Group of 46 Organizations, Including IFPTE and SPEEA, Alerts Congressional Leaders to Treasury and Fed Reserve Policy Failing to Protect Jobs

As corporations begin receiving financial support from the federal government and skirting around the public accountability and worker protection requirements of the CARES Act, IFPTE and SPEEA/IFPTE Local 2001 joined other labor unions, community organizations, and consumer advocacy groups to call on House and Senate leadership to fix the legislation. The letter was organized and sent by Americans for Financial Reform and was signed by 46 organizations.

In the days and hours leading up to the passage of the CARES Act in late March, IFPTE and other labor unions and voices in support of workers and the public interest pushed Congress to include protections for workers and taxpayers in the legislation’s corporate bailout sections. 

While these conditions are included in the CARES Act and enacted into law, many large corporations have raised billions of dollars through a bond market backed by the Federal Reserve Bank’s wiliness to commit $4.5 trillion to buy high-risk bonds. That Federal Reserve’s bond market policy is enabled by the CARES Act’s $454 billion to capitalize the Fed’s lending means that this unaccountable corporate bailout is ultimately backed by taxpayers. (See the American Prospect's article on this "side door bailout" for more information.)

The letter reminds House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that Congress must ensure that the intent of the law is carried out by the Federal Reserve and Treasury. The letter tells the Congressional leaders to include conditions in the next Covid-19 relief bill to “ensure that government money does not enrich corporate insiders and Wall Street speculators, while exacerbating inequality and leaving human suffering unaddressed. Setting clear parameters will better position those tasked with overseeing the distribution of Federal financial assistance to focus their work on ensuring the money is used to fulfill Congressional intent and to limit waste, fraud and abuse.”