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99% Spring: A Season of Action

Minnesotans for a Fair Economy

www.mnfaireconomy.org

Minneapolis Public Schools Bank RFP

Star Tribune | Schools May Switch Where They Bank

Schools May Switch Where They Bank

Steve Brandt | Star Tribune | April 12, 2012
Minneapolis Public Schools may be getting itself a new set of bankers. Chief Finance Officer Robert Doty said that he wants to solicit proposals for handling the district payroll when he reviewed district banking practices for the school board this week. Two factors stood out in his presentation. One is that Doty, who is only a few months into his job, said that no one could remember the last time the district opened its banking business to competitive proposals. Doty also reported that the district could save more than $20,000 annually in fees its now paying to Wells Fargo for payroll transactions if it shifted to a bank charging the same fees as US Bank. US Bank charges lower fees because it is the banker for a fund of more than $1 billion in which schools districts in Minnesota pool their deposits for a better return. That volume allows that pool of districts to negotiate lower transaction fees with US Bank. For example, Doty's presentation said the district would pay about 11 cents for each payroll check issued at US Bank, compared to 30 cents at Wells Fargo. The district now banks with eight institutions but 99 percent of its $685 million in transactions this fiscal year runs through Wells Fargo and US Bank. Wells Fargo handles about four-fifths of the districts banking transactions and usually more than half of its deposits because it is the depository for the the district payroll. US Bank handles funds used to pay the districts other bills. Bank charges are only one criterion for the districts choice of bankers. District policy also requires that a bank be a local taxpayer, make social and economic contributions to the community, be capable of managing the districts cash flow, and have satisfactory deposit security, liquidity, and yields. Doty said he did not consider banking policies on foreclosure in his review. Which banks get the district's payroll business depends on that combination of factors, but Doty listed TCF Bank and Bremer Bank as examples of local banks big enough to compete for the districts payroll business. Doty said he wants the district to select the district's next payroll bank by July 1, and then consider whether to open the non-payroll banking to competition. 2

Payday Lending Report Release

4/17/12

New York Times | Chasing Fees, Banks Court Low-Income Customers Huffington Post | Wells Fargo Extends Loans with Interest Rates Up to 274 Percent Star Tribune | Report Rips Banks on Payday Loans MPR | Advocates Say US Bank, Wells Fargo Loans Prey on Low-income Borrowers Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal | MN Group Claims Big Banks Using Payday Loans Twin Cities Business | U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo Criticized for High-APR Loans Minnesota Daily | U.S. Bancorps Money Talks

Most customers cant afford to repay the whole loan in just a few weeks, and if the payday lender deposits their check, it will bounce, costing the customer even more in fees. So instead of incurring bounced-check fees, the customer agrees to renew the loan and just pays the interest, or takes out a new loan to pay off the old one, leading to a cycle of debt that can last for months or even years. Predatory Payday Lending in Minnesota: How U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo Hurt Consumers with Cash Fast Loans

Chasing Fees, Banks Court Low-Income Customers

Jennifer Silver-Greenberg and Ben Protess | New York Times | April 25, 2012
When David Wegner went looking for a checking account in January, he was peppered with offers for low-end financial products, including a prepaid debit card with numerous fees, a short-term emergency loan with steep charges, money wire services and check-cashing options. I may as well have gone to a payday lender, said Mr. Wegner, a 36-year-old nursing assistant in Minneapolis, who ended up choosing a local branch of U.S. Bank and avoided the payday lenders, pawnshops and check cashers lining his neighborhood. Along with a checking account, he selected a $1,000 short-term loan to help pay for his cystic fibrosis 3

medications. The loan cost him $100 in fees, and that will escalate if it goes unpaid. An increasing number of the nations large banks U.S. Bank, Regions Financial and Wells Fargo among them are aggressively courting low-income customers like Mr. Wegner with alternative products that can carry high fees. They are rapidly expanding these offerings partly because the products were largely untouched by recent financial regulations, and also to recoup the billions in lost income from recent limits on debit and credit card fees. Banks say that they are offering a valuable service for customers who might not otherwise have access to traditional banking and that they can offer these products at competitive prices. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal agency, said it was examining whether banks ran afoul of consumer protection laws in the marketing of these products. In the push for these customers, banks often have an advantage over payday loan companies and other storefront lenders because, even though banks are regulated, they typically are not subject to interest rate limits on payday loans and other alternative products. Some federal regulators and consumer advocates are concerned that banks may also be steering people at the lowest end of the economic ladder into relatively expensive products when lower-cost options exist at the banks or elsewhere. It is a disquieting development for poor customers, said Mark T. Williams, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner. They are getting pushed into high-fee options. We look at alternative financial products offered by both banks and nonbanks through the same lens what is the risk posed to consumers? said Richard Cordray, director of the bureau. Practices that make it hard for consumers to anticipate and avoid costly fees would be cause for concern. Analysts in the banking industry say that lending to low-income customers, especially those with tarnished credit, is tricky and that banks sometimes have to charge higher rates to offset their risk. Still, in an April survey of prepaid cards, Consumers Union found that some banks prepaid cards come with lower fees than nonbank competitors. While banks have offered short-term loans and some check-cashing services in the past, they are introducing new products and expanding some existing ones. Last month, Wells Fargo introduced a reloadable prepaid card, while Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., unveiled its Now Banking suite of products that includes bill pay, check cashing, money transfers and a prepaid card. The Regions package is meant to attract the growing pay-as-you-go consumer, said John Owen, the banks senior executive vice president for consumer services. The packages are the latest twist on cross-selling, in which lenders compete to win a larger share of customer business with deals on checking, savings accounts and mortgages. Reaching the so-called unbanked or underbanked population people who use few, if any, bank services could be lucrative, industry consultants said. Kimberly Gartner, vice president for advisory services at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, said that such borrowers were a $45 billion untapped market.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimates that about nine million households in the country do not have a traditional bank account, while 21 million, or 18 percent, of Americans are underbanked. Mr. Wegner, the U.S. Bank customer, said that once he mentioned that he needed a bank account, an employee started selling him prepaid cards, check cashing and short-term loan options. Mr. Wegner, who makes about $1,200 a month, said that he felt like a second-tier customer. It was clear that I was not getting the same pitches that wealthy clients would, he said. Since that initial visit, Mr. Wegner said he avoided the branch so he was not approached with offers. I go through the drive-through now, he said. Bank payday loans, which are offered as advances on direct-deposit paychecks, are a particularly vexing part of the new pitch from lenders, consumer advocates said. The short- term, high-fee loans, like the one Mr. Wegner received, are offered by a handful of banks, including Wells Fargo. In May, Regions introduced its Ready Advance loan after determining that some of its customers were heading to storefront payday lenders. The loans can get expensive. When the loan comes due, the bank automatically withdraws from the customers checking account the amount of the loan and the origination fee typically $10 for every $100 borrowed regardless of whether there is enough money in the account. That can lead to overdraft and other fees that translate into an annual interest rate of more than 300 percent, according to the Center for Responsible Lending. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees the nations largest banks, said in June that the loans raised operational and credit risks and supervisory concerns. Last summer, federal bank regulators ordered MetaBank, which is based in Iowa, to return $4.8 million to customers who took out high-interest loans. Lenders are also joining the prepaid card market. In 2009, consumers held about $29 billion in prepaid cards, according to the Mercator Advisory Group, a payments industry research group. By the end of 2013, the market is expected to reach $90 billion. A big lure for banks is that prepaid cards are not restricted by Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. That exemption means that banks are able to charge high fees when a consumer swipes a prepaid card. The companies distributing the cards have drawn criticism for not clearly disclosing fees that can include a charge to activate the card, load money on it and even to call customer service. Customers with a convenient cash prepaid card from U.S. Bank, for example, pay a $3 fee to enroll, a $3 monthly maintenance fee, $3 to visit a bank teller and $15 dollars to replace a lost card. Capital One charges prepaid card users $1.95 for using an A.T.M. more than once a month, while Wells Fargo charges $1 to speak to a customer service agent more than twice a month. 5

Some smaller banks even offer prepaid cards with credit lines, which carry steep interest charges. This is a two-tiered, separate and unequal system and it is worsening, said Sarah Ludwig, a lawyer who started the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project. Some lenders are even styling their offices to look like check-cashing stores. In June, Redstone Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in Alabama, will open two stores that are designed to look exactly like check cashers. One of the stores, in Decatur, Ala., is part of a run-down strip mall and includes a sign that says Right Choice, Money Services. An adjacent store, not affiliated with Redstone, advertises loans for people who need money fast. It looks like a check casher, but once you get inside you get the best of both worlds, Peter Alvarez, Redstones emerging markets manager. The stores will offer traditional checking and savings accounts alongside prepaid cards, money transfer and bill paying. We wanted to attract people who wouldnt naturally come to a bank.

Wells Fargo Extends Loans with Interest Rates Up to 274 Percent

Bonnie Kavoussi | Huffington Post | April 17, 2012
Big banks are participating in a practice commonly associated with the use of big signs to lure vulnerable Americans. Wells Fargo, the country's biggest bank by market value, and U.S. Bank, the ninth largest bank by assets, are helping bankroll the payday lending industry, according to a report released earlier this week by Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, an advocacy organization. According to the report, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank have both financed top payday lenders and extend payday loans to their own customers at sky-high interest rates: 365 percent per year for U.S. Bank and 274 percent for Wells Fargo on $500 loans. The findings come as big banks face growing scruitiny for their payday lending activities. Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in January that the bureau plans to look closely at big banks that make payday loans. The nation's top consumer cop is likely zeroing in on the practice because it's often the most financially vulnerable consumers that payday lenders are targeting. About one in four bank payday borrowers are Social Security recipients, and, on average, bank payday borrowers are in debt 175 days per year, the Center for Responsible Lending found in a report last year.

Since Wells Fargo and U.S. bank are nationally chartered, they are getting around some state laws that regulate payday lenders, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank also have financed some of the largest payday lenders in the country. Wells Fargo has financed Advance America (with 2,313 stores), Ace Cash Express (with 1,200 stores), Check into Cash (with 1,100 stores), Check 'N' Go (with 1,000 stores), Cash America (with 655 stores), EZ Corp. (with 450 stores), Dollar Financial/Money Mart (with 312 stores), and First Cash Financial/Cash & Go (with 226 stores), according to the Minnesota report. U.S. Bank also has financed Advance America, Cash America, and EZ Corp., the report says. Still, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank told the Star-Tribune on Monday that they do not engage in payday lending. They said their services are called "checking account advances" or "direct deposit advances." Meanwhile, some states are trying to crack down on payday lenders. Some Rhode Island Democratic lawmakers are pushing to cut the maximum annual interest rate that payday lenders can charge to 36 percent from 260 percent, according to the Providence Journal. Through a proposed ballot initiative, Missouri's secretary of state also wants to cap the annual interest rate charged by payday lenders at 36 percent, according to the Kansas City Star. A county judge recently ruled that the proposed ballot initiative's summary was "inadequate," but Missouri's secretary of state plans to appeal the decision.

Report Rips Banks on Payday Loans

A Minnesota group claims four banks, including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, charge as much as 365 percent interest on such loans.

Jennifer Bjorhous | Star Tribune | April 17, 2012

As regulators crack down on storefront and Internet payday lenders, a new report says four big banks -- including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank -- are major players in the multibillion-dollar fast-cash industry, charging vulnerable people interest rates as high as 365 percent. In many cases, the four banks charge even higher fees and interest rates for their emergency loans than payday lenders, according to a brief report released Monday by Minnesotans for a Fair Economy. The group names Wells Fargo Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Regions Bank and Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank. The St. Paul-based organization claims that Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank are hiding behind their charters to avoid the sort of regulation other payday lenders face. Formed last year, the group is made up of community groups, faith groups and labor groups such as the Service Employees International Union. 7

"The banks are getting away with something that had drawn legal action on the payday lenders you see on the street," said Kevin Whelan, spokesman for Minnesotans for a Fair Economy. "We hope the leadership at each institution will reconsider these business practices." Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank representatives say they don't engage in payday lending. They call the services "checking account advances" or "direct deposit advances" and offer a list of features that make them different from payday loans. The advances, for example, are only available to people who have checking accounts with the banks and make regular direct deposits into them. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo said another key difference is that, unlike with payday lenders, it doesn't roll over or extend the advances. Instead, the amount is automatically repaid with the customer's next direct deposit, whenever that is. Neither bank actually calculates an annual percentage rate (APR) on interest for the loans, saying they charge straightforward fees. "It's not appropriate to calculate an APR on a flat fee that must be repaid with the next direct deposit," said U.S. Bank spokesman Tom Joyce. U.S. Bank introduced its "checking account advance" in 2006, he said, adding that a 2012 customer survey indicated 96 percent of the customers using it were "satisfied" or "extremely satisfied" with it, Joyce said. According to the Minnesotans for a Fair Economy report, a $500 advance repaid in the typical 10-day term costs $50 at U.S. Bank, which would be an APR of 365 percent. Over at rival Wells Fargo, which has provided such advances since 1994, the fee for the same loan is $37.50, which amounts to an APR of 274 percent. "It is an expensive form of credit and it's not intended to solve long-term financial needs," said Wells Fargo spokeswoman Richele Messick. By one industry estimate, payday lending is a nearly $40 billion-a-year industry in the United States. Payday lenders have been criticized for setting loan terms that keep cash-strapped borrowers in perpetual debt. Nearly one-quarter of all bank advance payday borrowers receive Social Security, according to the Durham, N.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending. Many states, including Minnesota, have been cracking down on storefront and click-for-cash Internet operators. Banks, with their state and federal regulators and federal guarantees on customer deposits, are supposed to be different. Critics say they aren't. Bank advances are payday loans in disguise, they argue, with their short terms, extra high costs and the lenders' direct access to borrowers' accounts. 8

Banks have become more aggressive in marketing such products, said Uriah King, vice president of state policy at the Center for Responsible Lending. Because Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank are federally chartered, they say they're not subject to state laws, he said. "I think that's one of the real troubling [developments] in the last couple of years," King said. The new U.S. consumer watchdog, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has targeted illegal practices among payday lenders as a priority. Its investigation includes the emergency deposit advance products banks offer. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has sued eight non-bank Internet payday lenders in recent years for charging strapped Minnesotans unlawfully high annual interest rates of up to 782 percent. The state Department of Commerce has taken on a number of out-of state Internet payday lending companies, too. Minnesota law caps the fees that can be charged on payday loans. For loans up to $50, for instance, the cap is $5.50; for loans between $350 and $1,000, the limit is 33 percent annual interest plus a $25 administrative fee. David Wagner, a 36-year-old Minneapolis man with cystic fibrosis, said he used regular payday lenders for years. Last year, he said, he went to U.S. Bank seeking to open a checking account with overdraft protection and a bank employee steered him to the direct deposit advance program. Only later did he realize how expensive it was, he said. He's still using it because he hopes to establish an ongoing relationship with a bank. "I don't have a choice," said Wagner, explaining that he cannot make ends meet with his Social Security check and his part-time work as a home health aide. "The payday loans I get have helped with medication and food for the house, but it doesn't help me get caught up completely," Wagner said. "We almost never get ahead." Jennifer Bjorhus 612-673-4683

Advocates Say US Bank, Wells Fargo Loans Prey on Low-Income Borrowers

Madeline Baran | Minnesota Public Radio | April 17, 2012

ST. PAUL, Minn. A new report claims US Bank and Wells Fargo are preying on low-income customers by offering short-term loans with steep fees. The report by the group Minnesotans for a Fair Economy claims the fees are the same or worse than charges imposed by traditional payday lenders. Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, which includes community, faith and labor groups, has asked Wells Fargo and US Bank to stop offering the loans. "This product is a debt trap. That's it. It's designed for profit and we see the pain that it offers," said Darryl Dahlheimer, program director at Lutheran Social Service Financial Counseling, who supports the group's efforts to persuade the banks to stop offering the loans. 9

The loans are offered to customers at US Bank and Wells Fargo who have a bank account in good standing and receive paychecks, Social Security checks, or other income via direct deposit. Customers can request up to $500 in a cash advance without completing an application or meeting with a personal banker. The banks then take the loan amount, plus fees, from the next direct deposit. The cash advances come with considerable fees. US Bank charges $2 for every $20 borrowed - a 10- percent fee. Wells Fargo charges slightly less $1.50 for every $20. Customers pay the same fee regardless of whether they pay the loan back in a day or a month. US Bank requires customers to pay back the advance and the fees within 35 days. For example, a US Bank customer who takes out a $100 cash advance pays $10 in fees. If the customer pays the loan back in 10 days, the fees are the equivalent of a 365 percent annual interest rate, the report said. Kevin Whelan, spokesperson for Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, said he does not know of any other banks that offer similar loans. Officials at TCF Bank and Bank of America told MPR News they do not offer this type of loan. Wells Fargo and US Bank declined to provide information about how many customers rely on cash advances and how frequently customers use the advances. A 2011 report by the nonpartisan research and policy group Center for Responsible Lending found that nearly one-quarter of all consumers who use bank payday advances receive Social Security. It also found customers who rely on the loans are in debt for 175 days a year on average. The group compiled the statistics using nationwide checking account data from a private research firm. US Bank spokesperson Nicole Garrison-Sprenger declined an interview request. In an email, she said the bank's product, known as Checking Account Advance, "is a safety net for customers who have no other way to pay for unexpected expenses such as a medical emergency or an auto repair." The bank is upfront about the costs, she said, and informs customers of lower-cost options that might be available. It also provides what Garrison-Sprenger called "mandatory 'cooling off' periods" to prevent customers from relying too frequently on the short-term loans. Some consumer advocates say the limits are not effective. US Bank allows customers to take out cash advances for nine consecutive statement cycles. After that, the bank imposes a 90-day "cooling off period" before allowing customers to begin borrowing again. Wells Fargo allows customers to receive cash advances for six consecutive statement periods. After that, the bank reduces the amount a customer can borrow by $100 per month until the amount reaches zero. However, the bank offers an option to get around the restriction, which it notes on its website. "You can avoid this reduction in your standard credit limit if you do not take a new advance for one complete statement period at any time," the website says.

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Wells Fargo spokesperson Richele Messick said the bank is transparent about the high fees and intends the loans to be used only in emergencies. She notes that Wells Fargo provides a monthly payment plan for some customers who cannot pay back the advance within 35 days. "It is an expensive form of credit that is not intended to solve longer-term financial needs," Messick said. "And we have policies in place to help ensure that our customers do not use direct deposit advance as a long-term solution." Messick said the cash advances differ from traditional payday loans because the bank does not allow customers to roll-over debt from month to month. Customers have to pay back the loan and fees before they can borrow again. But Dahlheimer, at Lutheran Social Service, said the distinction is irrelevant. "Talk about splitting legal hairs, my goodness," he said. Dahlheimer said that for low-income consumers who receive financial counseling at Lutheran Social Service, cash advances are often the first step to a ruinous cycle of debt and bankruptcy. Customers might receive quick cash up front, he said, but when part of their next paycheck or Social Security check is used to pay back that debt, customers will often have trouble paying that month's bills. Customers will then request another cash advance for the next paycheck, he said. In the long run, when customers have reached the limit for cash advances or cannot pay back the amount owed, they face bounced checks, overdraft fees, and poor credit, he said. "It's like throwing gasoline on the fire of indebtedness," Dahlheimer said. "People who are fairly desperate, who have poor credit, can't have access to traditional loans, it's like having a product out there like an accelerant, which is what arsonists use, to make the problem much, much worse quicker." Banks are not subject to state laws that regulate traditional payday lenders, according to Wells Fargo and organizers with Minnesotans for a Fair Economy. Opponents of the loans have contacted federal regulators to ask for a ban on bank payday loans. Local community groups have also met with US Bank to ask them to stop offering the loans, said Whelan, the Minnesotans for a Fair Economy spokesperson. "We think that US Bank and Wells Fargo, just because they care about their image in the community and want to do the right thing, should design products with fees that offer short-term credit on fair terms and not these exorbitant and predatory terms," Whelan said.

MN Group Claims Big Banks Using Payday Loans

Mark Reilly | Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal | April 17, 2012
An advocacy group is criticizing a roster of big banks, including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp, for using 'payday'-style loans while avoiding the scrutiny that the payday-loan sector has drawn from regulators.

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The Star Tribune reports on the dispute, which also cropped up last year. The banks say they're not offering payday loans, but "direct deposit advances," while the group, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, says the result is the same consumers get trapped under debt and high interest rates. Minnesota has cracked down on Internet-based payday lenders in recent months.

U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo Criticized for High-APR Loans

A local advocacy group released a report stating that four large banks, including U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, are charging people interest rates as high as 365 percent. Nataleeya Boss | Twin Cities Business | April 17, 2012
St. Paul-based advocacy group Minnesotans For a Fair Economy has criticized four large banks, including U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo, for charging customers exorbitant ratesas high as 365 percenton loans that resemble payday loans. In a report released Monday, the group said that while regulators are constantly cracking down on smaller payday lenders for charging customers higher fees and interest rates than allowed by Minnesota law, four large banks charge even higher rates for their emergency loans. In addition to Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which has a major Minnesota presence, the group also named Fifth Third Bank and Regions Bank in its report. The banks are getting away with something that had drawn legal action on the payday lenders you see on the street, Kevin Whelan, spokesman for Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, told the Star Tribune. We hope the leadership at each institution will reconsider these business practices. The group called out U.S. Banks checking account advance service, which charges customers $2 for every $20 borrowed, and Wells Fargos direct deposit advance that charges $1.50 for every $20 borrowed. Because the terms of these loans are so shorttypically 10 daysthey amount to extremely high annual percentage rates (APRs): 365 percent at U.S. Bank and 274 percent at Wells Fargo, according to the report. However, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo representatives told the Star Tribune that these advances are different from payday loans because they are only available to people who have checking accounts with the banks and make regular direct deposits into themand because the advances are automatically repaid with the customers next direct deposit. In addition, both banks claim that they dont actually calculate an APR on interest for the loans because they charge straightforward fees instead.

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Its not appropriate to calculate an APR on a flat fee that must be repaid with the next direct deposit, U.S. Bank spokesman Tom Joyce told the Minneapolis newspaper. U.S. Bank reportedly introduced its checking account advance service in 2006. A 2012 customer survey found that 96 percent of the customers using it were satisfied or extremely satisfied with it, Joyce said.

U.S. Bancorps Money Talks (OPINION)

Candice Wheeler | Minnesota Daily | April 25, 2012
Ive been screwed over by my bank a handful of times due to obscene overdraft fees a charge that can be as much as $35 each day it goes unpaid. U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo are offering their customers who receive paychecks via direct deposit the option of short-term loans to act as a safety net to catch those fees before they skyrocket. Some people rely on these types of loans, which charge a 10 percent fee, to get them out of their financial binds. The advocacy group Minnesotans for a Fair Economy is calling these paycheck loans an unavoidable debt trap for low-income borrowers. The group has also criticized the banks for their lack of foreclosure assistance in mainly black and Latino neighborhoods. Last years $452 million in total mortgage revenue was an all-time record for U.S. Bank. In their first quarter of 2012, U.S. Bank recorded a net income of $1.3 billion 9 percent higher than 2011. These figures are driven by a 7-percent growth in net interest income and an 11 percent growth in fee revenue. But cash advances, despite the high fees, can be helpful when used as a safety net for faulty pending transactions that often lead to an overdraft. In 2011, customers paid approximately $31.6 billion in overdraft fees. U.S. Bank allows customers to use the loans continually for up to nine months, followed by 90-day break before they can start up again. Theres no doubt these advances could send those who are financially unstable into a habitual cycle of debt; any loan or credit card could. But there isnt necessarily any harm in offering the loans. Its essentially the customers decision whether or not to utilize the funds, and its reassuring to have that emergency cash available at my fingertips. Candice Wheeler welcomes comments at cwheeler@mndaily.com. 13

Shareholder Spring: U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo

Los Angeles Times | Protesters Disrupt Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting Mother Jones | Wells Fargo Turns Away Its Own Shareholders From Its Shareholder Meeting Star Tribune | U.S. Bancorp Ride Mortgage Surge KSTP TV | Tax Day Rally Focuses on Banks, Wealthy Americans WCCO Radio | Protesters Gather at U.S. Bank Shareholders Meeting The Uptake | U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo Throw Families onto the Street [In the print and online editions of the Los Angeles Times, a photo featuring SEIU Local 26 activist Gerardo Cajamarca was included. Cajamarca was part of our Minnesota delegation. The photo is included below.]

Protesters Disrupt Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting

Despite the tumult, Wells Fargo said 96% of investors casting nonbinding "say on pay" votes supported CEO John Stumpf's $19.8-million compensation package. E. Scott Reckard | Los Angeles Times | April 25, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive John Stumpf got to keep his pay, but little else went the banker's way during an acrimonious annual shareholder meeting. Demonstrators swarmed the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco's financial district to protest the bank's lending and foreclosure policies. Some shareholders couldn't get into the meeting as the crowd, which police estimated exceeded 1,000 people, shut down nearby streets. 14

 Inside the meeting, Stumpf was disrupted by protesters who made it into the auditorium: "The time for talk is over," said Richard Smith, an Episcopal priest in the low-income Mission District who urged Wells Fargo executives to show compassion for struggling borrowers. Despite the tumult, shareholders voted to embrace Stumpf's stewardship. The bank said 96% of investors casting nonbinding "say on pay" votes supported the CEO's $19.8-million compensation package. He's earned about $60 million over the last three years. That's in sharp contrast to Citigroup Inc. shareholders' vote last week against CEO Vikram Pandit's $14.9- million pay package for 2011. The difference between Citi and Wells Fargo might reflect the banks' comparative performance during and after the financial crisis. Citi required two government bailouts to survive, and its stock still languishes at less than 10% of its pre-crisis high. Wells weathered the crisis in far better shape and has recovered more than 90% of its pre-crisis share price, with its profits now approaching record levels. Demonstrators, many from the Occupy Wall Street movement, say Wells Fargo's success has come at its customers' expense. They demanded that Wells Fargo halt foreclosures, divest investments in prison- management companies, end high-interest payday lending and forgive debts of struggling borrowers with underwater mortgages. Eight demonstrators were cited for trespassing after causing disruptions at the meeting or in the streets outside, San Francisco police said. One long-haired, bearded man who identified himself as Stardust was led to a sheriff's van with his hands bound behind him, protesting: "I have a legal proxy to enter and they refused me." The protesters operated under the "99% Power" banner, referring to those not among America's highest income earners. They included labor groups, community activists and a coalition of 30 San Francisco 15

religious leaders who led a prayer session with readings from the Bible and Koran. "Do not profit by the blood of your fellows," said a Torah quotation read by Camille Shira Angel, rabbi of a Reform synagogue. Protesters also pushed a mock stagecoach reading "Hells Fargo" through the streets and shouted through a loudspeaker next to a giant, cigar-smoking inflatable rat: "The 99% have arrived at the building. The 1% are not getting in." But in the end the demonstrators complained they couldn't get into the meeting. Marguerite Young, a service workers union organizer, said Wells Fargo had allowed entry by only 20 or 30 of more than 200 protesters who had bought shares of the bank's stock. Wells had packed the ballroom with workers from its offices early in the day, she said. "The rest of the room about 250 people are their own employees, members of the board and officers," she said. Wells spokesman Ancel Martinez said access had been restricted as a matter of security. "San Francisco P.D. made the call that we needed to shut it down," he said. Martinez said it was the first time in memory that there had been no questions at an annual meeting. It lasted 45 minutes, compared with 21/2 hours last year. scott.reckard@latimes.com

Wells Fargo Turns Away Its Own Shareholders From Its Shareholder Meeting
Josh Harkinson | Mother Jones | April 24, 2012
"I would not want to work for Wells Fargo," one woman on lunch break in downtown San Francisco loudly told her friend. No kidding. At around noon today, some 2,000 activists launched a blitzkrieg against the bank's annual shareholder meeting at the Merchants Exchange Building, where they blocked entrances, inflated a two- story cigar-smoking rat in the street, and deployed hundreds of shareholder activists to pack the joint. Citing space constraints, the bank turned away many of the shareholders, a move protesters quickly decried as an illegal attempt to dodge tough questions. A press release from the activist group the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment claimed Wells Fargo packed the meeting with its own employees, and continued to let shareholders who were not part of the protest in through a side door. A Wells Fargo spokesman did not immediately return my call.

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In the building lobby, I ran into Wells Fargo shareholder Andrew Constans, who was wearing a suit and tie and holding a paper copy of his single share of stock. The 19-year-old University of Minnesota student flew halfway across the country to tell Wells Fargo that it should pay more taxes. (Between 2008 and 2010, Wells Fargo paid none, but got $681 million in tax credits.) "I pay taxes, so why can't they?" Constans asked. "I'm not a multinational corporation; I don't have 60 tax shelters." The Wells Fargo protest is part of an effort on the part of 99% Power, a coalition of dozens of labor and community groups that plans to target some 40 corporate shareholder meetings over the next six weeks. "It's a broader group than normally does shareholders meetings," says Stephen Lerner, an executive board member with the Service Employees International Union. "It's a campaign that's saying, let's gather all the folks who are impacted negatively by these giant corporations and lets figure out ways to illustrate that and challenge them directly at the meetings." That strategy was on full display today in downtown San Francisco, where demonstrators hit Wells Fargo from every possible angle. A speaker with the immigrants rights group Causa Justa pointed out that Wells Fargo is a shareholder in Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison firm that profits from detaining illegal immigrants. Bob Donjacour, a freelance computer programmer and member of Occupy San Francisco, held a sign that said, "Stop Funding Dirty Power," highlighting the bank's investments in oil and gas. Other protesters criticized Wells Fargo's involvement in the American Legislative Exchange Council, the excessive salary of CEO John Stumpf ($19 million in 2010), and, of course, its foreclosure practices. On the corner of Pine and Sansome Streets, I ran into artist Cheryl Meeker, a member of an Occupy- related protest group known as Don't Just Click There. "It's about doing things in real life, like, physically," she explained. She was blocking the intersection with a long cloth banner with flames on it as others held up signs reading, "Hells Fargo." "Do you think we can get through?" asked two guys in nice suits. Meeker declined, but did give each of them a dollar bill. It sported an image of humans pulling a stagecoach with the caption: "Debt slavery." According to press reports, 24 people were arrested at the protests, including several who disrupted the shareholder meeting from within. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo announced record profits and awarded CEO John Stumpf a $19.8 million pay package. 17

U.S. Bancorp Ride Mortgage Surge

Revenue growth at the Minneapolis-based bank was the strongest in two years. Earnings rose 28 percent, but shares rose only 1 percent. Jennifer Bjorhous | Star Tribune | April 18, 2012
U.S. Bancorp beat Wall Street estimates Tuesday on strong overall loan growth plus a surprising surge in mortgage activity. Although profits dropped a skosh from the previous quarter, when the bank benefited from a one-time settlement gain, they were up 28 percent from a year earlier to $1.3 billion, or 67 cents per share, topping Wall Street expectations for 64 cents. The Minneapolis-based bank saw revenue jump 9 percent in the first quarter over a year ago, to $4.9 billion, its strongest revenue growth in two years. The increase reflects a 7.3 percent rise in net interest income and an 11.3 percent jump in non- interest income, mainly driven by strong mortgage banking. The lender also boosted income by about $90 million by setting aside less to cover bad loans. Except for higher-than-expected earnings, results were "right down the fairway," analysts at Robert W. Baird & Co. said in a research note. U.S. Bank shares closed Tuesday at $31.55, up about 1 percent. U.S. Bank is regarded as one of the country's most profitable and best-run big banks, and already-high investor expectations likely muted reaction to the lender's solid earnings report. Investors were also likely concerned about fee income from debit and credit cards, said Erik Oja, banking industry analyst at S&P Capital IQ. "I think that was much worse than expected, which is one reason why the stock isn't up that much today," Oja said. Oja said he was concerned about the bank being able to maintain the mortgage pace as it cashes in on the boom in people refinancing their mortgages. The $452 million in total mortgage revenue is an all-time record for the bank, he said, and about twice what it usually makes. "It's unsustainable, but it's really good," Oja said. In a conference call with analysts, U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis said the company has been strategically taking mortgage business from smaller banks and larger banks backing away from that sector. It's a market share opportunity "you only get once in a lifetime," he said. The bank's other source of revenue, net interest income, saw growth driven by investment securities, a change in the classification of credit card balance transfer fees as interest income and a 6.4 percent rise in average total loans, including residential mortgages, commercial loans, credit card loans and commercial real estate loans. Its mortgage loan volume grew by 20 percent, and its commercial loan volume, which includes loans to small businesses, rose 17 percent. 18

The bank's credit card balance was boosted by its acquisition of a $700 million portfolio of credit cards from Bank of America. Analysts said it's difficult to know just how much of the bank's overall loan growth is organic, as opposed to taking business away from competitors. Davis told analysts that U.S. Bank expects to recoup by year's end about half the revenue it has lost from various new federal regulations, such as a cap on what banks can collect on debit card swipes. Without elaborating, he said part of that recovery will come from "some increase in certain fee categories." "We're going to be very careful," he said. David also indicated the bank may make more acquisitions in other banks, or corporate trust and payment operations. The bank announced last month that it will raise the dividend payout for shareholders 56 percent to 78 cents per share from 50 cents annually. It also said it will buy back 100 million shares of common stock over the next year. It repurchased 16 million shares in the first quarter. At the bank's annual shareholders meeting Tuesday in downtown Minneapolis, Davis fielded several questions from attendees on foreclosures, taxes and the critical need for banks to facilitate wire transfers of money to Somalia, a major issue for the Somali community in Minnesota. Many of the people asking questions were linked to a St. Paul-based activist group called Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, a coalition of community, faith and labor groups that also organized a protest outside the meeting. On Monday, the group issued a short report critical of the expensive short-term, emergency advances that both U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo make to customers with direct deposit checking accounts, accusing them of making payday loans that take advantage of vulnerable people. Jennifer Bjorhus 612-673-4683

Tax Day Rally Focuses on Banks, Wealthy Americans

Scott Theisen | KSTP TV | April 17, 2012

Some Minnesotans used this tax deadline day to protest banks and wealthy Americans, who they say don't pay their fair share in taxes. 19

 The group Minnesotans for a Fair Economy led a rally outside the Minneapolis Convention Center, where U.S. Bank held its annual shareholder meeting. Protesters say the banks are holding onto their profits too tightly and not doing enough to help average Americans.

Protesters Gather at U.S. Bank Shareholders Meeting

Chris Simon | WCCO Radio | April 17, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) Protestors gathered Tuesday morning outside the Minneapolis Convention Center, where shareholders of the Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank were scheduled to start their annual meeting. The group Minnesotans For a Fair Economy is using Tax Day to underscore the demand that big banks do more to help the 99 percent. Kevin Wayland, with the group, says a number of Americans are unhappy with how rich corporate America and politicians have gotten away with creating economic turmoil. People are going to rally outside here of the U.S. Bank shareholders meeting, and they will then march down to the Wells Fargo headquarters and ask that the banks that got billions in bailouts start paying their fair share of taxes and stop lobbying for loopholes and tax breaks for CEOs and big, bailed-out banks, said Wayland. He said the groups demand is that banks like U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo stop lobbying for the interests of the so-called 1 percent and begin to act on behalf of the communities that they serve.

U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo Throw Families onto the Street
Jacob Wheeler | The Uptake | April 17, 2012

If US Bank and Wells Fargo truly care about this community, why are they so intent to throw families out on the street, and empty the neighborhoods of Minneapolis, asked SEIU activist Mark Freeman at a spirited Tax Day rally in front of Wells Fargos headquarters. Meanwhile, activists with Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, homeowners who have taken the Occupy Homes pledge to stay in their foreclosed properties, and Somali Americans who are unable to transfer money to families in their war-torn homeland, successfully penetrated US Banks shareholders meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center. They peppered CEO Richard Davis with demands that US Bank pay more in taxes and negotiate with homeowners facing foreclosure whose mortgages are or were at one time controlled by US Bank. 20

Pressure on big banks working The 99% have been putting pressure on US Bank and other big banks for months now and its working, said John Vinje, whose Bloomington, Minnesota, home is at risk of being sold through a sheriffs sale. We will stay in our home and want to find a solution with the bank. Im here today to appeal personally to the CEO of US Bank, asking him for his assistance in making sure that happens. US Bank and their leaders who are here today have the ability to restore the lifeline to Somalia, said Ibrahim Nur, an activist who works with the local Somali community. While members of their staff have met with us, we still do not have a solution. Each day that this crisis continues, more and more of our families suffer. Monique White, a North Minneapolis homeowner and single mother who faces foreclosure even though she works two jobs, has become a catalyst for the Occupy Homes movement, in Minneapolis and nationwide. During a shareholder question and answer session, White asked Davis for US Bank to renegotiate her mortgage, which is currently in the hands of the lending company Freddie Mac. Davis reportedly gave her a curt response, but offered to meet with White after the shareholders meeting. He did so, and reportedly offered to have his Vice President look further into her case. [See photo below: Interview with Monique White to come later tonight.] While Richard Davis addressed US Bank shareholders and activists posed as shareholders approximately 200 demonstrators marched from the Convention Center, down Nicolet Mall, to Wells Fargos headquarters, where they held a spirited rally, posted a bill for $21.6 billion Wells Fargo owes the 99%, and asked the bank to pay its fair share in taxes. Leading them on the march through downtown Minneapolis were caricatures of Richard Davis and Wells Fargo Vice President Jon Campbell, riding on a horse-drawn carriage and taunting pedestrians on the street for paying more in taxes than they do.

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CTUL Press Conference

April 25, 2012

We, the workers who clean different stores like Kmart, Sears, Best Buy, Target, and others, contribute to the prestige of these stores through our workBut what happens with us, the workers who carry out the cleaning work? The stores contract different companies like Diversified and Carlson among others, who then overwork and underpay the cleaning workers. Alejandro Quirino, Diversified Maintenance worker. Star Tribune | Janitors: Contractor Didnt Play by Rules Workday Minnesota | Study, Lawsuit Expose Exploitation Faced by Retail Cleaning Workers

Janitors: Contractor Didnt Play by Rules

Cleaners at big-box stores file a lawsuit, saying their boss didn't pay overtime. Dee DePass | Star Tribune | April 26, 2012
A group representing janitors hired to clean big-box retail stores in the Twin Cities released a report Wednesday alleging industrywide abuses by their employer, Diversified Maintenance Systems, for failing to pay mandatory overtime and threats of firing. The national report, commissioned by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (Center for Workers United in Struggle) and the Service Employees International Union, was unveiled on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis in front of a Kmart store. Other retailers that contract with Diversified Maintenance include Target and Best Buy. Stephen Philion, St. Cloud State University's director of the Faculty Research Group on Immigrant Workers in Minnesota, read parts of the report, which detailed U.S. Department of Labor investigations spanning 10 years. It also outlined lawsuits against commercial cleaning firms that specialized in retail stores. Philion cited cases in which paychecks bounced, where Latino janitors were forced to pay managers a "deposit" to get hired and where workers weren't paid overtime. In October, 12 Twin Cities janitors sued Tampa-based Diversified Maintenance in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis for allegedly failing to pay qualifying workers overtime, a claim the company denied. 22

"We do not agree with those allegations and we have evidence to the contrary," said Diversified attorney Phillip Russell from the law firm of Ogletree Deakins in Tampa. "We are vehemently denying their case and we will do so in court." Russell took issue with the plaintiffs and their attorney holding a press conference. "It's disappointing. It's not a very professional way to litigate a case," Russell said. Plaintiffs attorney Michael Healy told the crowd of about 40 that two more plaintiffs joined the suit, which he seeks to get certified as a class action. Along with Healy, 10 DMS janitors came Wednesday to share their stories. Flanked by union members, attorneys and immigrant advocates, the janitors said they were hired by DMS to clean Target, Best Buy or Kmart stores around the Twin Cities. They alleged being made to work seven days a week with no overtime pay. Royce Reder, who spent five years cleaning the same Kmart store where he stood, said a DMS manager recently told him he had to work four-hour shifts for seven days a week instead of his usual five-day, 40- hour shift. If he refuses, "I will lose my job," said Reder, who has not joined the lawsuit. Leticia Baeza, who joined the suit in October, said she was made to work seven-day weeks without overtime. She estimates she is due $26,000. Dee DePass 612-673-7725

Study, Lawsuit Expose Exploitation Faced by Retail Cleaning Workers

Workday Minnesota | April 26, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS - The workers who clean major retail stores like Kmart, Target and Best Buy often face shocking conditions of exploitation, including heavy workloads, long hours and lost wages, according to a new study of the industry and a lawsuit against a major cleaning contractor. The information was released Wednesday by CTUL, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha/the Center for Workers United in Struggle, a community organization that works for fair wages and better conditions for retail cleaning workers, many of whom are recent immigrants. Last fall, workers employed by Diversified Maintenance Systems, a cleaning contractor for retail stores including Kmart, Target, and Best Buy, filed suit, charging that the cleaning contractor required them to work up to 80 hours a week without overtime pay. Diversified Maintenance has been the subject of at least six private lawsuits and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor over its failure to pay overtime wages. The lawsuit can be downloaded at this website. I worked for Diversified for about three years, seven days a week, eight hours a day, Maria Cruz, one of the workers who brought the lawsuit, said at Wednesdays news conference. I was told by management that I had to punch in five days with my name and employee number. For the 23

other two days I was told to punch in with the name and number of a ghost employee. I was then paid cash for those days, but I was not paid at the overtime rate. Over three years, thats a lot of money,

Members of CTUL spoke out about the conditions facing retail-cleaning workers at a news conference Wednesday. At the same news conference, CTUL released a report indicating low wages and other problems pervade the retail janitorial industry in Minnesota and throughout the United States. The report, Dirty Business: Worker Exploitation in the Retail Janitorial Industry can be found at the CTUL website. The report shows that many of the cleaning contractors hired by retail stores in Minnesota and throughout the United States regularly failed to pay overtime to janitors who work well in excess of 40 hours a week. "This study sheds light on the reality faced by thousands of retail cleaning workers around the country as well as here in the Twin Cities, citing multiple examples of federal lawsuits and United States Department of Labor investigations that have happened in the industry regarding unpaid overtime wages, all taking place over the past decade. It is shocking to learn that such conditions exist in the shadow of stores like Kmart and Sears, said Stephen Phillon, associate professor of sociology at St. Cloud State University, who reviewed the findings. As a sociologist who studies the social conditions of immigrant labor in Minnesota, Phillion continued, this white paper stands out as a powerful one precisely because methodologically it pulls together relevant data from relevant government agencies, Minnesota retail cleaning workers who have directly 24

experienced the consequences of intensified and out-of-control national and global competition, and even industry officials themselves. " According to the report, department stores and supermarkets contract out their janitorial work seemingly to cut costs and avoid responsibility. There is fierce competition among the janitorial companies for these contracts, with each company trying to underbid the other. Since labor is by far the largest and most costly expense in a cleaning contract, the company with the lowest labor costs tends to win the contract. In some cases, workers believe the janitorial companies try to minimize their labor costs with practices such as not paying overtime or by requiring employees to get more work done in a shorter period of time. I held two jobs because of the low wages. We work in a place filled with food and yet we can barely feed our families, said Mario Colloly Torres, who used to clean a supermarket and now works with CTUL. "They look for a cleaning company that is going to give the lowest price for the work. The result for us: lower wages and increased workloads. The report argues that contractors count on the predominantly immigrant workforce not being aware of their rights or being afraid of retaliation if they complain. In one case, a Philadelphia cleaning company even went so far as to enslave their workers and to threaten the workers and their families with physical violence if they try to escape. The report will be distributed to elected officials and other decision-makers, CTUL said. The lawsuit against Diversified Maintenance Systems is currently in the discovery phase, attorney Michael Healey said, and may go to trial in about 18 months.

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ISAIAH Prophetic Voices Conference

April 26, 2012

Faith based organizations ISAIAH, Jewish Community Action and the Stairstep Foundation convened a gathering of 250 faith leaders from 150 congregations in St. Paul on Thursday, April 26 to launch a statewide Prophetic Voices Campaign" that will engage congregations and clergy to "vote on values." The effort will unite congregations under a common a five-point values statement to address issues including voting rights and racial disparities in education, health care and jobs during and after the state's 2012 legislative elections. ISAIAH will also work with 15 congregations in the western metro suburbs and St. Cloud to contact 25,000 eligible voters in a values-based civic engagement effort. Star Tribune | Minnesota Faith Leaders to Launch Voter Education Campaign

Minnesota Faith Leaders to Launch Voter Education Campaign

Rose French | Star Tribune | April 25, 2012
Some 250 faith leaders from 150 congregations are launching a statewide voter education campaign that will teach people how to view public leaders, candidates and policy. The faith groups ISAIAH, Jewish Community Action and His Works United/Stairstep Foundation will start the Prophetic Voices campaign on Thursday at a day-long conference held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul, according to a released statement from ISAIAH. Every day I see the pain of families losing their homes, their jobs, their health care, and their retirement savings, and Im outraged by the indifference shown by our government and corporate leaders, the Rev. Paul Slack, president of ISAIAH and pastor of New Creation Church in Minneapolis, said in the statement. The campaign aims to engage congregations and clergy under a common prophetic narrative, a five- point values statement that can be agreed upon by most faith traditions. Issues such as the Voter ID ballot initiative and racial disparities in education, health care and jobs will be looked at through a faith perspective. The Prophetic Voices campaign will take place in cities including Alexandria, Duluth, Minneapolis/St. Paul and their suburbs, Northfield, Rochester, St. Cloud, St. Joseph, and Willmar. Congregations from 12 denominations will participate including the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), Church of God in Christ, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, United Church of Christ (UCC), Presbyterian, United Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist, Mennonite, and Jewish congregations." 26

99% Spring Week of Action

Week of Action Kick-Off

May 7, 2012

Theyre good people who work in that bank, Michael Latz, Rabbi at Shir Tikvah, said about U.S. Bancorp. They are caring, loving decent people, but their hearts have been hardened. The Uptake | Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Can Delay Sherriffs Sale for Five Months Huffington Post | Monique White May Win Back Foreclosed Home With Occupys Help Workday Minnesota | Minnesotans Target Big Banks in 99% Week of Action

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Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Can Delay Sherriffs Sale for Five Months
Bill Sorem | The Uptake | May 11, 2012
A little known Minnesota law allows homeowners facing foreclosure to petition for a five-month delay of the sheriffs sale a period of time during which they have more leverage than after the sale. The Minnesota legislature passed this law two years ago, but it is not widely known, and banks rarely notify embattled homeowners of this right. On May 7, Twin Cities faith leaders gathered in front of US Bank headquarters in Minneapolis to speak about how practices by Wall Street and major banks violate their shared faith values. Meanwhile, a coalition of community activists announced an educational anti-foreclosure campaign. Following the rally, organizers from Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and Jewish Community Action trained over 30 volunteers to educate homeowners about the law that allows them to delay a sheriffs sale. The volunteers contacted 300 homeowners in the Twin Cites who are battling US Bank and Wells Fargo in an attempt to avoid foreclosure. Theyre good people who work in that bank, Michael Latz, Rabbi at Shir Tikvah, said about U.S. Bancorp. They are caring, loving decent people, but their hearts have been hardened. We come for one reason, to ask the banks to do what is right and fair and gracious, said Rev. Dwight Seawood, Fellowship Baptist Church. Other faith community participants included Bishop Richard Howell of Shiloh Temple, ISAIAH President and Rev. Paul Slack, Rev. Jonathan Zielske of Hope Lutheran Church, ISAIAH and Jewish Community Action. The training was conducted at SEIU, Local 26 headquarters, and from there the volunteers left in pairs to visit foreclosed homes. One of the homeowners contacted had already succeeded in refinancing the Wells Fargo mortgage on a home that had been in his family for 24 years. While out of work, he was two days late in making a payment, and the bank refused to renegotiate and moved to foreclose. Instead, the homeowner used the Making Home Affordable Program to get the loan revised. The teams knocked on a total 152 doors, contacted 26 owners and five tenants. Eight owners said they would file the affidavit, which would give them additional time to negotiate. 28

Monique White May Win Back Foreclosed Home With Occupys Help

Matt Sledge | Huffington Post | May 7, 2012

NEW YORK -- For more than a year after January 2011 when the bank foreclosed on Monique White's North Minneapolis home, she has been fighting to stay. Last week, she received word of a reprieve: On Wednesday, a representative of US Bank called to let her know the bank was willing to modify her mortgage. If the tentative agreement holds up, the 46-year-old single mother of two will get to stay, and a motley coalition of activists and neighbors, including an Occupy Wall Street group, will chalk up a victory in its quest to stop evictions. White was in a training room for a union job on Thursday when she got the news. "I had to step outside and scream to the top of my lungs and thank God, because without God, this never would have been possible," she told HuffPost. A long list of organizations and people also helped: her lawyers and neighbors, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, and Occupy Homes Minnesota. "All of this would have been impossible without all of them," White said. For months, those groups have stuck with her as US Bank, which serviced White's loan before the foreclosure, maintained it could do nothing for her. The matter was in government-backed lender Freddie Mac's hands, according to the bank, because the mortgage giant technically now owned the home. And for months, White has stayed in what she feels is still her home. She introduced herself to Occupy Minneapolis and invited dozens of activists protesting corporate greed to her home. She spoke to reporters to publicize her case. The activists started camping out at White's home in November, as part of a broader national effort called Occupy Our Homes, which is aimed at stopping foreclosures and evictions by bringing greater attention to banks' practices. All White wanted, she said, was a chance to modify the loan to pay as much as she could. Originally worth $123,000, the home's value in her depressed North Minneapolis neighborhood is now only $30,000, according to an independent appraiser who looked into its value at the behest of White's coalition.

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The turning point, activists said, may have been at US Bank's annual shareholder meeting in April when, in front of 2,000 onlookers, White stood up and asked US Bank's CEO Richard Davis, to help her stay in her home. Thousands stared at her, but White said she wasn't intimidated. She said she told herself, "'Yeah, they have more money than me, but they're no different and no better than me.'" "It was really this incredible, speak truth to power moment -- she was up there all alone," said Anthony Newby, an organizer with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. "To his credit, he agreed to meet with her." White said Davis was initially brusque, but after she told her story, "his whole tone of voice, his whole demeanor, his whole body language -- everything changed." It took US Bank a matter of days to come up with a principal reduction that allowed White to pay $686.36 a month to stay in her home. White, who works two part-time jobs and is in training for a full-time union position, said it was a little steep, but she could make it work. Ironically, on the same day she received her call about the modification, White's lawyers were in housing court fighting an eviction attempt by Freddie Mac. "This shows the disconnect between these two major entities," said Newby. "Oftentimes, instead of working collaboratively to keep homeowners in their homes, they're often working at odds." Neither Freddie nor US Bank responded to requests for comment from HuffPost Monday. On Thursday, a US Bank representative told the Star Tribune that the decision was ultimately in Freddie Mac's hands. If the modification is finalized -- White believes she will know within days -- Occupy Homes Minnesota activist Nick Espinosa said it will be a milestone. "It does show that when we shine a light on these cases and bring them to the public eye, that the bank is more than capable of negotiating -- even though they've said all along that that is not their responsibility," he said.

Minnesotans Target Big Banks in 99% Week of Action

Workday Minnesota | May 8, 2012
Thousands of Minnesotans are taking part in a 99% Week of Action that will culminate with a rally and march Friday in downtown Minneapolis. The chief targets of the demonstrators are major banks, including US Bank and Wells Fargo. Fridays march and rally begin at 2 p.m. at Peavey Plaza, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. Activities will include Move Your Money Day as community members close 30

their accounts in protest of the big bank practices. Organizers said the goals of the Week of Action are to peacefully persuade US Bank, Wells Fargo and other major corporations to take responsible action to end the foreclosure crisis, create meaningful opportunity for the communities hardest hit by the economic downturn, pay their fair share of taxes, stop interfering in our democracy, respect immigrant communities and end predatory financial practices. Faith leaders from ISAIAH and Jewish Community Action kicked off the Week of Action with a demonstration Monday outside US Bank headquarters in Minneapolis. They described how practices by Wall Street and major banks violate their shared faith values. Following the kickoff, volunteers knock on the doors of 200 families facing US Bank and Wells Fargo foreclosures to educate homeowners on a state law allowing them to delay sheriffs sales by five months. Also on Monday, SEIU Local 284, a statewide organization of school staff, issued a new report titled I.O.U How Wells Fargo and US Bank Have Shortchanged the Schools. Local 284 members are raising the issue of responsible banking policies in negotiations with school districts in Westonka, Minnetonka, St. Cloud and elsewhere. Other activities in the Week of Action include: Tuesday 9 a.m. Groups including Common Cause, Public Citizen and Minnesotans for a Fair Economy will rally to ask shareholders attending the 3M shareholders meeting to Get corporate money out of our democracy! 5 p.m. Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and other organizations will testify to thank the Minneapolis School Board for issuing an RFP for banking services and call for responsible banking policy. Thursday 3:30 p.m. SEIU Health Care Minnesota members will rally outside the Riverside Wells Fargo branch to ask Fairview Hospital to remove Wells Fargo executives from its board. Saturday 9 a.m. Community Accountability Forum Our Future MN will hold a community forum at Rasmussen College, 3500 Federal Drive, Eagan, to highlight the impact that legislative choices are having on Minnesota schools and middle class families, asking invited legislators to raise fair revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes and raising taxes on the richest Minnesotans. Groups organizing events during the Week of Action include ISAIAH, Jewish Community Action (JCA), CTUL, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy (MFE), TakeAction Minnesota, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (NOC), SEIU, UFCW 1189, the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Our Future Minnesota, and Common Cause. 31

3M Shareholders Meeting

May 8, 2012

Earlier, representatives from Carleton College, Common Cause and the Boston-based 3M shareholder Trillium Asset Management demonstrated outside the RiverCentre in St. Paul. The groups, which are part of a national movement seeking to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, presented shareholder proposals to ban all political contributions and require extra reporting on all lobbying activity. 3M shareholders rejected the proposals. Star Tribune

Huffington Post | CEOs Get Served by Shareholders Sick of Political Spending Reuters | 3M Shareholders Reject Proposal to Limits Political Contributions Amid Protest Reuters | 3M Political Contributions to be Targeted by Protesters at Shareholder Meeting on Tuesday Star Tribune | At 3M, A Passage of Power MinnPost | [OpEd] 3M Shareholders Should Support Resolution on Political Spending The Uptake | MN Activists Call on 3M to Remove Corporate Funds From Politics Law.com | 3M Shareholders Protest Corporate Political Spending

CEOs Get Served by Shareholders Sick of Political Spending

Lisa Gilbert | Huffington Post/Congress Watch | May 8, 2012

As corporate money continues to flood our democracy in the form of negative campaign ads and robo calls, people are getting mad and are taking action. This week, corporate CEOs are being put on notice as rallies and other actions are planned in relationship to first-time shareholder resolutions being put forth at 3M and Bank of America's annual shareholder meetings. The 99% Power coalition, which is playing a key role in this week's activities, has taken on the outsized corporate influence in America and welded together many different movements calling on corporations to be more accountable to the public and their owners, the shareholders. This very likely means you; if you've ever had a pension, attempted to save for your retirement or have a 401K through your employer- -you're a shareholder.

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One component of the 99% Power movement is the work that the Corporate Reform Coalition, made up of good-government groups like Public Citizen, institutional investors, academics and others, is doing to expose the high levels of corporate influence in our elections and to foster accountability of corporate political spending. In conjunction with 99% Power, the Corporate Reform Coalition is supporting first-time "political spending" resolutions filed at 3M and Bank of America by helping to organize rallies at 3M's annual shareholder meeting today and Bank of America's meeting on Wednesday, May 9. On June 14, the coalition will do the same at Target Corporation's annual shareholder meeting. These rallies are designed to highlight an appalling problem: Thanks to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, any CEO at a major company has free rein to pick up the corporate checkbook and spend, spend, spend to elect the candidate of their choosing. In 2010, for example, 3M gave $100,000 to MN Forward, a group that supported an anti-LGBT gubernatorial candidate, and their company's political spending didn't stop there. The worst part of this newly enabled practice is that the shareholders of the corporations aren't offered any input in - or even informed of - the political causes that their own money goes to influence. Again, the bulk of Americans are shareholders. Everyone who has a pension or investments in the stock market may be having their investments put into corporation's secret political war chests--and they are powerless to stop it because they have no voice in the process. Companies should get out of the political spending game and focus on doing what they were created to do: make a profit for their shareholders. And if they refuse to concede to their investors' demands to stop spending money in politics, then at the very least, they should disclose their spending so that shareholders can make informed decisions. What information we have about 3M and Bank of America's political spending is bad enough; what we don't know but should is an outrage. Last week, this type of outrage set records at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency charged with protecting shareholder interests. To date, more than 260,000 people have submitted comments to the SEC demanding that it require corporations to disclosure their political spending. So whether it's through the SEC or through the sheer determination of shareholders, corporate CEOs are not getting off the hook. The message of the 99% will be heard: It's our democracy. It's our money. And we will have the last word.

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3M Shareholders Reject Proposal to Limits Political Contributions Amid Protest

Reuters | May 8, 2012
May 8 (Reuters) - Shareholders of 3M Co on Tuesday rejected proposals that the diversified U.S. manufacturer no longer use corporate funds for political contributions and step up its disclosures surrounding lobbying. Shareholders at the company's annual meeting also voted down a proposal to split the chairman and chief executive posts, now both held by Inge Thulin, the company said in a statement. Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, shareholders approved all board-recommended motions, including an advisory vote on executive pay. Boston-based Trillium Asset Management had made the proposal that the company cease making political donations, following a 2010 incident when Target Corp became the target of a boycott campaign after contributing to a Republican candidate who opposed gay marriage. Target, as well as fellow contributor 3M, said they backed the candidate for his positions on business, not social issues. Opponents of corporate political donations argued that 3M put its reputation at risk by making contributions to potentially controversial candidates. The board had advised shareholders to allow it to continue making contributions, saying it needed to be "an effective participant in the legislative process."

3M Political Contributions to be Targeted by Protesters at Shareholder Meeting on Tuesday

Scott Malone | Reuters | May 7, 2012

May 4 (Reuters) - Opponents of corporate political donations plan to picket 3M Co's shareholder meeting on Tuesday in a bid to get the diversified U.S. manufacturer to stop making political contributions. About 100 protesters are expected to turn out at the meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota, to support a shareholder proposal that would prohibit the maker of Post-It notes and films used in television screens from directly contributing to election campaigns, according to organizers. "Their political spending policies continue to risk their brand and ultimately shareholder value," said Shelley Alpern, a vice president at Boston- based Trillium Asset Management, which submitted the proposal, which also asks 3M to 34

ensure that any trade associations it is a member of not donate its dues to campaigns. Another measure calls on 3M to disclose how it spends its lobbying budget. Directors of the St. Paul-based company urged shareholders to vote against both proposals, saying the ban on contributions would "imprudently" limit its ability to advance its interests. "It is in the stockholders' and company's best interests for the company to be an effective participant in the legislative and regulatory process," 3M said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A few hundred shareholders typically attend 3M's meetings. This year will mark Inge Thulin's first as chief executive. The Trillium proposal traces back to a 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial campaign when Target Corp became the target of a boycott after contributing to a group that funded Republican candidate Tom Emmer, an opponent of gay marriage. 3M contributed to the same organization. Target and 3M both said they backed Emmer for his positions on business, not social, issues. Target later changed its contribution policy to assess a candidate's full agenda. A similar episode unfolded this year when activists threatened to boycott corporate sponsors of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the organization behind the "Stand Your Ground" gun laws that contributed to the controversy around the fatal shooting in February of teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida. Coca-Cola Co, Kraft Foods Inc and PepsiCo Inc cut ties with the group, which then dropped its work on social issues, confining itself to business and economics. A LIVELY SPRING It has been a lively year for shareholder meetings. Shareholders have pushed back against management, most prominently at Citigroup Inc, where an advisory vote rejected CEO Vikram Pandit's pay package. More than 40 percent of AT&T Inc and Honeywell International Inc shareholders voted to split the chairman and CEO roles -- a higher-than- average number but not enough to pass the measure. Even more noise has come from members of the "99 Percent" movement, who are protesting the influence of money in politics, low corporate taxes and rising home foreclosures. Last month, thousands of protesters converged outside Wells Fargo & Co's annual meeting and about 100 protesters interrupted the start of General Electric Co's parley. A similarly large turnout is expected at the Bank of America Corp meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday. Protesters at 3M's meeting plan to take a subdued tone, picketing outside and asking questions inside. 35

At 3M, A Passage of Power

At the shareholder meeting in St. Paul, new CEO Inge Thulin took over the chairman's seat from George Buckley.

Dee DePass | Star Tribune | May 8, 2012

Outgoing Chairman George Buckley conducted his last 3M shareholder meeting Tuesday before passing the chairmanship to longtime 3Mer Inge Thulin. Thulin, a 33-year employee who ran 3M's international operations for nearly eight years, took over as CEO in February but did not become 3M chairman until after Tuesday's annual meeting. Thulin's appointment returns a 3M insider to the helm of the Maplewood-based manufacturer for the first time since December 2000. Buckley and his predecessor, W. James McNerney Jr., were the only outsiders to run 3M in its 110-year history. The Sweden-born Thulin spent much of the annual meeting on the stage standing next to Buckley, who fielded pointed questions from shareholders about 3M's lobbying efforts and political contributions. Earlier, representatives from Carleton College, Common Cause and the Boston-based 3M shareholder Trillium Asset Management demonstrated outside the RiverCentre in St. Paul. The groups, which are part of a national movement seeking to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, presented shareholder proposals to ban all political contributions and require extra reporting on all lobbying activity. 3M shareholders rejected the proposals. In his farewell remarks, Buckley said: "I've been so blessed in having the privilege and honor of leading this great company. And that privilege and honor is now being enjoyed by someone else." Buckley then introduced shareholders to their new CEO and chairman. Afterward, Thulin told reporters that it was proper that Buckley ran the annual meeting because he was formally the chairman until the meeting ended. There was no formal passing of the torch. "We don't think about those ceremonies,'' Thulin told a reporter. "We just go right down to do business immediately." Over Buckley's 6 1/2-year tenure as CEO, which included the Great Recession, total return to shareholders rose 34.4 percent, beating the Standard & Poor's 500, which returned 24.6 percent. Now it's Thulin's turn. In a speech to retirees and in his remarks to the media, Thulin outlined his plans to grow 3M into a $50 billion company. Global revenue hit $29.6 billion last year.

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Thulin's new vision: "3M technology advancing every company. 3M products enhancing every home. 3M products improving every life." The new vision "will challenge all of us,'' Thulin said. "At the same time we wanted it to be simple, straightforward, timely and yet timeless.'' Thulin showed a video about his vision that showcased 3M products used to make solar panels, windmills, gas pipe coatings, aerospace supplies, laptop and TV screen films, asthma inhalers, and bandages as well as products used to make cars, security identification systems, personal safety and consumer household goods. "This is showing that we are moving toward becoming more global, more diverse and more contemporary,'' Thulin told the hundreds of retirees who came out for the event. Thulin said 3M will focus on "emerging megatrends" such as health care, the booming oil and gas industries and products that foster sustainable, clean technology, clean water and green products. Thulin said he expects "significant hiring" and training over the next few years to replace departing retirees. He insisted that the United States will remain critical to 3M, even though only 33,000 of 3M's 84,000 employees last year were based in this country. "The U.S. is one-third of our business, meaning $10 billion," Thulin said. "Our brand equity in this country is incredibly strong. We have research and development here that is unmatched by anyone and we have manufacturing capabilities here. So this is our home turf. And we will win here as well." Thulin expects to travel 70 percent of the time to stay close to U.S. and international customers and employees. He added that 3M is not overly concerned about Europe, which is suffering an economic downturn. 3M has more than $5 billion in revenue there and expects to take market share away from competitors. "It looks like there is no growth at all. But the reality is that there is growth in many markets,'' he said. "If you go into countries like Italy, like Spain, like France, there is growth in certain segments. And that is what we are going after. And at the same time [we'll be] holding our costs and managing our costs very, very effectively." During the meeting, one retiree knocked Buckley for his multimillion-dollar executive compensation at the same time 3M food service and janitorial workers were being laid off and their jobs outsourced. Buckley said 3M was committed to keeping jobs related to 3M's core business. Several other retirees bemoaned the absence of the company's traditional product trade show and retiree luncheon that had became synonymous with 3M's annual meeting. Retired Post-it Note inventor Art Fry said hundreds more retirees used to come out to see new products that had been invented since they had left the company. Buckley noted that those extras cost about $1 million and were cut to save money during the hard times of the recession. Thulin said that he was pleased that the annual meeting was being conducted as "a business meeting" without the frills of the past.

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[OpEd] 3M Shareholders Should Support Resolution on Political Spending

Mike Dean (Common Cause) | MinnPost | May 8, 2012
Like it or not, political advertisements will bombard us throughout the summer and in the fall. And if this spring is any indication, we will witness some of the most negative ads in history. According to a study by the Wesleyan Media Project, presidential ads so far this year have been 70 percent negative compared to just 9 percent during the entire campaign in 2008. Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the project said, One reason the campaign has been so negative is the skyrocketing involvement of interest groups who have increased their activity by 1,100 percent over four years ago. It is also because of that outside spending that the 2012 election is expected to be the most expensive in history. This outrageous spending is due in part to the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision. That decision undermined a generation of good government reforms enacted in the wake of Watergate and opened the door to unrestricted corporate and union political expenditures for the first time since 1947. As a result, the demand for political contributions from the business community is intensifying. Corporations should resist the temptation to engage in this arms race because corporate political spending is both bad for business and bad for our democracy. That is why 3M shareholders should support a resolution at the annual shareholder meeting today that urges the board of directors to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of corporate funds for any political election or campaign. The risks of corporate political spending Such a policy is the right business decision because of the risks associated with corporate political spending. In 2010, Target received unwanted attention, consumer boycotts and protests for its support of candidates that were in direct contradiction to the values of the corporation and many of its customers. Executives at 3M made similar expenditures and continued to donate even more money after the controversy, placing the company in serious risk. In a Harris Poll released in October 2010, a sizable portion (46 percent) of respondents indicated that if there were options, they would go elsewhere if they learned that a business they shopped at had contributed to a candidate or a cause that they oppose. That is why a growing number of companies are adopting policies prohibiting spending of political funds directly or indirectly to influence elections. These include IBM, Colgate Palmolive, Wells Fargo and others. Moreover, academic research in this area has found that corporate political spending can be detrimental to shareholder value. An April 2012 study at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota concluded that companies making large political contributions had poor corporate governance and lower shareholder value. The study suggests that when managers use corporate funds to make 38

political donations, the donations often advance their political views and own careers not the interests of the corporations they manage. Evidence of spending's effects Shareholders should be concerned that corporate executives are diverting corporate resources from business functions like research and development to political spending. There is growing evidence that these political expenditures have no real benefit to the corporations making them. In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, professor Michael Hadani at Long Island University reviewed much of the academic research on corporate political spending and found that, firms' political spending, in particular contributions to policy makers, at best has an insubstantial impact on their bottom line and more often results in a negative effect of firm financial performance, as well as an increase in risk taking which will also erode future earnings. Our nation greatly depends on the strength of our democratic system of governance. But corporate political spending is weakening the vitality of our democracy. It undermines accountability, transparency and adherence to the rule of law, all of which are essential safeguards against corruption and abuse of the political process. This shareholder proposal is valuable because it reduces shareholder risk, stops wasteful corporate spending and removes the power of corporate executives to use shareholder profits as their own personal political action funds. Today, 3M shareholders should take a stand and tell corporate executives that the company should stick to business. Mike Dean is the executive director of Common Cause Minnesota.

MN Activists Call on 3M to Remove Corporate Funds From Politics

Bill Sorem | The Uptake | May 11, 2012
3M shareholders attending their annual meeting were met by a group of vocal activists from Public Citizen, Common Cause, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, Take Action Minnesota and 99% Power. The activists demanded that the Minnesota-based Fortune 500 company keep its money out of politics and called for more transparency in corporate political involvement. Standing in their way is the U.S. Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision, which ruled that, under the First Amendment, corporations and people have the same rights to free speech and political campaign donations. Two years ago, 3M and fellow Minnesota-based company Target both came under fire for their political activities. Prior to the 2010 midterm elections, 3M gave $100,000 to MN Forward, a front group backing GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Targets $150,000 contribution caused a consumer protest that was credited with 39

hurting Target sales. The protest began with a Target consumer cutting up her Target charge card in a store, followed by a rally at Targets corporate headquarters, during which activist delivered petitions with 240,000 signatures. Emmers pro-corporate position favored repealing corporate taxes, while limiting the rights of gays in Minnesota. Emmer narrowly lost the governors race to Democrat Mark Dayton in 2010, following a statewide recount. Mike Dean, Common Cause of Minnesota Executive Director, explained that a number of shareholders, including an investment fund and Carleton College, were introducing a resolution urging the corporation to refrain from political spending. A recent study by the University of Minnesotas Carlson School of Management showed that every $10,000 political contribution produced a 7.5 basis point decrease in a companys stock value. This resolution is among the first of similar resolutions to be presented to other major corporations shareholder meetings. A second resolution was introduced asking for greater disclosure of lobbying funds going to right-wing groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). That resolution has been introduced numerous times at many corporate shareholder meetings, and each year it gets more and more support. Their support of them (ALEC) is messing with our democracy! said one protestor. As expected, the resolutions were voted down. The efforts here are merely an effort to plant a seed.

3M Shareholders Protest Corporate Political Spending

Sue Reisinger | Law.com | May 8, 2012
Minneapolis-St. Paul-based 3M Corp. expects to face activists Tuesday, both inside and outside its annual shareholders meeting, because of its alleged secret spending on political campaigns. A group of institutional investors, led by Trillium Asset Management Corp. of Boston, has introduced a shareholder proposal [PDF] asking that the corporation refrain from political spending, both directly and indirectly (i.e., funneling company money through third-party groups like so-called Super PACs). While those in the meeting are voting, outside a coalition of advocacy groups including Minnesota Common Cause, Public Citizen, and Take Action Minnesota called for a rally and briefing about 3Ms political spending policies. New York City public advocate Bill de Blasio, a trustee of the $40 billion New York City Employee Retirement System, said in a statement, Political intrigue is bad for the bottom line and a risk to the retirees that have millions invested in 3M stock. Its time for 3M's corporate board to wake up and do its job: secret political spending has to stop. Shelley Alpern, vice president and director of shareholder advocacy for Trillium, explained in the statement that Target Corporation faced boycotts and protests in 2010 due to a contribution to a controversial groupMN Forward, which supported an anti-LGBT gubernatorial candidate. Then 3M put its brand and shareholder value at risk by making an additional donation to the same group, Alpern added. 40

Alpern accused 3M of undermining its own commitment to diversity by supporting MN Forward. The shareholder proposal states that companies such as International Business Machines Corp., Colgate- Palmolive Company, Wells Fargo & Company, and others are increasingly adopting policies prohibiting spending of political funds directly or indirectly through third parties to influence elections. Given the risks and potential negative impact on shareholder value, the proponents believe 3M should adopt a policy to refrain from using treasury funds in the political process, it says. 3Ms board of directors has asked stockholders to vote against the proposal to ban political spending. Elected representatives at all levels of government make laws and regulations that can and do affect the companys business, 3M says in its proxy statement. To effectively advocate the companys and stockholders interests, we believe we must actively participate in the political process. The company statement says 3M takes account of considerations that might put it at competitive disadvantage or might impair the companys reputation. But it adds, Our principal focus, however, is on advancing our business interests. 3M has a wide range of business interests, from health care products like stethoscopes to office products like Post-it Notes and Scotch tape. The company also points out that its contributions strictly comply with the law. And it says it discloses all contributions in excess of $10,000 to third-party groups while detailing the companys political activities and issue advocacy on its corporate governance web page. The 3M protest is part of a national movement to make companies more accountable and transparent, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courts January 2010 Citizens United decision. That ruling lifted a ban on the use of corporate funds for political purposes. Also on the 3M ballot Tuesday is a shareholder proposal calling for more transparency around the companys lobbying activities, and for election of an independent chairman of the board. The company also opposes both those proposals. As part of a movement dubbed the Shareholder Spring, the advocacy of Common Cause and its allies is one example of a wave of shareholder protests being aimed at some 100 companies in 2012. 41

Target Fair Hiring Protest

May 9, 2012

Star Tribune | From the Business Blog: A Challenge to Target on Hiring

From the Business Blog: A Challenge to Target on Hiring

Dee DePass | Star Tribune | May 13, 2012
A protest by 200 people outside Target's Minneapolis headquarters last week is prompting company officials to meet with the advocacy group TakeAction Minnesota regarding Target's hiring practices. TakeAction officials want Target to change its hiring practices to allow former convicts to be hired. The group said Target agreed to a meeting on May 29. Target officials declined to confirm that. TakeAction claims Target's hiring policy refuses job candidates with criminal records, which disproportionately affects people of color.

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At a rally Wednesday, TakeAction had two women speak who had applied for jobs at Target but were turned down. One had been convicted of making a verbal threat against a relative nearly a decade ago. Another served time for possessing methamphetamine but had since developed a solid career as a social worker. Both women were denied employment at Target because of their criminal record, said TakeAction spokeswoman Greta Bergstrom. Target officials disagreed. "The existence of a criminal record does not disqualify a candidate for employment at Target, unless it indicates an unreasonable risk to the safety," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement. "Target is committed to following all federal, state and local laws." Julie Schmid, spokeswoman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Minneapolis, said that the EEOC recently issued new guidelines to help employers determine how to properly screen job candidates with criminal records without violating the law. Schmid said employers must consider the age of the victim when the crime occurred; their age now; the relevance of the crime to the job being offered; the candidate's employment record, and any rehab, education and training done since the crime occurred. From the Star Tribune's On the Job blog: startribune.com/onthejob

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Bankers Off the Board Protest

May 10, 2012

"Maybe we wouldn't find debt collectors in the ER if we didn't have bankers on the board," said Phillip Cryan, organizing director for the union, which represents nursing assistants, housekeepers and kitchen workers at some Fairview hospitals.

Pioneer Press | Fairview Health System Needs to Shake Up Its Board, Union Says

Fairview Health System Needs to Shake Up Its Board, Union Says

Christopher Snowbeck | Pioneer Press | May 10, 2012
A union group is calling for changes to the board of directors at the Fairview health system after a scathing report last month about alleged bill collection tactics. The report from Attorney General Lori Swanson took issue not only with Fairview but also a Chicago- based company called Accretive Health, which served as a bill collector and consultant on Fairview's contracts with health plans. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, which represents more than 1,700 Fairview employees, is calling for the health system to name a new patient representative to its board of directors. The union wants the new member to replace current member Jon Campbell, an executive vice president with Wells Fargo. Fairview spokesman Ryan Davenport responded to the union's call by saying the health system would not be making any changes.

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"We do have a mix of community and business leaders on our board, including a Lutheran pastor," Davenport wrote in an email on Thursday, May 10. "Many of our hospitals are served by advisory boards that are made up of patients." Swanson alleged in an April report that Fairview and Accretive Health engaged in overly aggressive collection techniques, including pressuring patients for payments in the emergency room. SEIU Healthcare staged an event in a Minneapolis park Thursday to publicize its concern that Fairview's work with Accretive might have put profits before patients. "Maybe we wouldn't find debt collectors in the ER if we didn't have bankers on the board," said Phillip Cryan, organizing director for the union, which represents nursing assistants, housekeepers and kitchen workers at some Fairview hospitals. SEIU Healthcare currently is negotiating a contract with Fairview and other hospital employers. Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479. Follow him at twitter.com/chrissnowbeck.

Somali and Latino Community Move Your Money Day May 11, 2012
Ibrahim Nur is a community activist who has worked closely with the community over the past few months and was part of the team that organized todays event. For five months, our community has stood on street corners, rallied at the State Capitol and protested in front of bank branches, Nur said. Yet, Wells Fargo has locked their doors to us. Today, we stand up for our community and our loved ones. Today, we say with a unified voice that we cant wait any longer. Today we have come to move our money.

American Banker | Somali-Americans Remittance Demands Put Banks in Bind Forbes | The Somali American Remittance Dilemma Star Tribune | Protesters Seek Banks Money-Wiring Help Minnesota Public Radio | Somali-Americans Close Wells Fargo, US Bank Accounts Over Remittances WCCO Radio | Somalis, Latinos Protest at Wells Fargo Bank in Mpls Mogadishu Times | Soomaalida degan Minnesota oo lacagtoodii kala baxay bangiyo ku yaala Hiiraan Online | Soomaalida Minnesota oo bangiyo ku hor bannaan-baxay 45

Somali-Americans Remittance Demands Put Banks in Bind

U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC) have been dragged into an international fight that could cost them thousands of customers. Robert Barba | American Banker | May 10, 2012
A group that represents thousands of Somalis living in Minnesota is demanding the two banks provide them remittance services by Friday or they will close their accounts. Since December most Somalis there have been unable to wire money to family and friends back home because the community bank that handled the bulk of those transactions ceased the service. It blamed the difficulty of compliance with U.S. anti-money-laundering rules. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area where U.S. Bancorp and Wells combined hold more than half of the market share is home to one of the largest Somali populations outside of the war-torn country. If anyone can help reopen the remittance lines, it is these two banks, the Somali leaders say.

"They are among the biggest banks nationwide, and we want them to take the lead," Abdirahman Muse, a community organizer, said in an interview. "We bank with them, we do business with them here, but we need them to help us find a solution to this humanitarian crisis."
Bank officials say they sympathize with the plight of the expatriates but that there is no clear way to process the payments comfortably within federal rules. "We recognize there is a tragic situation in Somalia and we have a large community here that wants nothing more than to send money safely to their families," Tom Joyce, a spokesman for U.S. Bancorp, said in an interview. "We have a responsibility to the nation and the regulators to adhere to the laws and ensure that the money that gets transmitted ends up in the right hands." Risky Transactions The problem lies in Somalia's money-services businesses. Remittance there is done through a loose network of MSBs known as hawalas. U.S.-based hawalas work with banks to wire the money to hawalas in Somalia. However, the country in the horn of Africa has no functioning government or banking system, and the hawalas are unregulated. U.S. government officials worry that such intermediaries assist in funding terrorism. Though a U.S.-based Somali might send money to help feed his family, the fee the hawala in Somalia collects might fall into dangerous hands. As much as $1.6 billion flows into the country of 10 million people through remittance annually, according to the Central Intelligence Agency's website. The Star Tribune in Minneapolis, which has 46

extensively covered the Somali remittance issue, has cited a United Nations figure that says $100 million is sent annually from the United States. The Treasury Department, however, says that such businesses have also handled transfers to Al-Shabaab, an international terrorist group. In October, two Somali women in Minnesota each were convicted on a conspiracy charge for sending money through remittance to Al- Shabaab. The women, both of whom are U.S. citizens, raised money by going door to door in Somali communities in the U.S. and Canada, telling donors they were doing so for the poor and needy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says. Shortly after the convictions, University Financial Corp. an $822 million-asset company in St. Paul that does business as Sunrise Community Banks suspended services to the hawalas; it had worked with them for three years. Overall, banks have isolated MSBs in the post-9/11 era because of the potential risks of doing business with companies that exchange large amounts of cash. Customers are hard to track, and banks worry about having to pay heavy fines for violating federal rules. Given the costs of complying with the Bank Secrecy and USA Patriot acts, banks have simply chosen to stay away. But for Somalis in the U.S., the bigger concern is the stories of suffering family members who need the aid they send. Big Banks Hesitate At U.S. Bancorp's annual meeting last month, a Somali-American asked Chief Executive Richard Davis whether his bank would provide them the service they are demanding. "We want to do what is right for you and what is right for our company," Davis told the man, according to a recording from Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, a coalition of labor, community and faith-based groups that has taken up the Somalis' cause. Davis, who told the man he was "proud to have him here," said he would give the community members "the answer they deserve" soon. Outside the meeting at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy led a 200- person protest for a host of issues ranging from the Somali remittance issue to the foreclosure crisis. The protest then marched to the nearby local Wells Fargo headquarters. For now though, a solution doesn't appear to be on the horizon. Wells Fargo is open to helping the U.S. Somalis should an appropriate avenue open up, officials of the San Francisco bank say. 47

"We've tried to demonstrate a level of commitment to our customers, but we need to get individuals to understand the realities and what the policies are," Alan Elias, a spokesman for the company, said in an interview. "It is not a personal affront; we just have to take a broader picture view on this issue." Muse, however, said Wells "shut the doors on our face." The early conversations with U.S. Bancorp started well but sputtered, Muse said. There are between 28,000 and 40,000 people of Somali descent in Minnesota, according to 2010 U.S. Census estimates. But there is no way to tell how many Somalis use either bank. More importantly, it is impossible to know how many would withdraw their money. U.S. Bancorp has not found a solution, but it did make a good-faith attempt, Joyce said last week. "We are proud to be their bank, and we hope that they would keep their business with us," Joyce said. "If they choose not, that is their decision." Government's Problem? Muse, whose last name translates to Moses, the biblical figure who led the Israelites out of Egypt, said he and his compatriots will continue to search for a bank that can help, but observers say the problem is at the government level. The laws are structured in a way that even the most daring of banks would likely shy away. "Banks need a specific set of expectations which, if followed, would shield them from blame. Right now they do not have that," said David Landsman, the executive director of the National Money Transmitters Association. "It is because government refuses to grant any safe harbor at all. It comes to a point where you either want to have licensed remittance channels, or you don't. What government has damaged, only government can fix." The Treasury Department, which oversees the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, disagrees that U.S. rules provide no flexibility. "It appears the money transmitters serving the Somali community in the United States continue to have banking relationships, which allow them to wire remittances abroad and allow Somali-Americans to send money to their loved ones," a department spokesman wrote in an email. The Treasury also said in a December blog post on the Somali remittance issue that it believes banks can safely do remittance to the country, or anywhere. 48

The Treasury "expects financial institutions, in their compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, to reasonably discharge their due-diligence obligations not that they be infallible in doing so," it said. "There is no assumption on the part of Treasury that money transmitters present a uniform or unacceptably high risk of money laundering, terrorist financing or sanctions violations." The truth is regulators expect the operators to be infallible, said Ann Graham, a banking attorney and director of the Business Law Institute at Hamline University in St. Paul. "I don't think any bank will be able to do it unless there is some regulatory willingness. Certainly the banks are smart enough to recognize that." Sunrise has said it remains willing to help if it can find a way to do so. Nikki Foster, its chief corporate responsibility officer, directed American Banker to a statement it made in January. "Our commitment to the Somali community has not wavered," the statement reads. "The laws and regulations associated with this service are complex and carry strict penalties for non-compliance, but as Sunrise has told the federal government, the bank is convinced that a solution is within reach." Personal Pain Some of the hawalas have managed to find a few unnamed banks to help wire money in small amounts, Muse says. It is frustrating, he says, that it is red tape, and not a lack of money, that is keeping the Somalis living in America from helping their loved ones. He typically sent $100 to $150 a month to his relatives. Now, he is not sending anything. "We are the lifelines for these people," Muse said. "Imagine your grandmother is sick and you have the money to help, but you are not able to get it to her."

The Somali American Remittance Dilemma

Jon Matonis | Forbes Magazine | May 12, 2012
By threatening to close their Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp accounts this week, a group representing Somali Americans has pushed the ongoing hawala remittance issue to a head. For months now, Somalis in Minnesota have been barred from making the small regular transfers to their family members in Somalia that they have been making for years. According to American Banker, Bank officials say they sympathize with the plight of the expatriates but that there is no clear way to process the payments comfortably within federal rules. The problem lies in Somalias money- services businesses. Remittance there is done through a loose network of MSBs known as hawalas. U.S.-based hawalas work with banks to wire the money to hawalas in Somalia. Since hawalas in Somalia are unregulated, the U.S. government worries that such intermediaries could 49

assist in funding terrorism. Unfortunately, its not an isolated incident. This scenario is likely to happen more and more as onerous Bank Secrecy and USA Patriot Acts make it increasingly difficult for financial institutions to be in full compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. Instead of trying to comply, they are electing to opt out so as not to encounter heavy federal fines. It sure would be nice if the world had a decentralized peer- to-peer digital currency that could be transferred to mobile devices in a secure fashion. Wait a minute! Doesnt bitcoin allow for rapid and trustworthy international value transfer? Isnt bitcoin fairly easy to obtain in the developed economies of North America and Europe? Doesnt Somalia have good telecommunications infrastructure supporting mobile phones? Heres how the bitcoin money remittance process would work. A hard-working honest Somali American wishes to send the equivalent of $150 to his mother in Somalia so he purchases bitcoin at one of the many exchanges that accept cash deposits at banks for bitcoin. Alternatively, our would-be remitter could use the Bitcoin OTC (over-the-counter) exchange and arrange a person-to-person sale based on reputation history. Once the bitcoin is stored safely in the remitters client wallet, he would ask the overseas recipient to generate a bitcoin receiving address using one of the many bitcoin wallet apps for Android. [Sorry but Apple's App Store is currently restricting bitcoin wallet apps with send or receive capability.] After his mother in Somalia has received and confirmed the bitcoin transaction (approximately 10 minutes), she would be able to maintain the bitcoin balance or change it out into her local currency, the Somali shilling. Bitcoin exchangers are already springing up in many countries around the world including Brazil, Latvia, and Philippines. If it hasnt happened already, a savvy merchant in Somalia will start accepting bitcoin for Somali shillings. Or a traditional currency exchange dealer could get in on the action too the spreads are certainly there. In September 2010, the mobile penetration rate in Somalia was estimated at 25.84% over a population estimate of 9.9 million. Since the financial flow would be principally in U.S. dollars to bitcoin to Somali shillings, several aggregators could make a market in bitcoin and then sell their bitcoin in the market to other intermediaries. All it takes is a few Somalia-based bitcoin outlets to open up their economy to the rest of the world economy. As a distributed network, bitcoin possesses the capability to route around interference and disruption. In fact, this was a key design consideration as resiliency has grown to become an imperative for privacy- enhancing electronic cash. Its detractors remind me of the holy papacy being fearful of the printing press because it allowed for individual interpretation and diminished mankinds reliance on the anointed biblical teachers.

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Somali-Americans Close Wells Fargo, US Bank Accounts Over Remittances

Laura Yuen | Minnesota Public Radio | May 11, 2012
ST. PAUL, Minn. Somali-Americans say they're closing their accounts with US Bank and Wells Fargo, a fallout from the banks' decisions to stop facilitating money transfers to Somalia. Demonstrators from the Somali and Latino communities are marching alongside economic-justice activists Friday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis to protest recent challenges in sending cash to families in their war-torn homeland. Hindia Ali, of the advocacy group Somali Action Alliance, said she is moving her private banking account from Wells Fargo to a credit union. "Wells Fargo is not doing business with the only lifeline and vehicle we have to send money to our loved ones, so it doesn't make any sense for us to have our money there with them," Ali said. "We're only going to do business with banks that supports what we need." Ali said about 1,000 other account holders with US Bank or Wells Fargo plan to boycott the businesses. Community leaders have drawn attention to the issue since December, when St. Paul-based Sunrise Community Banks, one of the last remaining U.S. banks to partner with the Somali money-transfer businesses, halted the transactions in fear of running afoul of counterterrorism laws. Since then, the money-transfer businesses, also known as hawalas, have searched far and wide for other banks to fill the void. Some hawalas were able to resume operations after two banks in Seattle agreed to facilitate the transfers. But the situation remains shaky, said Said Malin, president of Amana Money Transfer Co. in Minneapolis. "Some people think we're still in business and everything's OK," said Malin. "But things are getting worse and worse. Every time the banks hear the news, they close the accounts." 53

Sunrise Community Banks left the hawala business after two Rochester women were convicted in October of funneling money to the terrorist group al-Shabab in Somalia. There is no formal banking system in Somalia, which has been mired in civil war and has lacked a strong central government for more than 20 years. Money transmitters have provided an essential way for Somali-Americans to support families left behind in the east African nation. The remittances an estimated $1.6 billion annually from around the world, according to the CIA have also helped keep the Somali economy afloat. Somali community leaders met with Wells Fargo officials in January to pressure them to work with the community. The bank's response at the time "is the same as it is today," said Peggy Gunn, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman. "We're very supportive of the community. We regret that we can't provide assistance to them and their much-needed desire to send money to their home country." Gunn said she hopes that Somali-Americans will continue to use the bank's services after considering Wells Fargo's commitment to the community through volunteerism and as an employer. "If they choose to move on, we have to understand that and respect their option to do so," she said. US Bank representatives met routinely with the money-transfer businesses over the past several months, and explained "what is needed to meet our requirements," said spokeswoman Nicole Garrison-Sprenger. For example, she said, when someone sends money outside of the country, the bank must have proof that the company receiving it knows its customer and can validate the identification of the person picking up the cash. "We have a responsibility to the nation and the regulators to adhere to the laws and ensure that the money gets transmitted ends up in the right hands," she said. "Most countries have a formal system in place. There is no formal system for receiving money in Somalia." Garrison-Sprenger said the bank would be willing to partner with the remitters if the businesses can demonstrate compliance.

Somalis, Latinos Protest at Wells Fargo Bank in Mpls

Chris Simon | WCCO Radio | May 11, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) Dozens of Somalis in the Twin Cities are being joined by members of the areas Latino community to protest their inability to transfer money back home to their loved ones. A group of protestors gathered at the Wells Fargo Bank at 6th and Marquette in Mineapolis, threatening to close their accounts due to the banks alleged failure to restart money transfers to their families back home. Ibrahim Nur of Minneapolis said he was part of the delegation trying to solve the problem earlier this year, but he was treated with disrespect by bank executives. 54

When they sat down with us, they told us they are not interested in doing this business, said Nsur. They did not tell us the real reason. However, Wells Fargo regional spokesperson Peggy Gunn says the decision to stop transfers to Somali is due to U.S. Federal Government regulations, and that this had been explained to their customers. Gunn, who did not wish to be recorded, told WCCO Radio the bank remains active and supportive in the Somali community. Ibrahim said he does not see any willingness by the bank to help them. We sat down with them, said Nur. They were disrespectful to us, and kept ignoring us. He also said negotiations have begun with U.S. Bank, which he claims is more eager to find a solution for its Somali customers.

Soomaalida degan Minnesota oo lacagtoodii kala baxay bangiyo ku yaala Minneapolis

Mogadishu Times | May 12, 2012
Soomaalida degan gobolka Minnesota ayaa shalay ku banaanbaxay bangiyada Wells Fargo iyo US Bank ee ku yaala magaalada Minneapolis. Waxay kala baxeen lacagtii u taalay bangiyadaas. Waxaa Soomaalida kala qeyb-galay banaanbaxa community-ga Hispanica, Indianka iyo Mareykan farabadan. Waxaa kaloo kala qeyb-galay oo qeyb libaax ka qaatay urur weyn oo Mareykan ah oo ay ku mideysanyihiin daladna u ah ururo badan. Ururada waxaa ka mid ah CTUL oo ku hadla afka hispanica, Somali Action Alliance oo ku hadla afka Soomaalida, ISAIAH oo ku hadla afka kaniisadaha, urur u hadla Jewish Community-ga, NOC oo ku hadla afka African American-ka, iyo urur u hadla Native American-ka. Bangiyadan waxay diideen in ay la shaqeeyaan xawaaladaha Soomaalida. Sababtaas ayaa keentay in lagu banaanbaxo oo lacagta lagala baxo. Ururka CTUL waxay xireen accountigii ay bangiga ku lahaayeen. Waxay kala baxeen lacag gaareysa $70 kun. Ururo kale iyo dad farabadan ayaa iyagana xiray accountiyadii ay ku lahaayeen bangiyadan. 55

Minneapolis Public Schools ayaa la filayaa in ay iyagana joojiyaan xiriirkii kala dhexeeyay bangiga. Lacag gaareysa $20 million ayaa bil walba kaga timaada iskoolada Minneapolis. Dad farabadan ayaa garab taagnaa Soomaalida oo ka xun goaanada ay bangiyadan qaateen. Waxaa loo xiray wadooyinka gala downtown Minneapolis. Soomaalida Soomaaliya joogta waxay ku tiirsanyihiin lacagta kaga timaada qurba joogtooda. $1.6 Billion ayaa Soomaalia gasha bil walba. Lacag ka badan $120 million ayaa loo malaynayaa in ay diraan Soomaalida Mareykanka.

Soomaalida Minnesota oo bangiyo ku hor bannaan-baxay

Maxamed Faarax Talyaani | Hiiraan Online | May 12, 2012
Sabti, May 12, 2012 (HOL) - Banaan baxaan oo salaaddii jimcaha kadib ka dhacay iridda hore xarunta weyn ee bangiga Wellsfargo ku leeyahay bartamaha magaalada Minneapolis ee Gobolka Minnesota, ayaa waxaa ka soo qeybgalay boqolaal Soomaali ah, oo ka gadoodsan wada-shaqeyn laaanta bangiyada iyo xirnaashaha xawaaladaha Soomaalida. Waxaa Soomaalida kala qaybgalay dibad-baxaan hogaanka bulshada rayidka ah, culumada, hayadaha difaaca xuquuqda shaqaalaha iyo qaar ka mid ah bulshooyinka kale ee ku dhaqan Gobolkaan Minnesota, kuwaasi oo Soomaalidii isku soo baxday kala qeyb-qaadanayey dalabaadkooda ku aadan in dib loo furo xawaaladaha. Waxaa maanta halkaan isugu yimid ilaa kun qof oo isugu jira dadyow kala duwan oo ka kala socda bulshooyinka kala duwan ee gobolka ku dhaqan, ujeedkayagu waxaa uu ahaa in aan ka xun nahay cuna- qabataynta bangiyadu ku hayaan xawaaladaha Soomaaliyeed, sidaasi waxaa Hiiraan Online u sheegay Maxamed Nuur Sadiq oo ah madax xawaalada Dahabshiil ee Gobolka Minnesota oo ka qaybgalay dibadbaxa. Intii uu socday isku soo baxaan ay maanta dhigeen Soomaalida ku dhaqan gobolka Minnesota ayaa waxaa xirmay wadooyin dhowr ah oo ku yaala bartamaha magaalada Minneapolis, waxaana dadkii ka soo qaybagalay ay ku dhawaaqayeen irayo ay ku muujinayaan sida ay uga xun yihiin xirnaashaha xawaaladaha, oo ah dariqa dadka Soomaaliyeed ee ku dhaqan wadankaan Mareykanka ay mariyaan gunooyinka ay u diraan ehelada iyo asxaabtooda ay kaga soo tageen gudaha wadanka iyo waliba wadamada dariska laah Soomaaliya. Marnaba ma aqbali karno in banhiyadu ay maamulaan dhaqaalaha dadka shaqeeya ee Mareykanka ku dhaqan, islamarkaasna aysan u oogalaan in ay dhaqaale u diraan ehelkooda ku dhibaataysan gudaha wadanka Soomaaliya, waxaana iyaga oo arintaasi ka gadoodsan maanta koontooyinkii ay ku lahaayeen Wellsfargo xiray dad badan oo Soomaaliyeed oo diidan tilaabada Bangiyada, ayuu yiri Cabdi-Casiis Dhoore, oo ka tirsan Xawaalada Tawakal. Franklin Bank, oo ahaa bangigii ugu dambeeyey ayaa dabayaaqadii sanadkii la soo dhaafay xiray koontooyinka 15 xawaaladood oo ka shaqeynayey gobolka Minnesota, isagoo sheegay in uu ka cabsi 56

qabo in ay saameyn ku yeelato qaar ka mid lacagaha xawaaladuhu ay u diraan geeska Afrika gaar ahaan Soomaaliya, oo aan si dhab ah loo garan-karin gacanta ay ku dhacayaan, waxaana ay taasi sababtay in ay xirmaan inta badan xawaaladaha Soomaalida ee ka shaqeyn jiray Gobolka Minnesota. Dowladda Mareykanka dhinaceeda xawaaladahu waa sharci waana ay ka shaqeyn karaan, hase ahaatee sharciyo adag oo uu Mareyakanku ku soo rogay lacagaha dibada uga baxaya wadanka wixii ka dambeeyey 11-kii semtember, markii qaraxyada argagixiso ay dhaceen, ayaa sababay in ay bangiyadu joojiyaan wadashaqeynta Xawaaladaha, iyagoo cudur-daar ka dhiganaya sharciyadaasi, lacagaha xawaaladuhu diraanna waxaa ku nool malaayiin Soomaali ah oo ku nool geeska Afrika, gaar ahaan Soomaaliya, ayuu yiri Cabdi-casiis Sugule, oo mudo ka shaqeynayey arrimaha Xawaaladaha.

1% vs. Democracy Rally and March

May 11, 2012

KMSP TV | Stopping Traffic, Protestors March Against Big Banks

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Stopping Traffic, Protestors March Against Big Banks

Erik Runge | KMSP TV | May 12, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - At times this march for democracy looked more like a parade. At other times, it became a protest. And every once in a while, it was just a dance party. All if it did what it, of course, was designed to do: get demonstrators the attention they were looking for. A family from East Lansing, Michigan said they supported the 99 percent movement, even if it meant getting zero percent of their shopping done during the march. But others weren't laughing. "It's very disruptive downtown. You've got busses coming through here, traffic, cars," said one downtown patron. The protestors first stop went smoothly at Wells Fargo, where union officials said the bank is no longer a friend of the community. The Somali community joined the protest; upset the bank stopped allowing wire transfers to their home country. It was the protestors march back to U.S. Bank when things got tricky. A dozen or so protestors sat down in the middle of the intersection of Nicollet Mall and 8th St. S. One protestor was arrested for blocking traffic, but soon police just hung back. After about an hour of police just letting protestors sit in the intersection, the protestors walked down the street and shut down another intersection. Demonstrators weren't the only ones not moving downtown, as traffic was stalled as well. But by the time rush hour was really underway, protestors had given up on really getting arrested and surrounded the entrance to U.S. Bank, before marching back to Peavey Plaza. 58