MOTOR CITY BRIEFS
Million Worker March leader greeted
Clarence Thomas, a co-convener of the Million Worker March,
spoke to the first Detroit organizing meeting on Sept. 22. The
crowd took leaflets, signed up for bus seats and bought all the
MWM t-shirts Thomas brought with him.
Sponsors included Nathan Head, president of Metro-Detroit
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; South East Michigan Com
mittee on Safety and Health (SEMCOSH); Michigan Emergency
Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI); U.S.-Cuba Labor
Exchange; Labor Notes; the International Action Center; and the
presidents of Auto Workers Locals 2334 & 909.
Detroit buses for the Million Worker March will leave at 9
p.m. on Oct. 16 and return on Oct. 18 before 6:30 a.m. Call
(313) 680-5508 for reservations. Contri butions are needed for
bus scholarships.
Vote NO on Proposal E
Since the state takeover of Detroit Public Schools (DPS) in
1999, parents, teachers and students have relentlessly fought
to regain a fully elected school board--a right equal to all
other 549 school districts in Michigan. Yet the Chamber of
Commerce and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had another idea
and put it on the Nov. 2 ballot--Proposal E.
With a token elected board, Proposal E vests all contracting
power in a CEO appointed by the mayor. The DPS budget for 2005
is more than $1.5 billion. A leaflet by the "We the People
Coalition to Take Back Detroit" points out Proposal E gives the
mayor the power to continue the current appointed board's
policies--"laying off thousands of teachers and support staff,
turning a budget surplus into a massive deficit, closing
schools, increasing class size, failing to stop falling
enrollment, increasing privatization and subcontracting and
paving the way for more charter schools."
A broad grassroots campaign to "Vote No on E" geared up in
late September. On Sept. 21 a Just Say No Coalition news
conference lined up civil rights, labor and community
organizations with most state and local officials representing
Detroit. Yellow "Vote No on E" t-shirts, stickers and lawn
signs are sprouting to counter the $2 million big business war
chest. A public tribunal on school conditions will be held
Sept. 30.
Tired of big business idea monopoly?
The fight is on to regain local control of Detroit Public
Schools radio WRCJ (formerly WDTR) 90.9 FM. The DPS decision to
lease the taxpayer-owned station was made without any public
comment or hearing. Community-oriented programs like "Open
Forum," hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, were cancelled in advance of
the transfer.
A statement by the Committee to Save Educational Radio can
be read at the Michigan Indymedia website, www.
michiganimc.org/feature/display/6471/index.php. An informal
complaint and protest with the FCC can be made through
www.freepress.net. Demand that Dr. Kenneth S. Burnley reinstate
community programming by writing to him c/o WRCJ 90.9 FM, 9345
Lawton, Detroit, MI 48206
Nurses' strike wins increased staffing
On Sept. 13, Mt. Clemens General Hospital nurses voted
316-21 to approve a three-year contract, ending a strike that
began Aug. 9. The nurses, members of Office and Professional
Employees Inter national Union Local 40, walked out over
staffing ratios, paid time off and employee contributions to
health-care benefits.
According to the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO website, "While the
union compromised on the establishment of a numerical ratio,
the company agreed to hire 25 additional full-time nurses,
effectively improving the ratio. In return, the nurses agreed
to a 2-percent annual wage increase instead of the 3 percent
the company had offered before the strike.
"Our membership stated that it wasn't about economics," said
Sandra Sulflow, vice president and secretary for OPEIU Local
40, who headed the bargaining committee. "It was about
staffing. And although the contract doesn't establish a patient
ratio, we got an increase in staffing. It's an acceptable
compromise position. We will have more nurses."
Proposal 2 = anti-gay + anti-union
The right wing in Michigan has placed Proposal 2 on the
ballot for Nov. 2. It is a vicious proposed constitutional
amendment that will promote discrimination against lesbians and
gay men and outlaw civil unions. And it will also overturn and
outlaw union contract provisions and local ordinances that
grant domestic partner benefits for unmarried couples.
Michigan unionists have put out the following statement:
"Domestic partner benefits are recognized in the Big Three auto
contracts. Many other unions have won, or are seeking to extend
health care and other benefits to same and opposite sex
unmarried partners. In many cities this has been enacted into
law, including Detroit, where domestic partner benefits is only
awaiting an additional ordinance defining the specific benefits
to be covered.
"With plenty of money from the various racist, anti-union,
anti-gay foundations and corporate sponsors, the right wing is
trying to whip up a hysteria around the issue of 'gay
marriage.' By appealing to prejudice and ignorance, they are
seeking to confuse the general population and push through an
attack on one part of the population while they also attack our
union rights and benefits.
"Our unions have stood against racism, discrimination and
bigotry in the past. We must come forward now to defeat
Proposal 2 this November. Union members have a duty to live up
to our old slogan: 'An injury to one is an injury to all.'
"Speak up now! To add your name to this appeal, call (313)
680-5508."
--Cheryl Labash
Reprinted from the Oct. 7, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
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