West Allis Protest

https://thecrimereport.org/2018/06/20/how-wall-street-profits-from-police-brutality-bonds/

By TCR Staff | June 20, 2018

The cost of police misconduct is increasingly sending cities around the country into debt, generating a burden for taxpayers but profits for investors, according to one advocacy group.

The Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE) released a report on Tuesday alleging that “police brutality bonds” – bonds taken out by cities to cover police related settlements and judgment costs – create a transfer of wealth from communities to Wall Street. The use of such bonds, ACRE claims, can nearly double the original costs of a settlement.

ACRE’s report examines 12 cities and counties, and includes case studies in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Lake County, Indiana.

The group estimated that those five cities bonded $837.8 million between 2008 and 2017 and paid $1.03 billion in interest during that time, creating a cost of $1.87 billion for taxpayers. Chicago accounted for the vast majority of each figure, bonding an estimated $709.3 million and paying $1 billion in interest to investors.

The companies loaning to cities included Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America, in addition to other firms and smaller regional banks.

ACRE claims police brutality bonds shield officers and their departments from any financial consequences for misconduct, and that the settlements they fund often function as hush money, preventing any real accountability. The group offers three recommendations to end what it terms “the financialization of police violence.”

First, banks and investors should not profit from cities’ borrowing to pay for settlements. Banks should be required to provide no-fee, interest-free loans when lending a city money to cover police-related settlements or judgment costs, and only banks willing to meet this stipulation should be permitted to do business with the city.

Second, cities should oblige police officers to take out individual liability insurance policies to cover the costs of settlements and judgments resulting from misconduct. This policy will create a financial incentive to curb abusive behavior, and will protect taxpayers from footing the bill for violations.

Finally, the report calls for data collection and full transparency regarding officer misconduct: which individuals are causing the settlements and judgments, how they are being held accountable, who is paying for their misconduct, and who profits from these payments.

Activists will hold a press conference at Chicago City Hall on Wednesday, June 27, alongside Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa to address the city’s response to these recommendations.

This summary was prepared by TCR news  intern Elena Schwartz. Readers’ comments welcome.

Seattle Police Out of Our Labor Council

Cal Anderson Park, Seattle, WA – 4:30 – 7:30 P.M.

The Dr. Martin Luther King County Labor Council – our labor movement – will meet Wednesday to vote on whether the Seattle Police Officers Guild can remain in our labor movement.

Join us – delegates of the Labor Council, and the rank-and-file members of our unions -in this historic action outside the Labor Temple, to call on our labor council to disaffiliate the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) from the ranks of our federation!

In doing so, we are joining with the Highline Education Association, Seattle Education Association and UAW 4121, whose members overwhelmingly voted to kick SPOG out, and with the nearly 500 rank and file who signed our petition: tinyurl.com/spogout

https://unionstrong.podbean.com/e/episode-43-racial-injustice/

The horrific and senseless death of George Floyd has left us all reeling and during an already uncertain time.

As a labor movement, we have always fought for equality, justice, and for civil rights. We must continue to stand united against the hatred that divides us, and instead stand together in peace.

Let’s use this moment of unimaginable pain to bring us all together.

On this podcast you will hear from the President of the New York State AFL-CIO, Mario Cilento and our Secretary-Treasurer Terry Melvin who is also the President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionist as they address racial injustice in America and what the Labor Movement can do to change it.

By New York State AFL-CIO on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 – 10:06 pm

Green Bay Juneteenth Rally

In 2020, 155 years later, and in the face of police brutality, the prison industrial complex, and continuing racial injustice, this Juneteenth comes with an even more impactful message.

Join us this Juneteenth, a day historically meant to celebrate freedom, even though we’re still fighting for it. This protest is to be held in Black love, light and solidarity✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

All are welcome 🔊

We are organizing games for the kids, speakers, performances and programming. Families are encouraged to bring their own grills, food and snacks.

Hosted by Black Lives United – Green Bay and We All Rise African American Resource Center

Peaceful Protest and March Through Lake Geneva

This week, working people from Wisconsin will join thousands of our brothers and sisters across the country in a Workers First Caravan for Racial and Economic Justice, an all-out action of national solidarity calling for bold policies to confront the three crises facing America: a public health pandemic, an economic free fall, and long-standing structural racism. As America’s labor movement, we must urgently address all three with precision and purpose. They cannot be fixed separately.

We are calling for America’s Five Economic Essentials. This comprehensive agenda for the three crises addresses working people’s needs for safe jobs, economic security, and freedom from systemic racism.

Wednesday, June 17, will be the anchoring day in a week-long period of action calling for a Workers First recovery. STAY TUNED as the Wisconsin AFL-CIO will be launching a special, new initiative to keep workers safe on the job in tandem with this week of action.

Workers First Caravan Week of Action event map.

Statewide Phone Banks: Join the Wisconsin AFL-CIO virtual phone bank on Wednesday, June 17, to help Wisconsinites register to vote and/or request absentee ballots for the August 11, 2020 Partisan Primary and November 3, 2020 Presidential and General Election. Visit wisaflcio.org/mobilize to sign up and get started. Many in-person voter registration drives have been postponed due to COVID-19. We can step up to fill the gap and encourage Wisconsinites to register to vote ahead of November. Voters do not need to wait to request ballots for all remaining 2020 elections. Help voters navigate voter registration and requesting mail-in ballots so we can turn out the union vote in 2020.

Milwaukee: We Thank You Wednesday- Standing for Racial and Economic Justice hosted by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council. 11:30 a.m. June 17 at Washington High School, 2525 N Sherman Blvd. Car caravan and salute to workers starts at noon. On June 17, honor the work being done by the men and women of Milwaukee Public Schools from AFSCME Wisconsin Council 32 Local 1053, IUOE Local 420, and the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association. Teachers, secretaries, support staff, engineers, custodians, and more care for the students of Milwaukee throughout the year. During COVID-19, the heart and soul of our public schools have continued to ensure that students receive virtual lessons, access to meals, and that their voices are lifted up during protests across the City. The memory of Ralph Davis, a paraprofessional and coach at Washington High School who died of COVID-19 earlier this year, will be honored. Health and safety come first. Mask and social distancing is required of all participants.

Our Workers First Caravan is calling on Congress to adopt America’s Five Economic Essentials as our roadmap to recovery and opportunity for all.

America’s Five Economic Essentials:

• Keep front-line workers safe and secure.
• Keep workers employed and protect earned pension checks.
• Keep state and local governments, our public schools and the U.S. Postal Service solvent and working.
• Keep America healthy—protect and expand health insurance for all workers.
• Keep America competitive—hire people to build infrastructure.

Together, we will raise our voices with a nationwide week of events to let our elected officials know inaction is unacceptable! Our labor movement will continue to mobilize to fight for our health, for our economy, for Black Lives, and for our country.

Join us on June 17 and all week long for the Workers First Caravan in Wisconsin as we tell our elected representatives: Workers First!

And remember, watch this space for a special announcement on how you can join in our efforts to keep workers safe at work and in the community.

In Solidarity,

Stephanie Bloomingdale, President

Dennis Delie, Secretary-Treasurer