Bank Workers Win New Los Angeles Ordinance to Hold Banks Accountable for Unethical Behavior

Last week, Los Angeles bank workers, residents, and consumer advocates joined Councilmember Nury Martinez in a rally to celebrate City Hall's unanimous passage of a groundbreaking amended Responsible Banking Ordinance that requires any bank that bids for the city's $17 million taxpayer-funded contracts to disclose its sales goals and other potentially predatory business practices, and called for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to move swiftly on signing the amended ordinance into law.
 
Bank workers, members of the Committee for Better Banks (CBB), a CWA project, and consumer allies pushed the City Council to hold banks accountable for their unethical behavior. Los Angeles is the first city in the nation to compel transparency from banks about their sales goal tactics and employee compensation.  
 
"We took power away from big banks and their army of lobbyists and gave it back to the people of Los Angeles," said Ruth Landaverde, a Los Angeles-based member of the Committee for Better Banks and a former Wells Fargo and Bank of America worker. "For too long, too many banks have gotten away with cheating customers and abusing workers with unethical sales goals and predatory practices. This rule is the result of advocacy from thousands of Los Angeles bank workers and residents and serves as a blueprint for cities across the country that want to wipe out big bank behaviors that prey on working families."
 
"I'm proud to stand with the frontline bank workers and their allies who have fought to make their voices heard and demanded the quality service their communities deserve," said Tom Runnion, Vice President of CWA District 9. "This is a critical victory for families and workers across Los Angeles and is an important step in bringing greater accountability to our financial industry."

Los Angeles bank workers, residents, and consumer advocates celebrated City Hall's unanimous passage of a groundbreaking amended Responsible Banking Ordinance to hold big banks accountable for unethical behavior.