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There are two vastly different US banking industries, the Wall Street guys and the poor average bank worker, according to the UNI Global Union’s “US Bank Workers Report”.
There are two vastly different US banking industries, the Wall Street guys and the poor average bank worker, according to the UNI Global Union’s “US Bank Workers Report”.
The outsized wealth and power of Wall Street captures all the headlines. Like the case of J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who in 2013 received a 74% pay increase making his salary close to $20 million, after being fined $20 billion dollars in regulatory and criminal charges.
But the average bank worker earns wages that are so low that almost one-third of bank tellers in America receive some sort of public assistance. Over a third of tellers are living at or below poverty level in contrast to the luxury of executives of Wall Street.
While average wages have steadily declined on Wall Street since the financial crisis of 2008, the top fifty financial CEOs’ compensation collectively rose by 26% in 2010 and by 20.4% in 2011. What this wealth discrepancy points to is a business model that drives income disparity by creating a vulnerable and work force.
The US Bank Workers Report lays out clearly the working conditions and rights of U.S. bank workers and provides a telling comparison with those of other bank employees around the world.
