America's Labor Bank Arrives In Pasadena
Release Date: Aug 27, 2002


PASADENA, CA Amalgamated Bank, America's Labor Bank, has made its way across the country, opening its first full service commercial branch on the West Coast. Located at 60 South Los Robles Avenue and directly across the street from Paseo Colorado, the Bank offers a comprehensive range of banking and credit services, all at highly competitive rates.

The Bank recognized the strong and ever growing labor presence on the West Coast, specifically in California, and realized that working people as well as the unions that represent them need an ally who would look out and help them achieve all of their financial goals. "We needed to show our support to the working people of the West Coast," said Amalgamated Bank Chairman Jay Mazur. He went on to say, "Being in Pasadena, we can provide the banking services they need and deserve, all within reach."

Amalgamated Bank was founded in 1923 to bring affordable banking services to working men and women…people who, up until that point, did not qualify for most of these services. Throughout the years, Amalgamated has pioneered additional ways of providing financial assistance to working people. Today that mission continues. To that end, we offer: Amalgamated Bank is leasing the property where the branch stands from the Pasadena Methodist Foundation. Amelia Vinal, head of Branch Operations at Amalgamated said, "We are fortunate to be working with the Pasadena Methodist Foundation. They have been wonderful, accommodating and extremely cooperative from the time we first started negotiations through the time the branch was opened. They have helped make our transition into Pasadena an extremely pleasant experience."

The Pasadena branch opened on July 29. It joins Amalgamated Bank's branches in New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. If you have any questions about Amalgamated Bank or any of our products and services, please contact Emelita Bituin, Pasadena Branch Manager at (626) 229-2180.


Amalgamated, 'America's Labor Bank,' to Open First West Coast Branch to Serve L.A.'s Working Families

PASADENA, Calif., August 27, 2002/Ascribe Newswire/ -- Amalgamated Bank will celebrate the opening of its first west coast branch to serve unions, their members and families in the Los Angeles region at a ribbon-cutting event September 3, the first business day following the Labor Day weekend.

"Companies like Enron and WorldCom defrauded working families, many of whom lost their life savings. We've sued them to help get workers their pensions back," said Bruce Raynor, President of UNITE and the Vice Chair of Amalgamated Bank. "Public trust in corporations and Wall Street is at an all-time low and Amalgamated's socially responsible track record matters to customers and businesses now more than ever."

Amalgamated Bank was founded in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (a predecessor to the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, AFL-CIO, or UNITE) to bring affordable banking services to working women and men - people who, up until that point, did not qualify for most of these services - and to protect their savings. Throughout the years, Amalgamated, now owned by UNITE, has pioneered additional ways of providing financial assistance to working people while remaining financially sound.

"Amalgamated Bank is for people who want to put their money where their heart is," said Gabe Caprio, President of Amalgamated Bank. "This is a bank that works for working people. Our customers may not have a million dollars, but they have million-dollar dreams for their families. Because Amalgamated's roots lie in labor unions, we understand where working families are coming from, and, more importantly, where they want to go."

Each of the Bank's nine branches offers a full suite of financial services, including checking, savings, and money market accounts and a mutual fund (the Longview Fund, also run by the Bank), CD's, commercial, personal auto, and mortgage loans. Its members receive: This expansion of local services by Amalgamated also runs counter to national banking trends that have resulted in a net loss of branch banks in Los Angeles County between 1990 and 2000, despite a doubling in population in the past two decades. The new branch is located at 60 South Robles Avenue, directly across the street from Paseo Colorado. It joins Amalgamated Bank's other branches in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

Advocates say the Bank's lending practices and history of standing up to corporate corruption sets it apart from the pack. For example, while other major banks are cutting back on their small business lending, Amalgamated loans to socially responsible ventures that many other banks traditionally pass up. Amalgamated recently helped finance operations at sweatX, the first new garment manufacturing company to offer union wages and benefits in the Los Angeles region in over a decade. Amalgamated's loan provided state-of-the-art equipment that will keep production costs at minimum, while giving local laborers fair wages and benefits, such as health care and paid leave. "I've been working in clothing for 20 years, and I never had a paid holiday before this," said Ana Acevedo, one of the new company's employees, in a recent newspaper story.

Amalgamated was the first plaintiff to begin actions earlier this year against Enron managers and accountants for securities fraud and remains a member of the class action. The Bank has been at the forefront of new and innovative shareholder activism, even before Enron. Amalgamated is credited with leading a shareholder action against UnoCal's investments in a slave labor-built project in Burma, a country under military dictatorship, fighting excessive executive compensation at GE and other companies and opposing efforts by companies like Nabors and Stanley to move to Bermuda to avoid US taxes.

Amalgamated Bank, 60 S. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena