Occupy+Pittsburgh+demands+Pa.+check+claims+on+BNY+Mellon

=By Taryn Luna= =//Published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette//= =//10/19/11//= = = = = = = =Members of the Occupy Pittsburgh protest group demanded today that Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly investigate whether the commonwealth has a stake in claims that Bank of New York Mellon overcharged pension funds by $2 billion.= =Camped for a fifth day on Mellon Green, a small park the bank owns Downtown, protestes picketed the bank's regional headquarters on Grant Street today before marching to Ms. Kelly's office on Forbes Avenue to push for the inquiry.= =Kelly typically works in her main office in Harrisburg and was not in the building. A security guard blocked the front entrance.= =Kelly's staff allowed a representative from among the protestors inside and advised her to tell the protestors to write the attorney general letters with their requests.= = The protestors sent Jill Fleming-Salopek, 39, of Munhall, a laid-off 16-year veteran teacher in the Steel Valley School District. = = "The attorney general needs to investigate these accusations and answer to the people, not the corporations," Mrs. Fleming-Salopek said. "Mellon has been skimming off the top and it's another reason our pensions are in trouble." = =New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman filed suit against BNY Mellon accusing the bank of overcharging pension funds, who thought the bank was making low-cost foreign currency trades for them, by nearly $2 billion. The bank faces litigation in California, Virginia, Florida and Massachusetts over similar issues.= =In a statement issued today, the bank said "the suits against us are not supported by the facts or the law" and claimed no wrongdoing.= =The Occupy Pittsburgh protesters were an eclectic mix of 20-somethings and workers reaching retirement age, both unemployed and employed, who have in common a distaste for corporate greed.= =Occupy Pittsburgh is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, a demonstration of thousands of similar-minded protestors in Zuccotti Park in New York City who have camped out for more than a month.= =David Meieran, a 50-year-old Occupy Pittsburgh protester and self-proclaimed "writer, researcher, web producer and activist" from Point Breeze, said people were picketing the bank even though they are camping out in Mellon Green because they did not and should not have to ask the bank for permission to be there.= =In its statement, BNY Mellon said it "recognize[s] the right to protest and express opinions."= =Jarrod Miller, 32, of West View, was waiting for a friend that works at BNY Mellon and stopped to watch the protestors. He said he shares some of their beliefs -- frustration with jobs going overseas and federal bailouts of banks -- but has a hard time understanding the protestors' larger goals.= ="They have a point in a way, but then I'm not exactly sure what their point is, if that makes sense," he said.= =In a movement without designated spokespeople and a belief that all protestors' frustrations carry equal weight, their beefs with corporate greed can differ from one person to the next.= = Mrs. Fleming-Salopek said she was the chair of the school's English department, a mother of three and was living the American dream when she fell victim to budget cuts and was laid off in June 2010. = = "I've worked my whole life. I've never been on unemployment," she said. "I didn't even know how to apply for it and now I'm depending on it." = =Rebecca Kiernan, 28, of Point Breeze, said she moved to Pittsburgh because it is a more affordable city than New York, where she graduated from college at the State University of New York-Geneseo with a teaching degree. But now she's struggling here, too.= =Ms. Kiernan said she's been unsuccessfully searching for jobs for weeks. Today she was leaving a job interview with a temp agency, saw the protestors and decided to join.= ="It's important to protest the banks because the government is essentially run by them," she said. "This isn't democracy."= =Read more: [|http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11292/1183268-100-0.stm#ixzz1bHRKByKZ] = = = = = =News= =home=