Gov’t threatens more cuts in services, wages

Corporate-backed Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has again threatened to enact massive layoffs and further cuts in city services in response to a “secret audit” report issued by the accounting firm Ernst and Young. In a Nov. 16 press conference, Bing said that the audit report indicated that the city would “run out of cash” by next spring.

Bing further stressed that if municipal unions and the people of Detroit rejected a new round of workforce reductions, a scale-down in employee benefits and the gutting of services, he would request a review of the city finances by the Republican governor, Rick Snyder. A state law passed last spring provides for the appointment of an “emergency manager” in fiscally distressed cities, counties and school districts with the power to abrogate labor contracts, impose austerity measures and expropriate municipal pension funds.

Detroit city workers last year had a 10 percent wage reduction. There have also been cuts in health care programs for employees and their families.

City public services have been devastated over the last several years as Detroit seeks to stay above water amid massive debts that require escalating payments purportedly owed to the banks.

Already 2,000 civil service positions have been eliminated and the mayor and City Council are debating whether to lay off an additional 1,000-2,000 workers.

The existing pay cuts provided for a two-day mandatory furlough every month without pay. Now city workers are being ordered to report to work on these days while maintaining the existing 10 percent pay reduction.

Also the public lighting and bus systems have been stretched to the limit with the need for major reinvestment. Thousands of street lights are broken with no plan for repairing them.

The absence of street lights even on major thoroughfares is jeopardizing the health and safety of the population. Bing is threatening to privatize the lighting department by turning over the management to the multibillion dollar DTE Energy corporation where Bing served as a board member for many years.

Over 250 buses are off the streets due to the lack of spare parts. The city administration has refused to hire mechanics or provide overtime for the existing workforce to make the necessary repairs. Unions representing the bus drivers and mechanics have come under fire by the administration falsely reporting that it is they who are responsible for the absence of functioning buses.

Bus services are so bad that many workers who rely on the buses cannot get to their jobs on time. Some have publicly stated that they lost their jobs due to the bus transportation crisis.

In a city already suffering from an official unemployment rate of over 25 percent, hundreds of thousands of students, senior citizens, unemployed people and those fortunate enough to be still working rely on the buses to get to schools, jobs, doctor’s visits and the search for employment.

Occupy Detroit demonstration against austerity

On Nov. 17, the Occupy Detroit movement joined in with the national day of protest against austerity by holding a rally in downtown Detroit.

A representative of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs spoke outside City Hall calling for the repayment of over $200 million in state revenue sharing funds that is owed to Detroit.

In addition, Moratorium NOW! is demanding that there be increased federal funding for public transportation in order to get the buses back on the street as well as the purchasing of new vehicles and the building of a long-delayed light rail system.

Moratorium NOW! also urged the mayor and City Council to appeal to the federal government for a financial bailout. In 2009, the Obama administration forced General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy in order to bail out the auto companies.

Emergency funding from the federal government, the suspension of debt-service payments to the banks and an increase in corporate taxes could easily resolve the current financial crisis.

Moratorium NOW! has played an instrumental and supportive role within the Occupy Detroit movement. For example, the Occupy Detroit movement has called for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.

Occupy Detroit has also held demonstrations against the cutbacks in public transportation and for the cancellation of student debt. Moratorium NOW! played an important role in the formation of a labor working group which organized a demonstration on Nov. 6 that attracted over 700 people from various unions and community organizations.

Moratorium NOW! and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice have held their regular meetings at Occupy Detroit in Grand Circus Park as an act of solidarity with the heavily youth-led Occupy Detroit movement. Some of these young activists have expressed interest in working with Moratorium NOW! on an ongoing basis.