Unions Challenge Detroit Bankruptcy

Earlier this year, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder had his fiscal emergency manager - the modern equivalent of feudal regent - initiate the next phase of their hostile takeover of Detroit by filing for bankruptcy.  Last month, a judge called the bankruptcy filing unconstitutional.  (No wonder Republicans hate the Constitution so much and why they keep shredding it - it keeps getting in their way.)

The unions in Detroit are now standing up to the plate to fight for their homes and their livelihoods.  From Workers Independent News:

Several unions are challenging Detroit’s bankruptcy filing and the cuts in pensions sought in that bankruptcy. AFSCME Council 25 told the bankruptcy court that the city has not proven it is insolvent and has not negotiated in good faith with its creditors. Billions of dollars in pension obligations earned by workers are on the line here. The average city of Detroit worker pension is $19,000 a year, so if pensions are cut it will be a severe hardship for retirees who served Detroit well for their working careers. Governor Rick Snyder’s Detroit emergency manager, Kevyn Orr has called for “significant cuts” to the pensions. The union challenges to Detroit’s bankruptcy filing includes the legal position that the emergency manager law which enabled Detroit to file bankruptcy violates the state constitution. In addition to AFSCME, the UAW, SEIU and Operating Engineers are also challenging the bankruptcy. So are retired police and firefighters associations. The unions represent about 21,000 Detroit retirees.

It is actions like this from Snyder or those by Scott Walker and Chris Abele that we are seeing a slow but steady increase in membership again. People are catching on that these Teapublicans are only interested in the taxpayers because they want their tax money for themselves instead of letting it go to the workers.

A Contract Is A Contract

Over the weekend, there was a flurry of news coming from the State of Michigan, where Governor Rick Snyder is making the first power play for the pensions of Detroit workers.

Stemming from that is this wonderful article from Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which gets right to the issue:

It is striking that so many people in the media are acting as though this clause does not exist. Part of the story is undoubtedly a belief by many reporters that Detroit workers got overly generous pensions. The pensions of Detroit’s workers are almost certainly better than private sector pensions, which have been rapidly disappearing. However, research shows that most public sector workers incur a wage penalty relative to private sector workers with the same education and experience. Better pensions and other benefits essentially even the score.

But even if Detroit’s workers got a good deal with their pay and benefit package, so what? A contract is still a contract. Workers put in their time in exchange for a specific package of pay and benefits, how can the government arbitrarily change the terms of the deal after the fact.

There are businesses that end up getting very good deals from the government all the time. How often does a state or local government end up selling a parcel of land for a price that turns out to be hugely below its true value. Or they may give tax concessions to lure businesses that prove to be overly generous. It looks like the City of Chicago made a really bad deal in leasing its parking meters to Morgan Stanley for three quarters of a century. Does Chicago get to just rewrite the terms of the contract?

In these cases involving businesses, somehow a contract is a contract, end of story. The relationship is sacred and no one suggests changing the terms after the fact. However, in the case of the pensions for city workers, these are just office workers, custodians, or garbage collectors. The media would have us believe that contracts with these sorts of people aren’t real contracts. If they prove inconvenient, then they can be changed.

While that may be the view that the media is trying to push, the rest of us should insist that the law and the constitution be respected. Detroit’s city workers have as much right to have their contracts respected as the Wall Street bankers making millions and billions off contracts that are often far more questionable.

This is class war at its ugliest. The elites have to learn that they don’t get to change the rules as they go along, if they want their contracts to be respected they will have to respect contracts that protect working people as well.

And even though I shouldn't need to remind the gentle reader, don't think for one minute that Scott Walker or Chris Abele aren't already looking at doing something similar with our pensions.

Detroit Bankruptcy Claim Ruled Unconstitutional

It's no secret that the corporations are setting out to become the only ruling faction of every state in the

nation.  While one can easily see them doing the same thing in state after state, sometimes they employ different tactics, depending on state rules and other factors.

In Michigan, we see this with the implementation of Fiscal Emergency Managers.  These emergency managers would be the same as a hatchet man in the private sector world - someone whose sole job is to shut down the company so that that the vulture capitalists can gorge themselves.

Last week, the emergency manager for Detroit said that he was going to file for bankruptcy immediately because he couldn't or didn't want to pay the city's bills, including the city's workers pension.  In other words, it was a blatant raid on the pension system, stealing from the workers to give to Governor Rick Snyder's corporate masters.

Too bad for them that their pension raid is unconstitutional:

An Ingham County judge says Thursday's historic Detroit bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution and state law and must be withdrawn.

But Attorney General Bill Schuette said he will appeal Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina’s Friday rulings and seek emergency consideration by the Michigan Court of Appeals. He wants her orders stayed pending the appeals, he said in a news release.

In a spate of orders today arising from three separate lawsuits, Aquilina said Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr must take no further actions that threaten to diminish the pension benefits of City of Detroit retirees.

“I have some very serious concerns because there was this rush to bankruptcy court that didn’t have to occur and shouldn’t have occurred,” Aquilina said.

“Plaintiffs shouldn’t have been blindsided,” and “this process shouldn’t have been ignored.”

Lawyers representing pensioners and two city pension funds got an emergency hearing with Aquilina Thursday at which she said she planned to issue an order to block the bankruptcy filing. But lawyers and the judge learned Orr filed the Detroit bankruptcy petition in Detroit five minutes before the hearing began.

Aquilina said the Michigan Constitution prohibits actions that will lessen the pension benefits of public employees, including those in the City of Detroit. Snyder and Orr violated the constitution by going ahead with the bankruptcy filing, because they know reductions in those benefits will result, Aquilina said.

“We can’t speculate what the bankruptcy court might order,” said assistant Attorney General Brian Devlin, representing the governor and other state defendants.

“It’s a certainty, sir,” Aquilina replied. “That’s why you filed for bankruptcy.”

The Michigan Attorney General has already said that he is going to file appeals on this ruling and on other cases which are in front of the judge. Apparently his argument is that the state and federal constitutions are unconstitutional.

I wish the people of Michigan the best as they take on this latest fight against the corporate overlords.

I would also like to mentally shake each of my fellow Milwaukeeans and Wisconsinites if they don't think that the same thing could and would happen here.

This is What Austerity Looks Like!

By Jeff Simpson

A couple things to pay attention to before watching this video:

1.  Is it surprising the color of the kids affected in a state run by republicans?

2.  Our old friend Paul Ryan (R- Wall St.) makes a special guest appearance speaking of morals(seriously)!

3.  The emergency manager law was all ready to be rolled out in WI, until the people occupied the Capitol two years ago! 

That Was Then, This Is Now!

By Jeff Simpson

Right before the Holidays in Michigan, a bunch of lame duck republicans forced through a "right-to-work" law.    Despite campaigning against it and the thousands of protestors who showed up to voice their objections, Governor Rick Snyder signed the bill into law.   

 “This is about more and better jobs coming to Michigan because a lot of companies do look at this as a major factor in their analysis. We’ll then be more competitive as a state and that’s good for all of us. It’s good for workers and good for unions, because it gives them more of an opportunity to grow themselves,” Snyder said.

Snyder was so proud of it that bought a $144,000 full page ad in the New York Times to apparently, tell New York how great he was in signing this bill.  (In a state that has an emergency fiscal manager law for fiscally irresponsible entities,  there is no word yet on when Snyder will be appointing his own replacement!)

However less than 6 weeks after signing the RTW law, Snyder is now changing his tune.    Asking the people who he just forced a bevy of crazy right wing big government screw the middle class bills, to stop thinking about the past 6 weeks and give him a clean slate and pretend December 2012 never happened!

“Over 90 percent of the jobs that you’re looking at aren’t going to be in a situation where right to work is even relevant,” Snyder said in the hotel’s Ambassador Ballroom. “Let’s keep in mind what the economy is really about. Why not embrace the great things going on and be more positive?

“Let’s not live in the Michigan of the past where we fought. Let’s learn from it and recognize that we’re in the Michigan of 2013, but let’s be planning for the Michigan of 2025 and a great place for all of these young people.”

Snyder just wants all of MI to live in a peaceful bipartisan way(now that the crazy is out) but let us hope the voters/taxpayers of MI never forget what Snyder's brand of crazy has brought them!




A picture is worth a thousand words!  

Freedom To FreeLoad!

"Unions have not only helped build a stronger middle class, but a stronger America." -President Obama

Michigan state Rep. Tim Greimel (D) explains the "right-to-work" laws better than anyone I have heard in this current battle!

While supporters of the bill say it will make for a fairer workplace by making union fees voluntary for non-union workers, Greimel told MSNBC host Chris Jansing that such dues are already voluntary, alluding to provisions in the National Labor Relations Act saying that non-union members who are covered by a collective barganing agreement either join a union or pay what’s called an “agency fee.”

“What this law would do is, it would allow those who benefit from a collective bargaining agreement to avoid paying their fair share,” Greimel said. “That’s why I don’t call it this ‘right-to-work,’ I call it a freedom to freeload law.”

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tim Greimel,

Privatization of Vets Home Would Cause Irreparable Harm

Governor Snyder of Michigan, who is as equally as despicable and loathsome as Scott Walker, wanted to privatize the care that veterans received at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.  The veterans themselves filed a legal challenge to that move and won their case, stopping the privatization:

An Ingham County judge ordered a halt Friday to the state's plans to privatize nursing aide positions at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, saying she feared the change would cause "irreparable harm" to the more than 600 vets who live there.

The privatization plan "all comes down to money, really," said Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield, noting state officials said they need to save $18,000 a day by turning 170 resident care aide positions over to a private contractor who pays workers about half as much money.

"Budgets can be adjusted," she said. "The home can make cuts in other areas, or perhaps they can get some more money from the state."

Now this might confuse or even enrage some of my conservative readers who can't understand why these people wouldn't want to cut spending. But further down in the article, it is explained:

But Manderfield said she was concerned about evidence of injuries caused to veterans at the hands of inexperienced contract workers. She said she's also concerned by recent ads the company has placed, still trying to fill the positions the state asked the company to take over. She also said drug testing for the new employees, as required under the contract, was "a joke" due to lack of security surrounding urine samples.

"The court believes the plaintiff has established there will be irreparable injury if the injunction is not granted," the judge said.

[...]

"Through the whole process, no one has really cared until now," union president Mark Williams said after the hearing. "Finally, today, quality of care trumped money."

Spallone told the commission he has lived at the home for more than two years after suffering health problems related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

He described what he said were unsanitary practices by contracted resident care aides, such as throwing urine- and feces-stained sheets on clean floors.

"It's bad enough we're disabled and can't go back to work," Spallone said. "Now you want us to be thrown to the wolves."

Snyder should be ashamed of even considering treating our brave men and women this way. They risked their very lives for this country and Snyder wants to thank them by putting them in harm's way so that the rich can keep getting richer. That is simply disgusting.

And before anyone thinks, "Well, that's Michigan. We wouldn't do that here," I'd tell them to think again.

Scott Walker has already shown a propensity for privatizing everything he can and selling what he can't. To aid him in this, he has, over the objections of honorable veterans, has appointed the scurrilous and corrupt John Scocos to head up the Veterans Affair Board.

This is one more area that we will need to watch closely and be prepared to defend until we can reclaim our state from the corporations and return it to the people.

Michigan's People Move To Save Their State

And it's about time:

A longshot effort to recall Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder began Monday with the filing of proposed petition wording by a group upset about the Republican’s proposals related to the state budget and a new law related to emergency financial managers.

A group called Michigan Citizens United filed its paperwork in Washtenaw County, Snyder’s official county of residence. A hearing on the petition language is scheduled for April 29. If it’s approved by county election officials, recall supporters could begin collecting voter signatures as early as next month.

The group would need 806,522 valid signatures of Michigan voters to make the ballot in November.

The proposed petition language cites a Snyder-approved law that gives broad new powers to emergency managers appointed by the state to run financially struggling local governments and schools. Those powers include the ability to toss out union contracts and strip power from locally elected officials.

The proposed petition also references what it labels “tax increases” on retirees and lower-income Michigan families and “tax cuts” for corporations. Snyder has proposed eliminating tax exemptions for some retiree income and getting rid of an earned income tax credit for low-income working families while seeking lower overall taxes for businesses.

“I believe a lot of people in Michigan are angry at him,” said Tim Kramer, a resident of Oakland County’s Waterford Township and spokesman for Michigan Citizens United. “He wants to come in and do what he wants. That’s not democracy.”

Bully for the people in Michigan. Here's to hoping they succeed and set the precedent as one state after another, and most definitely Wisconsin, take the actions need to take their states back.

The United States of Austerity?

In the 1950s, America enjoyed a healthy middle class that kept the economy moving. People were buying cars, those new-fangled TV sets and other items of "modern technology."  They were buying homes with white picket fences and having families.

Not coincidentally, the unions were strong then, too. They made sure that the workers were treated decently, got a fair shake, and made a sustainable wage that allowed them to buy things like houses, cars and TVs. This is what kept the economy rolling.

Then, as time passed, the companies started cutting back a little here and a little there. Maybe it was a smaller wage. Maybe it was a higher cost to a benefit or a change to overtime rules. The unions, grown complacent with the long string of successes, readily made the concessions, figuring it wouldn't really hurt, since everything was going so well. Right?

Over the years, the unions were gradually weakened, either by concessions or by changes in the law or non-union shops, much like a river eats away at its banks.  Now we find ourselves with only a small part of the population still in unions.  Wages are stagnant or even getting cut, cost of benefits such as health care have been allowed to skyrocket.

Unsurprisingly, we also find that the middle class has shrunk in a similar manner. And with the shrinking of the middle class comes the economy on the teeter of collapse. Progressives want to get the economy going again by having the rich and the companies start to carry their fair share of the load by having some of the money they're hoarding flow back into the economy. Conservatives scream like stuck pigs at the very notion and instead demand that we through the poor, the elderly and the disabled to the proverbial wolves, or in other words, austerity.

This insidious, irresponsible and unethical approach has already been creeping into our great nation.  We have seen in Colorado Springs (ironically, Scott Walker's hometown - well, maybe not so ironically) the first results of this "I've got mine, screw you" mentality:

This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.

More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.

The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.

Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.

Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.

City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won't pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.

And that was from more than a year ago! I can't imagine what it's like now.  And they're not the only ones. Michigan's quality of life is going down faster than Scott Walker's popularity ratings.

In Flint, Michigan, a city with more than 100,000 people, they have one of the highest murder rates in the country, yet they can only find the money to pay for one third of their police force. On a Saturday night, there might be only six patrol officers working. And if they arrest someone, they can't even hold them, unless it's for weapons or murder, in which case they go to the county jail.

As bad a shape that Flint is in, it is a garden center compared to Benton Harbor, Michigan.  Benton Harbor is the first victim of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's new law allowing the state to disregard all elections and the Constitution by declaring financial martial law. As we have seen for the past 62 days in Wisconsin, the good people are in an uproar over this egregious stripping of their rights.  There are numerous complaints about this being a union-busting measure.  (In fact, the "controller" for the Detroit Public School System has already stated he will use this law to hammer the unions there.)  This is very well probably true, but I can't help but note that coincidentally, or maybe not so coincidentally, the population of Benton Harbor happens to be more than 92% African American, making me wonder if this could also be the rebirth of Jim Crow.

Our future, if these austerity measures are allowed to continue, could hold even more unimaginable terrors that are already occurring overseas.  Ireland, which put into place their own austerity measures, are having the predictable results of people losing everything, including hope:

THERE IS A “strong link” between Ireland’s rising rate of suicide and the economic problems the country is facing, according to the Minister for Health Mary Harney.

Harney said that the age-group of people dying by suicide has changed, with more older people who are experiencing financial problems now taking their own lives.

She said:

Clearly there has to be a strong link between our economic circumstances and suicide.

Suicide as we know has increased dramatically over the past 12 months, it is up 25 per cent, which is incredible. The profile of those dying by suicide is also changing.&

Ironically, these "cost saving" austerity measures is requiring Ireland to spend millions of Euros on suicide prevention programs. Yet, despite these drastic actions, things are no better there, but are predictably worse.

The course that the Republicans, under the heavy influence of their Big Business supporters, would lead us is clear. It is also clearly unacceptable.  If they want us all to share the pain, it is damn well beyond time for those that can best afford to do some sharing start doing so.

And if our current leaders are unable or unwilling to do the proper thing, it is up to us to remove them and elect those that will, with all due haste.

One Republican Governor Gets It -- Almost

Rick Snyder, the Republican governor for the Great State of Michigan, almost gets it:

Amid days of protest in Wisconsin over legislation to limit collective bargaining, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said he won't "pick fights" with the state's employee unions.
"We're going to go negotiate with our unions in a collective-bargaining fashion to achieve goals," the Republican governor said in an interview. "It's not picking fights. It's about getting people to come together and say here are the facts, here are the common-ground solutions."

The article goes on to say that Snyder is looking for cuts in employee health benefits, especially those for retirees.  Which is why I said he almost gets it.

Snyder, like every other elected official, regardless of party, claims that a bulk of their budgetary problems stem from the cost of health care.  But every single one of them wants to take it out on the workers, even though they have nothing to do with the price of health care, but not one single politician that I'm aware of (with the exception of President Obama and the late Senator Ted Kennedy) actually wants to do anything to fix the real problem, the cost of the health care.