A Norma Rae Moment In the Financial Sector

From an acquaintance who allowed me to post the entire message:

http://citizenradio.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2638
So...here's what I wrote. It's missing a handy chart where it depicts the average Wells employee's hourly salary vs. the CEO's salary, but you get the gist.

Full disclosure, I had been working here for a few months and this was to be my last week. I wouldn't recommend anyone else do this, but I gotta admit, it felt damn good and maybe someone will step up and do something about it.
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Good Morning All,

Last week a friend of mine was fired for sending an inappropriate email to pretty much the whole building. Despite the fact that it was harmless, accidental, and largely ignored message, she will now join the ranks of the unemployed. If she is your average unemployed Oregonian she will remain unemployed for at least 18 months and when/if she gets rehired somewhere it will be for less money than she was making here.

Now my friend was definitely in the wrong, and I’m not writing this email to argue her situation. However, in an attempt to hold our company to a similar standard consider the following:

We work for one of the largest financial institutions in the world, we are essential to its operations, yet economic security is completely at the mercy of its senior executives. They are squeezing our salaries, reducing our benefits, and lobbying our politicians to make it harder for us to improve our financial positions despite our contributions to Wells Fargo’s successes. It means more profits for them, but less choice, less freedom and more importantly, less money for us.

In 2010, our CEO, John G. Stumpf received $18,973,722 in total compensation. By comparison, the median worker made $33,190 in 2010. John G. Stumpf made 571 times the median worker's pay.



Last year Wells Fargo made $45,415 of pure profit for every employee?
Each and every employee could’ve gotten a $10,000 bonus last year and Wells Fargo still would’ve made almost $10 billion.
How much was your last raise?

We work for one of the most profitable Corporations in the world, why aren’t we some of the best paid workers? Why is it acceptable to have mandatory overtime for months at a stretch? Why must our co-workers who are sick rush back to work before they are healthy? Why can’t our new mothers spend more time with their children? And why are our senior executives making 571 times more than us?

We cannot continue to let ourselves be taken advantage of. We have a choice. We can demand more. Individually we are weak, but together we are strong. It’s only right that we are entitled to a bigger piece of the $45,415 in profit that each of us helped make last year.

We work hard, we deserve more, we need to unionize and demand it.
Contact your local unions. Ask how you can form one. Here are some helpful links.

www.seiu.org
http://www.seiu.org/a/profilewells.php
http://www.laborunionresources.org/HOWT ... UNION.html
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2009/ ... m-a-union/
http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch
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I was escorted out of the building within 5 minutes.

USA! USA! USA!

Love it or leave it.

It took someone getting fired for this person to do what they had a mind to do for a while.

BUT, they needed to wait until their gig was almost over to do it.

Wow, what BALLS.

:eyes:

That makes it no less noble.

"I'm DONE, guys, but hey - the rest of you? Fall on your swords. Peace out."

I was their manager and through duplicitous methods that fell firmly on my head, upper management was able to find out things that middle management had been keeping from them. I turned in my resignation with the full awareness that in less than a day, I would be fired for what I did. My employees hopefully benefited from being heard by people who weren't being told the truth. I required all of the employees to come to the meeting. Again, cover for them. I wrote up the agenda and the complaints. It was all on my head, I made sure of it.

Which is what the guy in the OP did.

I can understand him not wanting to jeopardize that.

Even so, it did take some balls. He may have made it difficult for himself to find future employment.

Then you can also understand anyone else not wanting to jeopardize THEIR job.

Your point?

...when your last check from that evil old corporation has cashed.

affect his future prospects of employment.

:eyes:

Only, he knows his gig is up, no matter what.

That is called cowardice.

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:hi:

Absurdly long working hours for low, low pay. You teach all day, then coach sports and run clubs, and if you're in a boarding school, you're in charge of a dorm all night long with a 1:20 ratio of adult: students. Even in day schools, you're still up all night; you grade/correct papers and projects, write regular comments and emails to parents, make phone calls, plan lessons (sometimes for 3 different courses, keep track of numerous students (usually 60-80) and their assignments, grades and progress, "individualize" lessons and assignments for each student, and write quarterly or semester comments with end-of-term grades. The day never ends until the vacation periods, when often you're too tired to do anything much. All this for $30-50K/year or so.

This is one place that needs a union but anyone trying to form one would quickly get the boot.

Come to think of it, this is where Wall St. titans send their children to get a great education.

The NLRB should investigate this unlawful termination.