www.robinhoodtax.org

1,000 to March in NYC  September 17 to Demand Robin Hood Tax; “Sweet Honey in the Rock” to Perform  

On the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, and a day when the United Nations General Assembly convenes to address issues of poverty, public health and climate change, New Yorkers from every sector of the city are joining together to demand a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street to solve America’s revenue crisis.  They will march past the UN assembly meeting, stopping at JPMorgan Chase HQ, and to sites of extreme underfunding to call for a tax to fund the restoration and expansion of vital public services and to implement a real recovery for all the city’s neighborhoods. The Robin Hood Tax also seeks to fund international efforts for AIDS/HIV research and treatment and to address climate change.
On September 17, at 5 p.m., more than a thousand supporters will rally and march from the U.N. to Bryant Park.
 
What: Rally and March calling for Obama, Congress to back the Robin Hood Tax, currently before Congress as the Inclusive Prosperity Act, H.R. 1579; “Sweet Honey in the Rock” to perform. Rally goers will also publicly call out JP Morgan Chase for predatory lending, as an example of why the Wall Street Tax is needed; stop at the MTA to call for proceeds of a tax to fully fund public transportation, and end their rally in front of the SUNY chancellor’s office to call for full funding for the University hospital and to protest it’s closing.

When:      5pm, Tuesday, September 17

Where:    Rally departs from Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, U.N. (2nd Ave. & E. 47th St.). Stops on the march to Bryant Park include:

• JPMorgan Chase HQ at Park Ave. & E. 47th.
• Metropolitan Transit Authority HQ at Madison Ave. between E. 44th & E. 45th Sts.
• Bryant Park/ SUNY Chancellor’s office

Who:       More than 1,000 concerned New Yorkers and more than 200 organizations from across NYC. Groups organizing include: National Nurses United, Health GAP, National People’s Action, VOCAL-NY, New York State Nurses Association, Amalgamated Transit Union, Transport Workers Union – Local 100, UNITE HERE – Local 100, IBEW Local 3 and many others. For a full list see: https://www.facebook.com/events/161555277366764/

The march is sponsored by the U.S. Robin Hood Tax Campaign, comprised of organizations with millions of members across the country. Supporters are urging President Obama to call for and Congress to pass H.R. 1579, the Inclusive Prosperity Act, financial transaction tax legislation that will bring $350 billion a year in new revenue to communities that never received a recovery promised when tax dollars bailed out Wall Street five years ago.  

Today, dozens of countries have in place a system of financial transaction taxation, including many of the world’s biggest economies.  Eleven European countries, including Germany and France, will begin to  implement a Robin Hood tax on January 1.  The leading Asian financial markets also levy these taxes, as do other major economies, with the exception of the U.S.  
 
In other countries, in solidarity with the September 17 action in New York City, nurses with Global Nurses United are protesting cuts to healthcare and other essential services.   
 
In Calgary, Canada, nurses will rally to stop cuts in the healthcare system.  A rally by nurses in Costa Rica will demand union rights and call for full funding of public healthcare.  In Guatemala, mobilizations throughout the country will be carried out, including calls for a Robin Hood tax.  Nurses in the two largest cities of the Dominican Republic will be staging actions to call for increases in the budget for public health and for collective bargaining agreements.  Several actions in Australia are to include two rallies in Sydney for nurse-to-patient ratios and against austerity.  In the Philippines, The Alliance of Health Workers, together with allied health organizations, will hold a sizeable mass action in the morning of September 17, in front of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Headquarters in Manila to demand health care for all.
 
In addition, nurses in Brazil will deliver a petition to their government to demand healthcare for all and bettering nurses' working conditions.  Nurses in Honduras will hold picket lines at every hospital in the country and as well as a major mobilization and picket in front of the government house in Tegucigalpa, demanding the improvement of patient care in public hospitals and respect of nurses' rights.  Nurses in South Africa will be delivering a petition to their government demanding improvements in their country's health care system and end to austerity measures.
 
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For more information, visit www.robinhoodtax.org