(The Associated Press circulated the following story on March 31.)
SAN FRANCISCO — Demonstrators rallied outside Wall Street firms in dozens of cities Thursday to protest what they say is a conspiracy between politicians and bankers to privatize Social Security.
The demonstrations included a protest at the San Francisco headquarters of Charles Schwab Corp., where about 1,000 people gathered — some of them pounding drums and carrying signs.
The event was among protests in about 70 cities sponsored by the AFL-CIO, drawing labor union members and those in or nearing retirement.
Jan Adams, a 57-year-old San Francisco woman who is contemplating retirement, said she believes President Bush is trying to help friends from Wall Street make extra profits while putting retirees and middle-class people at risk.
“People pay into the system and we expect to get a pension when we retire,” said Adams. “Bush wants to give this money to his friends to play with.”
The San Francisco protesters said Schwab should renounce its participation in the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a lobbying group pushing for Social Security changes.
Charles Schwab spokeswoman Sondra Harris said the protesters were wrong to target the company because of its affiliation with a particular group. She said the firm belongs to several organizations that also are studying the nation’s Social Security system.
“The protests are misguided because Schwab is not a proponent of private accounts,” Harris said. “And the fact is, it would be many years before any brokers would realize significant profits from workers opening what would probably be small accounts.”
Harris said the company also belongs to the New Democratic Network, which opposes privatization.
Bush wants to allow workers younger than 55 to divert part of their Social Security taxes, up to 4 percent, to private investment accounts, such as stocks, bonds or mutual funds.