The New York City Central Labor Council held an Emergency Mobilization Press Conference today at noon in front of the NY Stock Exchange. We packed Wall Street with the usual verve.

Unions to Congress: A Blank Check is a Bad Idea.

Photos? Have I got photos?!

Update: NYCCLC press release below...

NEW YORK CITY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL EXECUTIVE BOARD CALLS ON CONGRESS TO PROTECT THE AMERICAN WORKER
IN DECIDING BAILOUT OPTIONS
New York City’s Labor Leaders Propose Seven Conditions for $700 Billion Bush Big Bailout to provide stronger protections for working families and impose aggressive public oversight on financial institutions
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 25, 2008 -- With the country facing the biggest financial crisis of our time, threatening the homes, livelihoods, retirement savings and financial accounts of millions of working people, the labor movement of New York City today called on Congress to put responsible conditions on the risky Bush Administration “Big Bailout” plan before any action is taken to ensure government accountability and financial benefits for the American worker.

The principals and members of the Central Labor Council Executive Board joined the national AFL-CIO and Change to win organizations to call on Congress to apply strict conditions and oversight to any plan that would bailout troubled businesses and risk worker’s hard-earned money. The Bush bailout proposal comes as the FBI announced it will investigate fraud at the companies whose failure led to the financial crisis, including such powerhouses as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and American International Group.

In rising anger, labor leaders proclaimed that “Wall Street's crisis” has become “Main Street's problem” as workers struggle to pay their bills, hold on to their jobs and keep their homes. The union delegation urged Congress to approve only a bailout plan that includes a payback and equity investment return strategy for working people who are footing the bill and addresses the concerns of our nation’s health care, education, energy, infrastructure and jobs crisis.

In response to the growing concerns for worker’s needs, the Central Labor Council Executive Board today announced the following “Seven Conditions for $700 Billion Bailout Plan”:

Tap Into Financial and Legal Tools to Stop Home Foreclosures. Use the full array of financial and legal tools available to the government to stop home foreclosures and restructure home mortgage loans for working families.

Institute Aggressive Public Oversight. Any action of the $700 billion bailout must be governed by an independent board with transparency and effective public and congressional oversight.

Stop the CEO Party Train. Restrict executive compensation at any companies that directly benefit from the bailout.

Repeal the Bush Tax Cuts. Repeal of Bush tax cuts to finance the bailout; invest money towards national infrastructure investments in highway, bridge and rail maintenance and improvements, and improvements in public educational systems and preservation of public services, mass transit and health care services.

Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street’s Mistakes. Every company that benefits financially from the bailout must present a secure return investment plan.

Prey on the predators. Crackdown on predatory lending practices by corrupt financial institutions by using full force of the law.

Address Corporate Governance Imbalances. Work to address the disastrous weaknesses in our financial regulatory system and corporate governance structure that allowed our financial future to become so vulnerable.

The Central Labor Council urged Congress and members of the New York Congressional Delegation to act quickly and responsibly, and hold those who caused our national financial crisis accountable.

I was too far from the speakers (and there are a lot of echoes in those caverns!) to hear more than the opening "Brothers and sisters!" of the speeches. But I did hear one speaker talk about how "we" were going to make sure Obama got elected, and let's just say I wasn't the only one booing at that.

I spoke with a couple of people there, Obama supporters, about Obama's disappointing performance on this issue. Both were surprised to hear that he was willing to negotiate on the matter of the bankruptcy provision - surprised in the sense that they hadn't known it, not that they thought it was out of character. (Do Obama supporters even pay attention to what the guy is saying?)

But that was a minor feature of the rally. Mostly a great showing by NYC's organized labor, another wonderful diverse crowd, and I got to stand next to the Steamfitters again, which is always an honor.

I understand there's another rally going on there now...

[Edited to add another "C", because I always forget!]