Activists from Fight for Philly, MoveOn, and Neighborhood Networks, along with a coalition of Occupy Philly related groups, launched a day of action last Thursday in Philadelphia to raise awareness of issues related to bank lending practices that may have cost city schools as much as $331 million in lost revenue.
The activity was planned to "deliver a message" to Wells Fargo bank, with protests activities at various branch locations, and a final rally in front of the bank's main hub at 15th and Market Street.
The controversy centers on a series of complex interest rate swaps and risky financial agreements that dozens of local governments and school districts entered into with a variety of Wall Street banks before the economic collapse.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Sharon Ward, director of a government watchdog group called The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, said the banks should return some of their expensive cancellation fees to the city and school district, as well as renegotiate the swaps. She argued that they should be "good corporate citizens," especially because taxpayers bailed them out.
Leading the protest was Fight for Philly Political Director Anne Gemmell, who was also present at Tuesday's press conference.
When asked at the press conference if others, including the city, should too be held responsible for the swaps, Ms. Gemmell responded, "Let's not forget that the city was not bailed out," and that banks were in a better position to assess the precarious nature of swaps than city or school district employees.
More on this can be found at www.newsworks.org or at fightforphilly.org
