BETTER, STRONGER, and UNITED.

We delivered a petition to Bank of America last October when more than 100 bank workers and supporters marched into the Bank of America building in Los Angeles. I was there and the petition had about 5000 signatures. When we entered the bank we screamed and shouted, we picketed and protested, we demanded to be heard. All while doing it as legally protected actions. The Bank of America employees from around the country who participated still work for the bank and are still organizing.

I will say it feels good standing up for yourself and your coworkers and making the company treat you with respect and dignity. I see the changes that have occurred since we started organizing. Robin was transferred out and John replaced her. The mass write ups and threats of termination have disappeared. Training has gotten better though it still needs more work. Even the extra 5 minutes on Mondays is a show of respect to employees. I do believe this was the result of us working for the betterment of conditions.

I thank my coworkers who are working to make BofA a better place to work. I may be one of the spokesmen but the people who support this effort, who work behind the scenes, the real power behind us are the ones who should be acknowledged. This has always been about teamwork and we have built the best team.

I am proud to have been a part of the creation of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Committee for Better Banks and look forward to expanding throughout the finance industry here in our state. Santander, Citizens, Fidelity, and others all have call centers here in RI. We are better when we are connected but we are stronger when we are united.