We Are One - Oakland Teachers and Allies Shut Wells Fargo; ILWU Locals Shut Ports: video

(video 9:44)

In the first video here, Bob Mandel of the Oakland Education Association (OEA) initiates the Wells Fargo action by quoting Martin Luther King Jr: "The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation." Before the action, he announces that Wells Fargo will be holding its annual shareholders' meeting on May 3rd in San Francisco where non-violent civil disobedience with arrests is expected.

Betty Olson-Jones, OEA President, discusses previous attempts by the union to meet with Wells Fargo executives, only to be denied. She announces that the California Teachers' Association (CTA) is making plans for a week of action from May 9th - 13th with rallies around the state and an occupation of the state capital building in Sacramento to demand more than just "crumbs" for education but that the entire funding structure in California be changed.

Jack Gerson explains the history of the big banks' increasing greed, their role in the 2008 national financial collapse, the trillions of dollars in bailouts the banks have been given, and he details the situation Oakland schools face after a recent state takeover in which the district's debts were tripled while schools were closed and are now looking at the possibility of the layoffs of over 600 teachers and educational support staff.


Photos from this action at Wells Fargo:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/04/05/18676361.php


For more Indybay coverage of We Are One actions, see: