Charles
http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2010/09/uaw_to_pull_millions_from_chas.html
UAW to pull Chase accounts, protesting lack of Michigan foreclosure moratorium Published: Friday, September 24, 2010, 7:37 AM
United Auto Workers President Bob King and a group of religious leaders say they will withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from JPMorgan Chase Bank after it refused to declare a temporary moratorium on foreclosures in Michigan.
King is also upset with the bank for its continuing ties with tobacco giant RJ Reynolds Corp., which he says has refused to negotiate with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee over low wages and poor working conditions at contract farms in North Carolina.
"Chase needs to help unemployed homeowners in Michigan and underpaid farm workers in the Carolinas," King said. "The bank could make a huge difference by suspending foreclosures and pressuring RJ Reynolds to do the right thing."
King is expected to join Pastor D. Alexander Bullock of the Rainbow PUSH coalition, Rev. Ed Rowe of Central United Methodist Church and farmers union President Baldemar Velasquez at a press conference this afternoon in Detroit to announce the withdrawals and call on citizens to close accounts and cancel Chase credit cards.
Chase has not commented on the protest, but as Reuters points out, the banks said last month it has offered more than 900,000 mortgage modifications to homeowners since the start of 2009. And The Detroit News reports Chase operates Home Ownership counseling centers in Detroit and Troy.
Neither side is discussing the fact that JPMorgan is one of the lead underwriters for General Motors upcoming public stock offering.
King has widened the union's focus since taking office, saying in June that "the only way we can have social justice for our membership is to fight for social justice for everybody in society." Last month, he joined the Rev. Jesse Jackson in a Detroit march for "Jobs, Justice and Peace."
The union said in a released statement that King and the religious leaders met with Chase in June and August, calling on the bank to declare a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures. While they left the meeting hopeful, they say the bank has not discussed the idea since.
"This is a matter of life and death," said Pastor Bullock. "The words of Chase officials that they are willing to help the thousands who are living in undervalued homes and facing possible eviction is unconvincing in light of their refusal to seriously consider a moratorium on foreclosures."