The SEIU seems hellbent on doing what they can to put public pressure on Bank of America. They've campaigned incessantly all year to shame the bank. Take this entry from today on the SEIU's blog:
We need to tell Bank of America to stop with the tired excuses and choose a CEO that will use the tax dollars we're giving them to get our country back on track. Tell them to start lending to small businesses again. Tell them to stop foreclosing on the homes of struggling families. And tell them to never, ever hire another CEO like Ken Lewis that puts Wall Street profits ahead of Main Street families
That link goes to sign a petition demanding the bank comply with a number of left-leaning political demands. But their were a lot of bailout recipients — why is SEIU harping about Bank of America so much? Earlier this year, the SEIU even staged a protest at the bank's annual shareholder meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. Could it be that the SEIU want the bank under their thumb politically because the bank holds $87 million of the SEIU's debt? The fact that the SEIU took on tremendous debt to fund political campaigns in 2008 has been a major source of tension within the SEIU's ranks. If the union's major creditor started giving them grief, it could cause problems.
But the real lesson here is simple: If you're a bank, don't lend money to a union — lest you find yourself on the receiving end of a smear campaign to exert political pressure over your business.
