Occupy Detroit calls for jobs, no foreclosures & shutoffs

Occupy Detroit ended its third week with a spirited demonstration organized by labor in support of the Occupy Detroit movement. More than 500 persons, including many rank-and-file members of organized labor, gathered at the Labor Legacy Monument in Hart Plaza and marched through downtown to the Occupy Detroit camp. During the march, a large banner that called on President Barack Obama to use his executive authority to initiate a massive public jobs program was carried. Signs called for a moratorium on foreclosures, a Works-Progress-Administration-style jobs program, and a bailout of the people — not the banks. Vehicles delivered donations, collected by the unions throughout the week, to the camp. The demonstration ended with a rally that included speakers from the camp as well as young labor organizers.

The week started with a march on Nov. 1 from the Occupy Detroit camp to a rally at DTE Energy headquarters. Marchers demanded an end to utility shutoffs and opposition to a recent $174 million rate increase. More than 150 people picketed DTE, demanding a transition to green energy with green jobs.

On Nov. 2, Occupy Detroiters crashed a taped interview given by New York Stock Exchange CEO Duncan Niederauer at the Wayne State University Business School. Two Occupy Detroit members were arrested during the program, one for asking Niederauer for advice on how occupiers might avoid arrest in the same manner that Wall Street bankers had avoided arrest for their role in the financial meltdown. The second person was arrested for asking about the CEO’s accountability for presiding over the economic crash. As the activists were arrested, the crowd chanted, “Jail the CEO, not Susie and Joe!”

— Mike Shane