April 3-4: All out to Wall Street

Unemployment is up. Banks are stealing homes. Washington is throwing trillions at the bankers. And the wars keep feeding the military-industrial complex. It’s past time to bring the demands of the working class directly to the heart of the U.S. ruling class: Wall Street. End U.S. wars of occupation. Use government funds to rescue workers instead of bankers.

On March 21 many anti-war activists marked the sixth anniversary of the criminal occupation of Iraq by demonstrating in Washington. There the ugly symbols of the capitalist state clog the landscape, from the presidential monuments to the Pentagon and the fortress-like offices of the privatized military in Arlington, Va.

On April 3 and 4, anti-war and other movements of workers and oppressed peoples will aim their anger at the New York Stock Exchange, AIG and the big banks and investment houses. That’s one step closer to the class of billionaire owners that the state power in Washington serves.

The institutions of Wall Street, their management and their biggest owners are the wealthy recipients of the trillions in bailout money printed at the Treasury. They’re the same ones who squeal in anguish if a family on welfare gets a free carton of milk. After profiting for decades from a system that concentrated wealth in their hands, those same hands are reaching for a giveaway from the government.

It’s no surprise that they have awakened the righteous anger of workers, poor, and just about everyone else in the country who are not themselves millionaires or billionaires.

The Bail Out the People Movement’s decision to call and mobilize for a march in the financial district hits the nail on the head. They will gather at 1 p.m. on April 3—a working Friday when the financial district will be packed—and again on the following day, April 4, the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

In a step forward for the struggle, the BOPM and the United for Peace and Justice coalition—which had been mobilizing for an April 4 march in the same area—have announced they will mutually support each other’s actions. BOPM will have the main responsibility for April 3 and UFPJ for April 4. Each will help build and join both actions.

Through the initiative of BOPM and with an impulse from the agreement with UFPJ, those fighting the war machine are reaching out to the working class to mobilize the sector of society that has the power to confront the government and force an end to the military adventures abroad.

We call on all our readers to come to Wall Street on April 3, April 4 or both if possible. Add to this impulse. Help build a movement that can fight for workers’ rights and bring the imperialist wars to a halt.