<html> <head> <meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0"> <title>The Phony Express October 22, 1998</title> <meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot"> </head> <body LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#800080" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> <img src="images/phonyhead1021a.gif" alt="phonyhead1021a.gif (10463 bytes)" WIDTH="638" HEIGHT="158"> With $86 Million Withdrawal, Wells Fargo Boycott Approaches $250 Million With Local 509 of the Iron Workers union in Los Angeles pulling an $86 million trust fund out of Wells Fargo Bank, the Steelworkers' campaign protesting the bank's financing of Oregon Steel's war on 1,000 Steelworker families in Pueblo, CO, is approaching a new milestone a cool quarter of a billion dollars. The impressive new total comes just as the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Justice Department have approved the merger of Wells and Norwest Bank, giving the Steelworkers and their supporters an enlarged playing field on which to pursue the national consumer boycott, launched last May by the AFL-CIO. <table border="1" width="400"> <tr> <td width="100%">Number of organizations withdrawing funds from Wells Fargo in support of the boycott:<big> 170</big>States reporting withdrawls: Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington Range of withdrawl amounts: $600 to $86 million</td> </tr> </table> A union official explained that "Wells Fargo is the surviving name in the merger, and Norwest, therefore, inherits the sorry legacy of Wells' financing Oregon Steel's war on workers in Pueblo, CO." The official added that while Wells publicly proclaims its neutrality in the labor struggle, the bank has twice rescued Oregon Steel from default on a $125 million line of credit by renegotiating the loan and lending more money. The merger creates the nation's largest originator of home mortgages and its seventh largest bank, with more than 5,700 offices in 21 states from California to Indiana. Norwest Chairman Richard M. Kovacevich will become the chief executive officer of the company. <img src="images/cash1022.gif" alt="cash1022.gif (15283 bytes)" WIDTH="278" HEIGHT="94"> The Wells Fargo boycott has been the most successful such action by organized labor in many, many years. To date, local unions throughout Wells Fargo's service area, as well as organizations allied with labor, have closed accounts totaling just over $247 million. Boycott organizers, who have full-bore campaigns up and running in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, are now asking city and county governments to withdraw their funds from the bank. Largest amounts withdrawn by: Iron Workers Local 509, Los Angeles, CA, $86 million · Laborers Local 872, Las Vegas, NV, $40 million · Steelworkers Local 9170, The Dalles, OR, $20 million · Cement Workers and Plasterers, Las Vegas, NV, $12 million · Plasterers Local 797, Las Vegas, NV, $ 12 million · Sheetmetal Workers Local 359, Phoenix, AZ, $ 11 million · Pipe Trades District Council 36, Fresno, CA, $10 million · Western Council of Industrial Workers, Portland, OR, $6,091,500 · Operating Engineers, Las Vegas, NV, $5 million · Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11, Pasadena, CA, $4.8 million · Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1245, Walnut Creek, CA, $3.3 million · United Association (UA) of Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry Local 525, Las Vegas, NV, $3 million · Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1277, Los Angeles, CA, $2.2 million · California Federation of Labor, San Francisco, CA, $2 million · Steelworkers Local 5074, Roseburg, OR, $2 million · Center for Third World Organizing, Oakland, CA, $1.5 million · National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 704, Tucson, AZ, $1 million · Asbestos Workers Local 16, San Francisco, CA, $1 million · Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441, Orange, CA, $1 million. USWA · LOCAL UNIONS# 2102 & 3267 · 1414 EVANS AVE. · PUEBLO, CO 81005 · PHONE 719-564-8600 This handbill is being distributed for purely information purposes. The USWA is not asking or suggesting that any person engage in a strike against his or her employer or refuse in the course of his or her employment to: use, manufacture, process, or transport or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials or commodities; or perform any service. <hr> <a href="index.htm">Return to CF&I Support Page</a> <a href="../index.htm">HOME</a> | <a href="../frameset_organize.html">ORGANIZE</a> | <a href="../frameset_news.html">NEWS</a> | <a href="../frameset_services.html">SERVICES</a> | <a href="../frameset_map.html">MAP</a> | <a href="../frameset_rapid.html">RAPID RESPONSE</a> | <a href="../frameset_help.html">HELP</a> | <a href="../frameset_feedback.html">FEEDBACK</a>     </body> </html>