the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Aug 31, 2009
For some people, the economy couldn’t be better, this Labor Day, 2009.
Ben Bernanke, for example. The Federal Reserve Chairman, who gave away trillions of dollars to the banks, just got his job back.
Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury who presided over the biggest speculative balloon in U.S. history, doesn’t even think about his paycheck. He’s too busy feeding more billions to the banks.
Executives at Goldman Sachs–the very ones who blew up the financial system, profiting many times over–just had 11 billion dollars paid into their accounts for three months “work.”
Executives at GM and Chrysler–the very ones who extorted massive concessions from auto workers–will have their bonuses paid in secret, so no one sees just how much went into their own accounts from what they ripped out of the skins of auto workers.
For the financial wizards, who measure things by how much money they accumulated, the economy is looking up.
Nonetheless, the real economy–that is, the production of goods and services that allow us all to live–is caught in the grip of an ever deepening crisis.
De facto, Geithner admits it–when he says that unemployment hasn’t “yet” tanked, that it will have to get worse before it gets better.
Bernanke admits it–when he says that the worst of the mortgage crisis is still ahead of us.
Every single measure shows it. Governors and mayors, speaking of “budget crisis,” cut services, then cut them again, furlough workers, lay off workers, and threaten bankruptcy. School systems close schools, pack students into already overcrowded classrooms and cut more teachers.
This economy, run by the capitalists for the capitalists, has brought us up to, and pushed us over the brink into disaster.
Labor Day should be a day for the working class to gather its forces, to take account of what we accomplished over the past year, to lay out what we need to do in the coming year.
What did we accomplish? The capitalist class used the shock of the economic collapse to increase what it extorted from us. We didn’t find the way to push back.
But we’re still here. And some of us have begun to voice the anger that most of us feel. Some of us have let it be known by our actions that we won’t give up more.
And what we have to do next year–don’t most of us know it?
We have to take a chance, start a fight where we are, knowing that if we do so in a tough, determined way, others might well join us. We have to draw a line, to encourage others to do the same. We have to bring our forces together, stop reacting in isolated fashion.
Organized together as one class, the working class, we have the strength to shake this capitalist society to its foundations, to make the economy serve the population.
We shouldn’t settle for less.
Aug 31, 2009
In 2007, before the worst of this crisis had hit, two thirds of those filing for bankruptcy had problems paying medical bills. And the figures from two years ago were already an enormous increase in numbers of people filing bankruptcy related to medical bills.
What is worse, a study, which appeared in the American Journal of Medicine pointed out that three quarters of those filing bankruptcy over medical bills had health insurance.
Those with insurance owed an average of $17,749, while those without insurance owed an average $26,971.
This study, carried out by Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University, was the first done nationwide to show the link between bankruptcy and high medical bills.
Here is one more proof of why the U.S. needs to get rid of a health system run by private insurance companies for profit.
Aug 31, 2009
More than 50 million Americans don’t have health insurance. Millions more are losing coverage because of layoffs and cutbacks. But health insurance companies are not worried.
At least not the big ones. “We would be willing to forgo membership if necessary. We have a clear bias toward profitability over growth,” said Aetna CEO Ron Williams.
They sure do. In the second quarter of 2009, Aetna reported a profit of 347 million dollars. During the same three months, Cigna’s profit was 313 million. The “non-profit” insurance arm of Kaiser made a profit of 620 million. And UnitedHealth outdid all of these industry giants, with a quarterly profit of 859 million dollars!
Huge profits in a shrinking market–what’s the trick?
Very simple. The insurers have been increasing premiums and co-pays, and cutting back on coverage–thus depriving even more people of health care in the process.
When health care is provided for a profit, we get less and less of it.
Aug 31, 2009
Feeling broke? Facing big medical bills?
A study earlier this year showed how many adults saved money on health care over the past year. In order to cut costs, almost a quarter of the people surveyed put off a doctor’s visit.
• 18% put off having a procedure done;
• 18% declined taking a test recommended;
• 16% skipped filling a prescription;
• 16% skipped taking a medication.
In other words, the Consumer Reports National Research Center found people taking at least five steps dangerous to their health–because of outrageous costs.
Nothing in any of the health care reform measures offers real cost controls. Nothing will stop people from dying for lack of money.
Aug 31, 2009
It is four years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. For the poor, the devastation remains unrepaired. The wealthy have rebuilt New Orleans–the way they want it.
They have taken over the public school system, dividing it into three very separate and very unequal parts–with disproportionate amounts of public money going to the schools serving the wealthiest children. For the working people, there are two applicants for every one seat in a school.
The New York Times published a revealing set of figures showing how the wealthy have managed the “rebuilding.” Since 2007, conditions for the workers and the poor have stagnated. Whether it’s the number of jobs available, or the unemployment, or the vacant and abandoned houses, or lack of public transit or public schools, there has been little or no improvement.
There are only half as many child care centers as before Katrina, and only two-thirds as many schools. And unemployment jumped back up this year, despite the sixty-some-thousand derelict houses–needing workers to tear them down and rebuild them.
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the New Orleans metro area is now $949, compared to $676 before Katrina.
It’s a picture of the gentrification of a whole city.
The wealthy lords of the city took advantage of Katrina to rebuild in their own image, for their own enjoyment. They have excluded large parts of the poor and the black population, the very people to whom New Orleans owed its culture and traditions.
Aug 31, 2009
With schools starting, retailers already said parents would not spend as much money this year as before.
In these bad economic times, parents are buying expensive supplies for our children, class sizes are up, and after school programs are being cut. Baltimore City teacher pay is frozen. But School Superintendent Alonso is getting a $29,000 bonus on top of his $250,000 salary.
What kind of educational system takes from the children to reward an already overpaid jerk?
Aug 31, 2009
Last year Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, which has the contract for health care for Detroit Public School employees, got caught overcharging the school system. DPS was charged three million too much on medical claims and it was charged over $400,000 too much in late fees!
Why is a supposed non-profit company charging a school system enormous late fees in the first place? How did three million dollars too much get charged for medical claims? And how many other suppliers look on the schools as a way to rack up money? No wonder the DPS has a budget crisis.
While the DPS Financial Management czar, Robert Bobb, has been making headlines denouncing some school employees over lost computers, big companies like Blue Cross have been gouging the children of Detroit through contracts with DPS.
Aug 31, 2009
On Tuesday, August 25, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to turn more than 250 schools–including 50 new campuses–to charter companies and “other operators.” Last year, eleven L.A. schools were taken over by Green Dot, a charter company in partnership with the Mayor Villaraigosa.
Board members claim that this move will help elevate the quality of education by “creating competition” between schools.
Competition? Brand-new, multi-million dollar schools, built with public money, are turned over to private companies, while public schools are kept in crowded older ones and starved for funds. Charter schools are encouraged to be non-union and allowed to hire teachers with less education, training and qualification–so they can pay them less! Charter schools are not mandated to administer standardized tests as public schools are, nor to match other requirements set by the schools.
By the measure of test scores, charter schools, including those run by Green Dot, have proved no better, and often worse than public schools.
L.A. politicians are not alone–their biggest sponsor sits in the White House. For months now, President Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has been publicly threatening to deny federal funds to California and other states that don’t ease regulations on charter schools!
No, charters have nothing to do with “quality” education. They are nothing but a huge gift to private businesses!
Aug 31, 2009
Developer John Paterakis recently won a big tax break, spread over several years, from Baltimore City for his latest Harbor East project–including a Four Seasons Hotel and headquarters for investment firm Legg Mason. How big a tax break? A total of 34 million bucks.
At the same time, Gov. O’Malley is cutting 35 million in state aid to Baltimore City. Mayor Dixon immediately announced there would be layoffs and furloughs of city workers.
Thirty-four million could keep all city workers employed at the full pay they are entitled to.
Aug 31, 2009
Last Monday was the first of three furlough days the city is imposing on its workers. There was no trash pickup, city health clinics and libraries were closed, and city workers lost a day’s pay. The city claims the three furlough days will save it 8.3 million dollars. But Chicago just gave United Airlines 25 million to move its headquarters downtown! The city has plenty of money ... for the big corporations. Cancel the corporate handouts and the rest of the furlough days.
Aug 31, 2009
Prince George’s County stopped supporting the Kids Ride Free program, which allowed students with school-issued ID’s to ride Metro buses free between 2 and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The county says this cut will “save” an additional $300,000.
Actually, they are taking an additional $300,000 from the students of Prince George’s County.
Aug 31, 2009
The Afghan elections of August 20 were considered a test by the Western powers, a test of their control over the country. They wanted to demonstrate that 100,000 occupation troops make Afghanistan secure enough for credible elections to be held!
As far as security goes, the Taliban showed that they could strike in the heart of the capital Kabul. Two days before the vote, a suicide attack in front of NATO headquarters caused seven deaths. The next day, rockets fell on the presidential palace and on police headquarters. Finally, 17 people were killed in an attack on a bank in the very middle of the capital.
The Taliban called for a boycott and threatened reprisals against all those who took part in the elections.
On election day, Kabul was in a state of siege, even more than usual, controlled by tanks, check points and military patrols.
The spectacular attacks against polling places feared by the authorities supposedly didn’t take place–if we can believe the press. But the media agreed not to talk about violence, in order not to frighten the voters! But there were still some 30 deaths that day.
The Taliban didn’t have to assault polling places for the turnout to be very low. Not only were some 700 polling places not even set up, but in addition, others were closed. In the South, some estimates were of a 10% turnout. Even in the capital, testimony about the weak turnouts at the voting places casts doubt on the overall turnout rate of 40 to 50%, announced by Karzai’s government. Although the final results won’t be announced until September 17, Karzai already announced himself the winner with more than 50% of the vote. Unfortunately, his rival announced the same thing and claimed massive fraud. Karzai’s rival pointed out that some people could not register yet there were five million more registered to vote than the total of those of voting age. He accused Karzai of buying votes and massively stuffing ballot boxes.
Still, the electoral commission named by Karzai and the Western powers congratulated themselves on holding this election. The very people who denounced the electoral farce in Iran congratulate themselves on an even bigger electoral farce in Afghanistan–calling it “democracy”! It doesn’t bother these so-called democrats that it was an electoral travesty, in a country torn apart by war. “Democracy” in this case means keeping as head of the country the same corrupt and bloody figure, Karzai, who is as reactionary as the Taliban. He just ratified a law requiring women “to satisfy the sexual urges of their husband and to ask their [husband’s] authorization to go outside the home.” In order to carry the election on the first round, Karzai made alliances with corrupt and bloody war lords who are war criminals and opium traffickers. What beautiful democracy–calling on the population to vote for such bandits!
Obama–repeating Bush’s lies–declares that war is necessary to prevent Afghanistan from becoming “a bigger sanctuary, where Al Qaida can plot the murder of more Americans.” If more terrorism develops, it will be caused in part by the eight-year war carried out by occupation troops–a war that has spread terror and grief. It could only reinforce the Taliban camp the U.S. pretends to combat.
An Afghan member of a provincial council recognized that “the people here suffer a lot from the situation, bombing, military patrols, insecurity. They feel abandoned by the government. Then they turn their backs on the foreign forces and some join the ranks of the insurgents.”
The terrorism used by big Western powers against the people of Afghanistan is what will provoke more attempts at revenge on the U.S.
All U.S. troops out of Afghanistan–immediately!
Aug 31, 2009
U.S. troops are once again operating in Baghdad two months after they supposedly had withdrawn to their own bases outside all Iraqi urban areas. On August 19, after bombings at Iraqi government offices, U.S. troops were on the scene. “Just make sure you photograph us doing nothing,” one U.S. soldier told a reporter. “Because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing now.” Yes doing nothing, all suited up for battle.
Meanwhile, top U.S. military officers are proposing that U.S. troops join patrols by Kurdish militia and Iraqi army units in northern Iraq.
Obama may talk about withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq, leaving U.S. troops only to train Iraqi soldiers and guard U.S. bases. But the first minute that U.S. control over Iraq is threatened, the troops are right back on the scene. All that Iraqi oil is still sitting there, waiting to be exploited.
Aug 31, 2009
Secret memos 38 years old, just released, show President Richard Nixon plotting with Brazil’s president to overthrow the Latin American governments of Allende in Chile and Castro in Cuba.
Nixon offered “discreet aid” for Brazil’s help, “as long as our hand did not appear.”
Yes, hiding their dirty hands is the standard operating procedure of the world’s rulers, past and present.
Aug 31, 2009
On August 19, the Swiss bank UBS agreed to give the IRS the names and banking data on 5,000 of its U.S. clients. The U.S. government has been putting pressure on UBS for a year in order to get this agreement.
Both sides are happy with the deal. The IRS is making a show of going after some of the biggest cheats. And it is to get money from a few thousand U.S. taxpayers who were the most blatant.
UBS got a good deal as well. First, it can continue to operate in the U.S., where it has 25,000 employees–almost as many as in Switzerland–and many tens of thousands of clients. UBS avoids a trial and billions of dollars in fines. It had clearly been providing wealthy Americans all sorts of illegal ways to avoid taxes. These methods came out at the trial of a UBS official, who had agreed to “tell all” in a show of cooperation with the U.S. justice system.
The whole agreement is little more than a show. UBS has to turn over only about 10% of its 52,000 U.S. clients: Five hundred names are due in three months, 4,500 more at the end of a year. These delays will allow many of them to find a way to escape the IRS.
But even though a few selected government functionaries will learn the financial secrets of some of the wealthy, this won’t put an end to the secrets of wealth and of capitalist affairs.
The big companies have no secrets among themselves. Business methods are secret only from ordinary people, above all, from the workers. Workers are not supposed to know what fortunes have been built from their exploitation.
In order to continue its lucrative work in the U.S., UBS agreed to chip away a little bit at this famous Swiss bank secrecy.
But the bourgeoisie of the world isn’t deceived by this little show. According to the secretary general of the Association of Swiss Private Bankers, far from fleeing the country, more funds of the wealthy are arriving every day.
Aug 31, 2009
Robert Wolf, the CEO of the Swiss bank UBS, played a round of golf with President Obama during Obama’s vacation.
What would they have to talk about?
Maybe the measly 780 million dollars paid by UBS last February, to avoid prosecution for helping rich U.S. clients evade taxes on a hundred billion dollars or so?
Maybe the 4,450 accounts holding 18 billion offshore tax-evaded dollars, that UBS just released to the IRS?
Or maybe the 47,550 similar accounts that the IRS allowed them NOT to release?
Naw. It was probably just a friendly game of golf between buddies.
Aug 31, 2009
When President Obama nominated Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Obama praised Bernanke for rescuing a “financial system on the verge of collapse.” According to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Obama credits Bernanke for no less than “pulling the economy back from the brink of depression.”
What hogwash!
Faced with the collapse of the biggest financial bubble in history, Bernanke shoveled trillions of dollars of tax payer money into the hands of the very people who had created the crisis in the first place. He introduced a slew of lending programs, offering unheard of amounts of money practically free of charge to these big companies. The Fed also largely bankrolled JPMorgan Chase’s takeover of Bear Stearns. And the Fed had a hand in the government bailouts of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and American International Group. Through these huge multi-trillion dollar companies, the government provided the money to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars in bad loans and mortgages (toxic debt) held by the biggest financial companies.
The injection of all this money did allow the biggest financial companies to miraculously “recover” in record time from their death swoon. But what a “recovery”! As soon as these banks got their hands on all that money... they went back to their old ways, speculating on the stock market, various currency markets, on oil and gold and anything else they can get their hands on. Right now, they’re setting up to speculate on cap-and-trade pollution permits before the program is even legislated.
Bernanke has not rescued the economy–he only gave the banks the means to create ever more dangerous and unstable financial bubbles, crises and collapses. It was like handing super tankers filled with gasoline to psychotic pyromaniacs.
Aug 31, 2009
Politicians from both parties are trying to exploit widespread anger, sometimes striking a populist pose. Republicans played on resentment to government, accusing the Federal Reserve of interfering in the “free” market place, as if these companies could exist without taxpayer-provided life support.
Democrats took the opposite tack, criticizing the Federal Reserve for not regulating the banks and big financial companies enough, not protecting the consumer and the public.
Regulate the banks? What a laugh! The banks literally own the Federal Reserve. They are the “shareholders” in the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks. Bankers make up the regional Federal Reserve Banks boards of directors, and they participate directly in the decision-making of the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C.
It is not the Federal Reserve that regulates the banks, but the bankers that regulate the Federal Reserve! The fact that Obama nominated Bernanke for a second term just means that the big banks approved of how Bernanke follows their orders.
Aug 31, 2009
Prices on the U.S. stock market seem to have jumped recently–16% in just the last six weeks alone for the Dow Jones Average.
Don’t hold your breath hoping the economic crisis is coming to an end. Almost one-third of all the trades on the exchange have been in the stocks of just five companies.
Who are they? Some of the shakiest financial institutions around–Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Citigroup, and Bank of America. All of them would have gone bankrupt without big bailouts. But short-term traders (read “speculators”) have been bidding their stock prices up, hoping to make another killing before their latest bubble pops!
Aug 31, 2009
A correspondent from Haiti wrote this article, which appeared in the August 28 issue of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the revolutionary workers group of that name active in France.
On August 4, some 12,000 to 15,000 workers of the industrial zone of the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, took over the streets of the capital to protest the endless negotiations over increasing the daily minimum wage to 200 gourds, equivalent to $5. The minimum wage in effect since 2003 is $1.75. These workers come from Sonapi Park, an industrial zone of subcontractors working mainly for U.S. companies.
This demonstration coincided with a debate in Parliament concerning this new minimum wage of 200 gourds. After Parliament voted on the law, the bosses of the subcontracting companies unleashed a barrage of loud complaints, crying “catastrophe.” The president of Haiti, René Préval, proposed a minimum wage of 125 gourds instead ($3.13 a day). The deputies had to state whether or not they agreed.
Waving tree branches, thousands of workers left Sonapi Park shouting their slogan “200 gourds right now.” They brought along comrades from other factories scattered on the route, arriving in front of the Parliament. The police claimed rocks were thrown. They violently dispersed the demonstrations with blows from clubs, tear gas, etc.
The workers didn’t give up. The next day, thousands of protesters took over the streets. Several hundred protesters made it all the way to the center of the capital, denouncing their extreme exploitation by the bosses.
On August 10, the police arrested two students who had come to Sonapi Park in support of the protesters. A large number were so shocked by this police action that they took two hours to go on foot to the police station where the two students were held. Protesters shouted, “Free the students and vote the 200 gourds.” A human wave surrounded the police station. The police chief was afraid, so he called out specialized units to disperse the crowd by shooting tear gas.
The next day, thousands of workers massed near Sonapi Park and poured out on the roads in the direction of the National Palace.
The way these demonstrations played out illustrated the lack of organization in the working class. But these demonstrations allowed the workers to experience the enormous potential that exists in their common actions. In only a few days, these workers of the industrial zone freed themselves of the fear of losing their jobs. They had an experience which undoubtedly will serve them well in the future. They’ll remember the image of frightened bosses, when the workers’ procession came to call out their comrades still at work. They’ll remember the joy of some women workers, torn from the claws of their bosses, bursting out with sobs of joy as they left the factories to go join their comrades in the streets.
Although this brief mobilization frightened the bosses and their servants in the government, it won’t be enough to force them to retreat.
But Haitian workers may now understand that better working and living conditions don’t depend on the words of members of parliament, politicians and economists. It depends rather on their own capacity to organize to impose their demands on the bosses and their servants.
One more word: the two students arrested in Sonapi Park were released on August 18. The same day, the Chamber of Deputies–the majority of whom, according to a deputy from Cap-Haïtien, received bribes from the president and the bosses–voted for the 125 gourds–not the 200 gourds demanded.
Aug 31, 2009
The UAW’s National Ford Council of local presidents and bargaining chairs recently met in Detroit. Some local officers spoke to say that they could not agree to any more concessions, even if it meant breaking the “pattern” at GM and Chrysler. Most of them said they wouldn’t be re-elected if they were forced to try to push through more take-aways. The one thing that none of them did was to make their opposition public.
But there are others who have been publicly denouncing the push for concessions, step by step. One of those is a bargaining committeeman at Ford’s Dearborn Michigan Truck Plant, Gary Walkowicz.
He issued the following statement after the meeting, which was circulated in several Ford plants, and posted on the website for Soldiers of Solidarity (www.soldiersofsolidarity.com). He can be contacted at GWALK@peoplepc.com.
Alan Mulally and other Ford executives have been saying they want more concessions from Ford workers. On August 5th, at a meeting of the UAW Ford National Council, many local union leaders told President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice President Bob King–if they come back for more concessions, it is not going to pass; the membership is going to vote it down.
I agree 100%. I think people are still angry about the last concessions, rightfully so. There was a strong “No” vote against concessions last time and I think Ford workers are ready to vote down any more concessions.
They realize it, too. I believe that’s why they have backed off, for a minute. At the end of the Council meeting, Bob King said that he will continue to have discussions with Ford about further concessions. I believe they will be back for more, they just want to figure out what kind of concessions they could get to pass.
The idea that Ford is even talking about more concessions is beyond outrageous. Ford is bragging about how they are doing better than the other auto companies. Ford reported a 2.3 billion dollar profit last quarter, but they want to take even more away from us???!!!
It just goes to show you that once you start giving concessions, the companies will never stop coming back for more and more and more and more. There is no end to their greed.
That’s why I believe that if they come back for ANY kind of concession, we have to say “NO”.
No matter if the concessions seem small, or not affecting us directly, we have to say “NO MORE”.
If we give up anything, it leaves the door open for them to keep coming back.
We can do what it takes to put an end to concessions.
Aug 31, 2009
In Detroit in early August, there was an upsurge of demonstrations against cutbacks in the city and attacks on city workers and teachers. The success of one demonstration helped build spirit for the next. Some cutbacks were put off for a while!
But while spirit was building, teachers’ union officials gave up the moment. They cut a deal with the city to extend their contract–until October 31.
Not only did this deal fail to build on the rising spirits of the teachers and the community, it gave up the teachers’ biggest weapon: initial enrollment. A strike at the start of the school year could reduce the schools’ state funding–a big threat!
But by October 31 this lever for the teachers will disappear. The city meanwhile keeps all its weapons!
We won’t defend ourselves by accepting such a "compromise," which only serves the bosses’ and the school board’s interests. Teachers and all other workers under attack need to use all the weapons available.
Aug 31, 2009
Broad smiles and a confident stride marked the scene as more than 1000 Detroit city workers and their supporters surrounded the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building–where Mayor Bing’s office is–on 8/19/09.
Demonstrators said it loud and clear: “No!” to 10% pay cuts for all city workers and “No!” to cuts in bus service.
City bus drivers spearheaded the rally. Drivers distributed demonstration leaflets all over the city with help from riders.
Bus drivers and water department workers came out in force and in uniform. Workers and retirees from many city departments demonstrated. Bus riders–particularly young workers who depend on the bus to get to their jobs–were full of energy and spirited with their chants.
Joining from other workplaces were Detroit Public School teachers, State of Michigan workers, workers from Henry Ford Hospital and Ford workers.
Two popular chants were: “Chop from the top!” and “Bing and [School Chief] Bobb have GOT TO GO!”
One demonstrator said that in his 20 years with the city, he had never seen all the unions come together like this!
The new mayor, a former NBA basketball star, has been putting up a stream of threats at city workers like someone throwing practice foul shots.
By the looks of this demonstration, his shots are bouncing off the rim!
Aug 31, 2009
The same day as the first protest, Mayor Bing “swore in” new appointees. This makes a total of 118 advisors. That’s 20 more advisors than the previous administration had!
To add insult to injury, he is paying some of his closest advisors salaries that are $10,000 more a year than those of the previous administration!
Bing’s press secretary said the salaries are necessary to attract and retain those with “expertise, experience and commitment” to help turn the city around.
City workers at this rally are the very talent that holds the city together. Raise their salaries!
Aug 31, 2009
In the face of protests, the Detroit mayor and his cronies backed off–for now–on slated cuts in bus schedules and drivers. Dave Bing said, “We listened to the people.”
He heard all right! And what he heard were the resounding chants at four days of public hearings, especially “Dave Bing has got to go!” Thousands of Detroiters showed up to one or more of the eight public hearings.
People in wheelchairs, blind people, students, senior citizens and all those people who ride the bus to go back and forth to work gave passionate and angry testimony. At one of the hearings, a Detroit resident decried cuts that would mean “No church. No Belle Isle. No Hart Plaza. No malls. No jobs.”
Another worker who rides the bus said of this hearing: “It was nice and nasty and I enjoyed it.”
The politicians, who had said there was no money, found some, quick. When people are massed in the street, their hearing improves.
Aug 31, 2009
Nearly 2,000 teachers and staff members demonstrated at the main office of the Detroit Public Schools on Tuesday, August 25. The workers were protesting concessions being demanded by DPS financial czar Robert Bobb. Those concessions include a 10% wage cut with wages to be frozen for five years, drastic increases in health care costs, limits on use of sick pay and elimination of penalties the district pays for exceeding class size or forcing teachers to work during their prep periods.
The protestors enthusiastically shouted “Robert Bobb has got to go!” One teacher said, “I’ve been teaching for 30 years and now that I’m getting older and close to retirement, they want to charge me more for medical care!” Another teacher said, “It’s not about A, B, C. It’s about 1, 2, 3, because they want to run the schools like a business.”