Tomorrow marks the eighth anniversary of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a key piece of legislation passed to combat the dangerous corporate behavior that sparked the global financial crisis. A decade after the Great Recession, working people are fighting corporate assaults on these commonsense reforms. As AFL‑CIO President Richard Trumka said today, “The labor movement fought hard to win these protections for working people....We need more people whose financial decisions are protected and fewer hedge fund managers who gamble with our lives.”
At the AFL‑CIO Convention last year, working people recognized that Wall Street’s excessive wealth and power is corrupting our economy and our democracy. We resolved to fight back together, working to secure sound regulations that will reign in Wall Street excess, including:
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Protecting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects consumers from tricks and traps in consumer financial products like mortgages and credit cards.
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Closing the tax loophole for private equity and hedge fund managers that allows these millionaires and billionaires to pay rates lower than middle-class professionals.
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Closing the CEO performance pay loophole that encourages lavish executive pay packages at taxpayer expense.
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Levying a tiny tax on Wall Street trades to generate revenue for investments in jobs, education and infrastructure.
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Ending “too big to fail” banks by restoring a 21st century version of the Glass–Steagall Act’s division between commercial/consumer-oriented banks and investment banks.
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Taking on Wall Street firms like private equity funds and big banks when they behave in ways that harm working people.
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And fighting to expose corporate political spending and lobbying that undermines our democracy.
