Social Forum Focuses on Workers’ Issues
Workers’ issues were the focus of five days of marches, rallies and workshops at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit, which ended over the weekend. Grassroots activists and progressives from across the country came together to build new alliances, create new strategies and put new energy into the movement to turn around the American economy.
Writing in Workday Minnesota, Howard Kling quotes a UAW leader who says the forum was an opportunity for labor to build relationships with other movements and encourage a “strong, fight-back attitude toward the intense corporate agenda that is blocking change on health care, labor rights, fair trade policies and a host of issues that we believe in.”
U.S. Social Forum: Marchers Demand ‘Money for Jobs, Not Banks’
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Devon Whitham on the AFL-CIO staff is attending the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit. She reports on yesterday’s “Money for Jobs, Not for Banks” march.
Thousands of community, religious and labor activists from across the country marched through the streets of Detroit yesterday calling for urgent action to save and create jobs, extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, stop foreclosures and preserve public services.
Chanting “Full and Fair Employment Now!” and “Money for Jobs, Not for Banks!” union members and our allies in town for the U.S. Social Forum joined forces to demand Congress address the pressing jobs emergency.
Saundra Williams, president of the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO, told the crowd:
We’re here today, marching in the hot sun because we have seen too many homes, jobs and hopes destroyed. We’re fighting for our rights, our dignity, our families and our futures, and we’re calling on Congress to do its job and take urgent action to end this crisis which has so devastated much of the nation.
Hundreds of Labor Activists Taking Part in U.S. Social Forum June 22-26
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While the leaders of the world’s top economies are meeting in Ontario this week, across the border in Detroit, nearly 15,000 grassroots activists and organizers are coming together to share strategies to transform the nation and create lasting economic and environmental change.
Organizers say the second U.S. Social Forum (USSF) held June 22-26 in Detroit is designed to develop the people’s solutions to our nation’s economic and ecological crises. To illustrate the forum’s commitment to real change, this year’s theme is “Another World Is Possible. Another U.S. Is Necessary.” Activists will participate in more than 1,000 workshops, assemblies and trainings and 300 cultural events and performances. You can check out streaming video, radio and uploaded photos from the events here.
Union members will play key roles in many of the forum events. In the first major action, thousands will march through downtown Detroit June 23 to demand urgent action on the creation and protection of good American jobs. Workers impacted by the economic crisis will call on Congress to take action to protect Americans from privatization, layoffs, outsourcing, furloughs, foreclosures and Wall Street greed. They will specifically call for the passage of the Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812), which would create or save more than 675,000 local community jobs and more than 250,000 education jobs, and the emergency extension of jobless benefits.
UAW Members Rally for Good Jobs Now
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On his first day in office, UAW President Bob King sent a clear message that the union movement is ready and able to fight as long as necessary to gain economic and social justice for all.
After delivering his acceptance speech at the UAW convention in Detroit, King joined Teamsters President James Hoffa and Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Saundra Williams to lead a Good Jobs Now! march and rally in downtown Detroit. Delegates to the convention and other workers joined the march that filled a city block.
The marchers demanded Wall Street pay for its role in creating the recession, which cost 11 million jobs America. They called on Big Bankers to end their opposition to financial reform and to begin to make loans available to homeowners to stop foreclosures, to communities, small businesses and others starved of credit.
Strong Economy Needs Robust Public Sector
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| AFT President Randi Weingarten led much of Tuesday’s convention discussions. |
We will not have a strong economy without a strong public sector. Over the past decade, the budgets of state and local governments have been decimated by tax cuts and the recession.
Today, delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention recognized the economic free fall not only threatens the stability of the economy, but also jeopardizes the welfare of our most vulnerable citizens, public safety and health and the protection of our environment.
Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Saundra Williams said conservatives have demonized government for decades, leading to official neglect and disinvestment in public services. Government responsibilities have been privatized or outsourced.
The results are clear, whether it’s the tragically slow and inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina or the financial crisis, which shows the consequences of failing to regulate corporate behavior.
