Photo: Chi Mei Tam. Wells Fargo protest May 3.
May started off a busy month for CJJC. On May 1, we, along with thousands of others, took part in the March for Immigrant Rights in San Francisco and on May 3, we took to the streets for the big Wells Fargo Shareholder protest.
On May 1, labor and immigrant organizations along with various contingents marched from 24th street in the Mission District to Civic Center. The march called for an end to repressive enforcement measures of the Secure Communities program, and for fair and comprehensive immigration reform.
Meanwhile on March 3, community members, workers and homeowners facing foreclosure marched to the Merchants Exchange Building on California Street, where Wells Fargo was holding a shareholder meeting. The action is part of a broad coalition to kick off a national campaign, The New Bottom Line, that calls on banks to be accountable for foreclosures and the recession and its impact on working and middle-class communities.
Hundreds of people formed a picket line across the street from where the shareholder meeting was taking place. Yelling “Shame on you! Shame on You” they called on Wells Fargo to put a foreclosure moratorium in place until it reforms its loan re-modification practices, that it stop predatory lending, and pay its fair share of local, state and federal taxes. 
Carolina Bagnoral of Redwood City, held a sign that said: “Wells Fraudo. Wells Fargo wrongfully evicted our mother the day before she died. Bagnoral said she jumped through hoops to save her mother’s home, but Wells Fargo refused to negotiate with her.
Photo: Chi Mei Tam. Wells Fargo protest May 3.
Diana Rodriguez, a vice president of communications with Wells Fargo & Co., told Businessweek that the bank works “hard to keep our customers in their homes.” She described a home foreclosure as a “last resort.”
Photo: Chi Mei Tam. Wells Fargo protest May 3.
Miguel Medina, a Marriott worker, where contract talks are stalled, said he was at the rally for his daughter, for the youth, “If we don’t stand up today, we won’t have a future for them. We have to stop this greed.”
Said CJJC member Gerthina Harris:
“These foreclosures that are happening all over the county. We need some voices out there to shout out so that we know that there’s accountability. My family has been personally affected. Some members of my family have lost homes, and are going into foreclosure.”
Eight protesters were arrested for civil disobedience as they sat down and blocked the entrance to the building.