FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Leigh Fifelski
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Office: (517) 999-3646
Cell: (248) 321-4579
Major Bank Refusing to Help Chrysler auto employees, support American Workers
LANSING – Progress Michigan and FireDogLake.com are calling for a sweeping, nationwide boycott of JP Morgan Chase today in protest over the bank’s refusal to help out struggling auto giant Chrysler. An online campaign was launched at http://action.firedoglake.com/jpmorganchase, and a Facebook group called “Americans Boycotting JP Morgan Chase” was set up to support the boycott. JP Morgan Chase runs a large portion of Chrysler’s debt, and is refusing to negotiate with the auto company on their debt: a move that that could put thousands of hardworking American auto employees out of their jobs by forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy. The groups urged everyone with a JP Morgan Chase bank account to close it out and to transfer their money to a local bank or credit union, and to cut up their Chase credit cards.
“By refusing to help Chrysler negotiate on its debt, JP Morgan Chase is all but assuring thousands of hardworking Michigan families that joblessness is an inevitability, said Leigh Fifelski of Progress Michigan. “The banking giant has already received a substantial bailout, funded by American tax dollars, but won’t budge when it comes to helping American auto workers. Closing out our Chase bank accounts and cutting up our Chase credit cards is a sure-fire way to show the bank that we’re serious about protecting our middle class auto employees, and that the bank should be, too.”
If Chrysler is forced into bankruptcy, as many as 300,000 auto workers stand to lose their jobs and their health insurance coverage. Chrysler retirees, too, could suffer a significant setback, as pension benefits and ongoing health insurance plans could be liquidated. This threat is especially significant for Michigan auto workers, as Chrysler and the rest of the Big Three auto makers comprise a large backbone of the state’s consumer economy.
In a Detroit Free Press story published on April 7, Governor Granholm voiced her support for Michigan auto workers by declaring that any banks – including JP Morgan Chase – that received bailout money from the federal government should be “open to concessions on the Chrysler debt they hold.”
“Today, JP Morgan Chase has sent a signal to the American workforce that they are more interested in churning greedy profits than saving hardworking families from poverty and joblessness,” said Jane Hamsher, founder of FireDogLake.com “By closing out our Chase accounts and slicing up our credit cards, we’ll be signaling back to the bank that we are interested in rescuing the middle class and preventing Chase from lining its pockets. Boycott JP Morgan Chase today, and save a working American family.”
###