Housers at B of A protests

In a surprising, if perhaps non-flattering moment, Housers is caught on camera protesting at the Bank of America shareholders meeting.

Housers appears in this photograph, published by the Charlotte Observer.

Perhaps a slightly more flattering image came across from the Philadelphia Business Journal.

This is a better picture, eh? It was a great bit of organizing by SEIU.

SEIU was incredibly well-organized.  They brought out about 30 protesters from the area surrounding Charlotte.  That is virtually impossible in a company town like the Queen City.  Then, they brought along two disgruntled ex-employees from B of A’s credit card division.  Those individuals (Donna and Christopher Feener) testified to the incentives, and the pressures, that they were encumbered with to make customers add to their credit card balances.  They were rewarded with incentives for balance transfers, and encouraged to get the highest interest rate possible on those transfers, they said.  They also brought along a Catholic minister, who spoke of the genuine social justice motives underpinning Wednesday’s protest.

SEIU’s proxy resolution passed with 50.3 percent of the vote.  This is an incredible outcome, and a defining statement of the national feelings about the actions of the finance industry.  Lewis appears to have been a scapegoat.  It may be that a good portion of the “against” votes were motivated by corporate governance concerns.  Many feel that at any corporation, that the positions of CEO and Chairman of the Board should be separate, in order to develop institutional accountability.