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The 'Amalgamated Bank of Chicago' is a bank in Chicago, Illinois founded in 1922 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (now known as UNITE HERE). Its original name was the Amalgamated Trust and Savings Bank of Chicago.
The bank is governed by a board of directors, a majority of whom are labor union leaders.
As of January 2007, the bank had more than $600 million in assets, and managed more than $7 billion in pension funds.
When the Amalgamated Bank of Chicago was created, banks primarily served the needs of the wealthy. Banks rarely permitted workers to do more than open a savings account, and workers who needed loans often had to resort to loan sharks. Unions in particular had a difficult time establishing a line of credit at a bank, and could not secure loans during strikes or to fund organizing campaigns.
In the 1920s, a number of labor unions established independent full-service banks. Although many of these banks failed during the Great Depression, the Amalgamated Bank of Chicago never suffered financial difficulty.
The Amalgamated Bank of Chicago was one of the first banks to offer no-minimum-balance checking accounts and "character" loans (small loans to individuals with only their good name as collateral).
In 1987, the bank formed a subsidiary to provide administration and investment advice to Taft-Hartley and multi-employer pension funds.
In 1989, the bank established the Illinois Amalgamated Bank Labor Council to advise the bank's trustees on how it could improve services to the labor community. Similar labor councils were established in Indiana in 2002 and Missouri in 2004, where the bank has substantial numbers of customers.
The Amalgamated Bank of Chicago is the first and only bank (as of January 2007) to receive a special award from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

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References

★ Foner, Philip S. ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States. Volume IX: The T.U.E.L. to the End of the Gompers Era.'' Rev. ed. New York City: International Publishers, 1991. ISBN 0717806731

External links

★ Amalgamated Bank of Chicago