One Question for Jamie Dimon

Posted on Jun 24, 2012

AP/J. Scott Applewhite

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, head of the largest bank in the United States, testifies on Capitol Hill this month.

Adriana Vasquez, a 37-year-old janitor and mother of three, traveled from Houston to Washington, D.C., last week to see JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testify before a House committee. When the hearing adjourned, she asked Dimon about his money and those who work for him.

As you’ll read below, Vasquez’s question went unanswered. She was treated in the manner that many working people are when they approach a member of the upper class. Dimon’s staffers shielded him to enable the executive to get away.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly

Greg Kaufmann in The Nation:

She stood before Dimon and asked: “Despite making billions last year, why do you deny the people cleaning your buildings a living wage?”

Vasquez says Dimon’s entourage reacted “as if I had a weapon on me,” quickly surrounding him.

“Call my office,” Dimon replied, before being ushered toward the exit.

Vasquez had wanted to add “walk a day in my shoes,” but didn’t get a chance. That’s exactly what Vasquez and over 3,000 of her colleagues in Houston are asking building owners and cleaning contractors to do as they consider the janitor’s demand for a raise to $10 an hour over the next three years.

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