Capitalism: A Love Story Page #14

it wasn't okay to be fired

without notice,

to be denied their vacation

and severance pay

and to have their

medical benefits cut off.

So they came up with a plan.

Tell Bank of America

and the owners of the company

that it was a new day in America.

They weren't going

to leave the building

until they were paid

what they were owed.

Yes, it was a good old fashioned

sit-down strike.

Man:

We understand that perhaps

some bad business deals

were made.

But guess what?

We don't make business deals.

We make windows and doors.

Why should we be punished?

Moore:
The union organizers

and the workers

prepared for a police assault

that was sure to come.

l'm gonna take the chance.

You're prepared to be arrested?

l am prepared to be arrested

if it's necessary.

We've been here since yesterday

and we aren't going anywhere.

We are committed to this.

Moore:

lt wasn't long before the media showed up.

And given the mood of the country

toward the bailout,

even the TV anchors had run out

of sympathy for the banks.

ln Chicago, a group of factory workers

watched like the rest of us

as taxpayers bailed out

the financial industry.

Now these laid-off workers

are demanding Bank of America

spend some of its

bailout money on them.

lt says ''Bank Robbers of America.''

Look, if we the taxpayers

are going to provide

a bailout for companies

like Bank of America,

then the least they can do

is use those funds

on American workers

and companies.

Woman:

$25 billion to Bank of America.

How do people sleep at night

when they act like that?

l don't get it.

Because what's the point

of bailing them out

if there aren't any jobs?

Moore:

The strike went on day after day.

The police had not yet come.

But the son of a Chicago

steelworker did.

He just also happened to be

the bishop in Chicago.

Ladies and gentlemen,

l am Bishop James Wilkowski.

l know that you are all undergoing

a great trial.

You are teaching

to our young people

that it is just

to challenge

that which is unfair.

l grew up on the far southeast

side of Chicago

and l saw what happened

when all the steel mills

disappeared.

And l saw the impact that it had

on families.

But this time

we are with you.

And we will not abandon you.

ln the name of the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

The body of Christ.

The body of Christ.

The body of Christ.

President Obama:

When it comes to the situation

here in Chicago

with the workers

who are asking for the benefits

and payments

that they have earned,

l think they're absolutely right.

( cheering )

What's happening to them

is reflective of what's happening

across this economy.

Reporter:
He said, ''What's happening to

them is reflective of what's happening...''

Reporter #2:
He said what is

happening to those workers

is reflective to what's happening

across this economy.

l was watching Obama's press

conference this morning.

l just got out of bed and decided

the best thing l could do

was to feed people.

So l brought some food.

- l brought some sandwiches.

- Oh, good.

Moore:
ln fact, lots of Chicagoans

showed up to support the workers.

Reporter:
The workers have become

a national symbol

for thousands of employees

laid off across the country.

Reporter #2:
The sit-in has grabbed

the attention of politicians

who believe it exemplifies an imbalance

between a Wall Street

that gets government help

and a Main Street that gets the shaft.

Moore:

The question started to be asked:

Was this is the beginnings of a worker's

revolt against Wall Street?

The people united.

We'll never be defeated.

Bail out workers, not the banks.

Bail out workers, not the banks.

Moore:
Pledges of financial support

and food showed up by the truckload.

Woman:
lt's really beyond

what we had at first initially imagined.

And so now we're dreaming a little bit.

We even had a conversation--

well, what if we just tried

to run the factory like a cooperative?

We don't have any money.

We're not capitalists.

We're having those kind

of conversations

and the workers are thinking about it

and it's a difficult thing

'cause, you know, if you've been

told your whole life

that things are the way

other people tell you they are,

to be able to think

l can make it different

is quite a big deal.

We're all over the national news.

Everyone is watching you

because they're so inspired by you.

( speaks Spanish )

Moore:

After six days of the sit-in

Bank of America decided

enough was enough.

Better to pay off

these workers now

and hope their little

revolution goes away.

And so the bank and the company

agreed to all the worker's demands.

Yes we did!

Yes we did!

The average package for each worker

will be very close to $6,000.

But this is about more

than just money.

lt's about what can be achieved

when workers organize

and stand up for justice.

Just to fight--

fight fight fight fight fight

just to get the most basic thing

that people should take for granted

and that's legally theirs.

We just fight so hard just for

the most basic things in life.

Moore:
lt's a fight we knew

all too well in Flint, Michigan.

For it was here that my uncle

and his fellow workers

first brought down the mighty

corporate interests

that dominated their lives.

lt was the day before

New Year's Eve in 1936.

Hundreds of men and women

took over the GM factories in Flint

and occupied them for 44 days.

They were the first union that beat

an industrial corporation.

And their actions eventually resulted

in the creation of a middle class.

But back in these days of the Flint

sit-down strike,

the police and the company thugs

were not going to just stand by.

After a bloody battle one evening,

the Governor of Michigan,

with the support of the President

of the United States

Franklin Roosevelt,

sent in the National Guard.

But the guns of the soldiers

weren't used on the workers.

They were pointed at the police

and the hired goons,

warning them to leave

these workers alone.

For Mr. Roosevelt believed

that the men inside

had a right to a redress

of their grievances.

Seven years later,

President Roosevelt was too sick

to go up to the Capitol and give his

annual State of the Union Address.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the President of the United States.

lt has been my custom to deliver

these annual messages in person.

Moore:
So he gave it from

the White House over the radio.

When it was over he asked

the newsreel cameras

to step into his room because he

wanted the American people

to see one particular part

of his speech.

The President of the United States

then took the radical step

of proposing a second Bill of Rights

to the Constitution.

ln our day certain economic truths

have become accepted

as self-evident.

A second Bill of Rights

under which a new basis of security

and prosperity

can be established for all

regardless of station

or race or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful

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