NYC Labor and Community Groups Tell JPMorgan Chase to Shape up on Mortgages

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Rec. Sec. Benita Johnson stands with protesters outside of JPM Chase corporate offices
Rec. Sec. Benita Johnson stands with protesters outside of JPM Chase corporate offices

TWU Local 100 and the United Federation of Teachers have joined in a campaign to push banks to give struggling homeowners an alternative to foreclosure. At a rally attended by a large number of community members, advocates and public officials taking place in the bitter cold outside JP Morgan Chase’s corporate headquarters in Manhattan, TWU Local 100 Recording Secretary Benita Johnson joined the crowd in urging Chase to do more to justify the taxpayer bailout they received in 2008. Speaking for the Union, she said, “it would be most contradictory if we continued to support institutions like JP Morgan Chase while our members, friends, and neighbors suffer at Chase’s hands.”

The campaign is targeting JPMorgan Chase, which services a large number of home mortgages in the city but has refused most requests to modify mortgages. A survey conducted by New York Communities for Change, which organized the rally, revealed that only 6% of New York City homeowners who had asked Chase for loan modifications in order to avoid foreclosure had them granted.

The campaign is also winning the support of elected officials. New York State Assemblywoman Annette Robinson was one of those at the protest who said she could cut up her Chase card if the bank did not do more for people in her district. Making the same pledge was State Senator Eric Adams. TWU Local 100 and the UFT are on record stating that they are prepared to recommend to their respective retirement systems, the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS) and the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) that they divest stocks and bonds in Chase, valued over $300 million if the bank takes no action to help troubled homeowners.