Today AT&T workers have been summoned to
a meeting at AT&T’s Atlanta headquarters, located at 675 West Peachtree St.
It is there, in this meeting, where they will be given notice of their official
layoff date. Being told you are being laid off is almost always devastating, but
in these economic times it can be downright terrifying. With unemployment,
foreclosures, and homelessness at record rates, being jobless in this city is no
easy feat. To add insult to injury, AT&T had record profits last year,
pulling in over $127 million in revenue, and compensated their CEO, Randall
Stephenson, over $27 million.
Last week, Occupy Atlanta set up an encampment in
front of the building at 675 West Peachtree St to demand AT&T put a stop to
these layoffs. We are committed to staying put until all the layoffs are
rescinded, and/or all 740 workers will have wage/benefit protection if they are
moved to new positions. AT&T has claimed that these workers will be given
new job offers, but according to many of the workers, this is news to them.
Those who are aware of the new offers, are being asked to take positions with
considerably less pay and benefits.
This is exactly how wealth consolidation
works. What’s happening at AT&T is symbolic of what has been happening all
over the country for decades. The 1% wants to lower the standard of living for
the average American worker, all so that they can pocket some extra cash. We can
no longer allow them to squeeze every penny they can out of the 99%. The 99%
creates the wealth; it is made on our backs. It’s time these big wigs stop
getting handouts they don’t need while everyone else suffers.
Please take some time today to send AT&T a
message to
STOP ALL THE LAYOFFS!
Email CEO Randall Stephenson at
or
call Michael Matthews, VP of Labor Relations
at
(205) 977-0722
“New Georgia Bill Includes $10,000 Fine, Felony for “Conspiracy” for Picketing, Protest”
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/812313/disqus?page=entire
Occupy Philadelphia Protesters Acquitted of Sit-in Charges
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/24/headlines
Ten members of Occupy Philadelphia have been acquitted on charges of obstructing a highway during a sit-in last year outside of the city’s police headquarters. Their case marked the first full courtroom trial for Occupy Philadelphia protesters.
Occupy the SEC: Former Wall Street Workers Defend Volcker Rule Against Banks’ Anti-Regulatory Push
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/24/occupy_the_sec_former_wall_street
The latest offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Occupy the SEC, has submitted a 325-page comment to the Securities and Exchange Commission that calls on regulators to resist the financial industry’s lobbying efforts to water down the Volcker Rule, a section in the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, that aims to prevent large banks from making certain kinds of risky, speculative investments. The group is made up of former Wall Street professionals who once worked at many of the largest financial firms in the industry. We’re joined by Alexis Goldstein, who worked as a computer programmer for seven years at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. She left Wall Street in 2010 and joined the Occupy Wall Street movement soon after the encampment began. “Banks shouldn’t behave like a hedge fund,” Goldstein says. “Hedge funds are there to make money and take risky bets, and their clients tend to be these really wealthy clients. And the Volcker Rule sort of says, ‘Well, wait a minute. These big banks that enjoy all this government support shouldn’t be in that business.”