on both sides of Stetson St. on East Wacker Drive. The specific site of the end of the protest was chosen, according to march organizers, because a meeting of corporate Chief Financial Officers was taking place at the hotel — and because the hotel is mostly owned by the billionaire Pritzker family, which has been adding to a long tradition of union busting recently. Several Pritzkers own large blocs of Hyatt stock despite a recent IPO, and two Pritzkers are on the Hyatt Board of Directors. One of those directors, billionaire Penny Pritzker, who served as Barack Obama's campaign finance chairman in 2008, has been appointed to the Chicago Board of Education by millionaire Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The Pritzker family, eleven of whose Chicago members are listed on the Forbes billionaires list, has perfected corporate tax avoidance strategies for three generations, beginning with the establishment of dozens of family trusts — in effect, corporate tax dodges — for his heirs in the Bahamas by A.N. Pritzker, who solidified the family fortune more than 40 years ago.

The marchers, which came from across the Chicago area, began assembling at the three sites in mid-afternoon, converging on the Regency Hyatt at East Wacker Drive and Stetson by 4:00 p.m. Rallies and protests were held at all three sites as the marches were converging. One of the groups unfurled a banner from the Trump Tower as the march was heading east. At the termination side, the marchers were greeted by dozens of Chicago police, including 12 on horseback, and a large number of Hyatt Hotel security staff. Chicago Streets and Sanitation workers were observed unloading materials to block off streets on Stetson a few minutes before the marchers reached the Hyatt. For most Chicago teachers who participated in the march, the action began at Cityfront Plaza shortly after school let out. The marchers assembled there, were told how the march was to proceed, and heard from a number of speakers including CTU President Karen Lewis.





Teachers and students, joined by parents, carried signs that read "Students before bankers" and "End corporate greed!" Three 12 foot tall puppets (depicting "corporate greed") led the march. A banner was unfurled along the river side as the march went forward. The teachers were joined by students and parents marching behind signs that carried slogans denouncing the tax breaks for bankers and the wealthy that cost public schools. The Chicago Teachers Union has been leading opposition to the corporate attacks on public schools in Illinois, including charter schools and recent legislation that union leaders characterize as union busting. A series of photographs from the beginning of the march was posted at the new Chicago Teachers Union website (www.ctunet.com) and can be accessed by those who can't access the hotlink above at: http://www.flickr.com/... Twenty-four people, including officers of the CTU and SEIU, were arrested at the Hyatt when they staged a non-violent sit-in at Stetson Drive and Wacker Drive between the east and west sides of the Regency Hyatt. Those arrested were issued citations by police. Several of those arrested told Substance that the police were friendly but firm at the time of the civil disobedience that led to the arrests.

A second series of photographs has been posted showing the arrests at the Chicago Teachers Union website (www.ctunet.com). The URL for those who can't access a hotlink is: http://www.flickr.com/...

Those arrested included Chicago Teachers Union officers (Jesse Sharkey, vice president; Kristine Mayle, financial secretary), Tom Balanoff (president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1 in Chicago), and more than a dozen teachers. The bulk of the marchers reached Chicago's Regency Hyatt Hotel by 4:00 p.m. on schedule. The large crowd filled Wacker Drive in front of the hotel and chanted for more than half an hour. The group dispersed following the rally, heading south on Stetson (which bisects the Regency Hyatt) to buses which had brought many of them to the event. The protest was aimed at the Hyatt because an invitation-only "Executive Summit" was being held for corporate Chief Financial Officers inside. Protesters asked to meet with representatives of the corporations but were denied. Signs and puppets denounced the arrogance and financial cheating of corporate America. Major media coverage should provide interesting analysis during the next couple of days. As of dawn on June 15, neither the Chicago Tribune nor the Chicago Sun-Times had posted stories in their on line editions. The corporate chieftans also refused requests for interviews from major corporate media, according to press reports. Although one part of the march assembled adjacent to the Chicago Tribune building, the Tribune's on-line edition failed to cover it, while promoting stories that included the fact that actor Rob Lowe will play investigative reporter Drew Pearson in an upcoming movie. The Tribune's WGN television and radio did cover the protests. (The URL for the two-minute WGN TV report for those who cannot access the hotlink above is: http://www.wgntv.com/...). Several Substance reporters and other teachers have promised individual stories from the marches and rally, which was too large for any one story to cover. The Chicago Teachers Union has asked its members to protest at the Chicago Board of Education's June 22 meeting beginning at 9:00 a.m. that day. The June 22 Board of Education meeting will be the first regular meeting of the Board, which was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel following his recent election. Emanule appointed millionaire David Vitale as Board President; billionaire Penny Pritzker is one of the six other Board members.



Demonstrators say "corporate welfare" has robbed public schools of funding Two dozen people were peacefully arrested Tuesday after sitting in the middle of a downtown street during rush hour as part of a rally to protest the bank bailouts and tax breaks they say have robbed schools of public funding, hurt the creation of new jobs and diminished the hope of struggling homeowners. Under an umbrella organization called "Stand Up! Chicago," 18 different community groups and labor unions held three different rallies that converged into one outside the Hyatt Regency Chicago, where a conference of corporate Chief Executive Officers was being held. "Instead of investing in our community, instead of investing and creating jobs, they chose to pay their CFOs and CEOs over a billion dollars, and the folks that were out here today just don't think that's fair," said E.J. Serrano, the organization director for Stand Up! Chicago. Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/...



They Even Arrested the Puppets!!!

Twenty-five people were arrested for blocking traffic briefly on Wacker Drive, during a noisy demonstration outside of an executives’ summit at a downtown hotel. WBBM’s Bob Roberts was there. “They are breaking all their promises,” said protester Maria Hernandez, who said she marched because her 18-year-old son is unable to find a job. “They said they were going to give us jobs for the community and their not keeping their promise. They’re getting richer and we’re not.” The marchers gathered in Daley Plaza, at the Thompson Center plaza and on Cityfront Plaza, outside of the University of Chicago Gleicher Center. From those locations, they marched to the Hyatt. The marchers then headed south on Stetson and concluded their protest outside of the Aon Center and Prudential Plaza.

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Arrests made at CFO protest in The Loop

Groups including Chicago Teachers Union stage protest against corporate CFO's at Hyatt Regency The groups, including Chicago Teachers Union and neighborhood organizations, staged the protest to call attention to corporate tax breaks and a lack of job creation they say is hurting the middle and lower class. The group claims that big-business took government money and tax breaks with the promise to create more jobs in the United States. Organizers for the invitation-only corporate summit declined media requests for interviews and to allow cameras inside their meetings. CFOs of major Chicago corporations including McDonalds, Motorola and IBM were among the attendees and speakers, according to the organization's website.

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Protestors converge on CFO Executive Summit

"The CFOs up in the building right now having a conference, collectively their companies made over $200 billion in profits last year," said demonstrator Casey Murphy. "Executive compensation and bonuses over a billion, and in the meantime it's almost 10 percent unemployment in this country." Participants say the corporations attending the event have taken money from chicago's working families -- homes and schools. "We're just saying that we need to put real priorities into place. It should be our kids before the bankers and everybody else," said Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis. Protestors are demanding that the companies give it back to those who need it most. "There's enough wealth in this country for everybody to have a good job, but they're hoarding it. They're keeping it for themselves, and we're sending them a signal. We're not taking it anymore. We need jobs," said demonstrator Murphy. "Federal government bailed out the banks, the major corporations, the cars - they can't bail out the teachers for our students? Come on. Where is the money? Give it back to us. Give it back to us. That is all we're asking. Give us a fair chance," said Chicago Teachers Union member Alonzo Hoskins. 18 different unions and groups including the Chicago Teachers Union, the SEIU, and a group called Stand Up Chicago helped organize the demonstration. The CFO Executive Summit is an annual event that allows participants to share practices and develop leadership skills. Officials from Motorola, McDonald's, Ernst and Young, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Hyatt Hotels, IBM, and CDW are speaking at this year's event. This year's host for the CFO Executive Summit is the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. The group did not have a comment on the protest and said it would only respond to more specific charges from protestors.

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