Missouri Home Care Union, SEIU Healthcare, and more march for jobs, homes, schools in St. Louis

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Hundreds of MHCU and SEIU members, other laborers, students, seniors, activists, and the unemployed rallied in St. Louis on October 14th, in yet another action fueled by the indignation at corporate greed spreading across the country.

Hundreds of Missourians from all walks of life stood in solidarity against corporate greed and unfair banking practices.

Joining together with Occupy St. Louis, a branch of the Occupy Wall St. movement that has made worldwide headlines over the past month, participants gathered at Kiener Plaza to march to downtown banks, calling them out for failing to invest in our communities and profiting from home foreclosures.

“I knew I had to be a part of this, because I see the 99% suffering because of the greed and recklessness of the 1%, and it’s very sad,” said Ella Giles, a St. Louis CNA and a member of the Missouri Home Care Union. Her community is suffering from home foreclosures and school shutdowns.

Ella spent Friday distributing information about the rally’s message, reaching out to passersby and, in many cases, getting them to join in the march.

“What’s really upsetting is that it’s the 99% that keeps this country going,” Ella said. “The 1% that gets all the tax breaks doesn’t produce anything but money. It’s the people who do the real work. That’s why so many people joined us, even people who were just out for a walk and saw the march go by. Everyone’s getting hit by this economy—everyone but the very richest.”

Protesters marched from Kiener Plaza to Bank of America headquarters at 800 Market Street, chanting slogans like “the banks got bailed out, we got sold out” and holding signs demanding that the big banks and corporations that broke our economy get to work creating good jobs, rebuilding infrastructure, and improving our schools.

“It was beautiful,” Ella said. “We’re really starting to bring attention to these issues, and we’re not going to stop until we get results.”

See video from the rally:

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