AMID LARGEST BANK FAILURE IN US HISTORY, SCHUMER FIGHTS TO SAFEGUARD OVER 800 WaMu JOBS IN ORLEANS COUNTY
Makes Direct Appeal to JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon
Schumer: Albion Operation Is a First-Rate Operation With A World-Class Workforce
Schumer Has Long Fought To Secure WaMu Jobs - Successfully Lobbied Albion Office To Stay Open For Business In 2001
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In the wake of JP Morgan Chase's buyout of Washington Mutual yesterday, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer made a direct appeal to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to protect the over 800 WaMu jobs located in Albion, New York. Senator Schumer has long been involved in efforts to bring the jobs to Albion, successfully lobbying Washington Mutual's thenCEO Kerry Killinger to keep its facility open in Orleans County and to open a new customer contact center that created about 450 new jobs for Western New York in 2001.
In an effort to protect the muchneeded jobs, Senator Schumer personally called Mr. Dimon to call his attention to the importance of the jobs to Western New York and urge his commitment to preserve them.
"Albion is a firstrate facility with a worldclass workforce and I wanted to make sure that, at the highest level, JP Morgan Chase understood what a great job these employees do," Schumer said.
Washington Mutual's failure is, by far, the largest bank failure in American history. On the call, Mr. Dimon expressed his appreciation for the work done in Albion, and indicated it was early in the takeover process and that no decisions had been made regarding the facility. "Albion is certainly on Mr. Dimon's radar and I will follow up every step of the way as this takeover progresses, and do everything in my power to preserve the jobs there," said Schumer.
Washington Mutual, a Seattlebased thrift, is the largest employer in Orleans County, employing about 850 people in its mortgageservicing and loan -processing center in Albion. As part of yesterday's buyout, JP Morgan Chase took over WaMu's $307 billion in assets, all of its deposits and the combined company will now have 5,400 bank branches across the nation. JP Morgan Chase will also absorb at least $31 billion in losses from troubled mortgages and credit card loans. WaMu customers are guaranteed by the FDIC for up to $100,000 and JP Morgan Chase will back up additional deposits.
