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Workers form a rally to try and
keep the Chrysler Sterling
Heights plant open.
PHOTO /DAYMONJHARTLEY.COM
 General Baker is an
internationally known labor leader, a leader of the auto wildcat
strikes in the 1960s, and pioneer of draft resistance during the
Vietnam War. He spoke recently in Chicago, Illinois about the crisis in
auto. Below are excerpts from his talk:
“The U.S. used to
have a car market of 16 million. Last year it was down to 10 million.
The industry has to cut annual production by 5-6 million cars. Plants
are closing everywhere. A crisis is developing across Michigan.
Dearborn is booming because Ford is still open there. Flint is in
terrible shape. Hamtramck is still holding on. Highland Park is in
foreclosure. The plant in Pontiac is gone. In Bay City an older
guy froze to death because his heat was cut off. A young man was
tasered. The Red Cross started helping in Macomb County since the
pantries ran out of food.
“It’s a different ball game at the negotiations table now. The cuts
have been tremendous. In the Ford deal, the active workers took the
hits. Ford forced $7 an hour in cuts. Workers lost their cost of
living, vacation, sick pay, and Christmas bonuses. The retirement fund
— VEBA — will get paid with stock or equity holdings, which are
basically worthless. Estimates are that VEBA will not hold up for six
years. At Chrysler, the retirees lost vision and dental care. The
company can now put skilled workers on the production line. They have a
no-strike clause until 2015. The GM agreement is the same. Now
the government stake will be 72%. The union gets 17.9%. The
bondholders will take the rest. So, it’s a big change.
“The situation is dire. But is hasn’t caused a huge uproar. There seems
to be a degree of satisfaction with what has been given. The government
has defended the pension and health care of the retired workers — there
are 425,000 receiving pensions from GM, and 215,000 at Chrysler — by
making sure those items do not go before the bankruptcy judge. The
government is afraid to let the auto pensions fail because it might
break the whole pension system in America. GE, IBM, AT&T — hundreds
of thousands of people — are in the pension fund. The retirees are
active, but have no vote and no say in what the union decides. People
are preparing to mobilize on single-payer health care. The fight back
so far has been at rallies called by the steelworkers. Most of the
plants are idle. There is recognition that they still can’t work
without auto. The active section of workers is going to be very angry
if things don’t turn around.
“We need to explain to people the technological role in this crisis.
Most workers are seeing the crisis as a problem of outsourcing. The
idea of re-industrializing the country is also being put forward. But,
plants are so productive today. Even those that stay open won’t need
many workers. GM, for example, is prepared to install 860 robots in its
Lordstown, Ohio plant. Ford has 45,000 workers, Chrysler has 35,000 and
GM has 65,000. The entire workforce will be half that size when it’s
over. You hear news about high-speed rail, and retooling for emission
controls. But such advanced production will not involve many workers.
“Chrysler and GM are now government-owned companies. They have
essentially already been nationalized. The active section of workers
has been beat back so far. They will have to raise the issue of
nationalization — in the interests of the people. This will affect all
workers, as autoworkers have always set the pace for all of the workers.
General Baker is available to
speak through Speakers for a New America. Call 800-691-6888 or email
info@speakersforanewamerica.com.
Ona Kingbird, who has taught for 36
years in public schools, (left) faces
homelessness due to foreclosure by
Wells Fargo Bank. She has refused
to leave her home.
By Ann
Patterson
Ona Kingbird is a Twin Cities Ojibwa elder who has taught for 36 years
in Minnesota public schools and prisons. As a Red Lake tribal member
and bearer of the pipe given by her father, a medicine man, she has
preserved the culture of her students at Heart of the Earth school in
South Minneapolis. She has provided a home for her family, including
her daughter and grandkids. But today Ms. Kingbird faces homelessness
due to foreclosure on her house.
AND SHE IS FIGHTING!
During a press conference today held outside her home on the 3900 block
of Cedar Avenue in South Minneapolis, Ona said, “I paid a lot for this
house and I have asked Wells Fargo to work with me in the situation,
which they have refused to do. I’m not moving.”
Ms. Kingbird, like so many others, spent years paying off a mortgage
through Wells Fargo. Due to confusion and family crisis, Ms. Kingbird’s
mortgage payments were being returned to her and not received by Wells
Fargo, causing her to fall behind in the eyes of the mortgage
institution. Refusing to work with Ms. Kingbird to rectify the
situation, Wells Fargo is moving forward on the foreclosure process.
Her house was sold in March, via a Sheriff’s sale back to Wells
Fargo-the original mortgage holder. She has four months to raise 50
thousand dollars, get a court injunction demanding that Wells Fargo
renegotiate her mortgage to an affordable rate, or else she faces
eviction.
Twin Cities’ neighborhoods are becoming more and more desolate as home
after home goes into forecloseure and occupants are evicted. During
this time of economic crisis, financial institutions like Wells Fargo
have received financial stimulus packages to encourage them to work
with homeowners to renegotiate affordable solutions to the growing
housing crisis. So far, homeowners like Ona Kingbird have yet to see
the results of this stimulus money, begging the question, where exactly
is this money going?
Ona Kingbird has been getting the run-around via the routes that Wells
Fargo offers their customers for assistance, resulting in failure.
Instead she is turning to organizations like the MN Poor People’s
Economic Human Rights Campaign (MN PPEHRC) for help. MN PPEHRC is
publicly supporting and fighting alongside folks like her to demand a
moratorium on foreclosures in order for mortgage companies to
renegotiate affordable mortgages with affected homeowners.
By refusing to leave her home, Ona Kingbird now joins a list of six
other families who are also resisting foreclosure and the destruction
of their neighborhoods. PPEHRC Organizer Cheri Honkala says, “These
neighbors should serve as inspiration to communities across Minnesota
and the country who wish to stay in their houses rather than be
destroyed by banks like Wells Fargo.”
WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO TO SUPPORT
ONA AND SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOODS:
Raise money from local groups, churches, and neighborhoods to help
cover legal fees.
Join the MN PPEHRC’s Underground Railroad Project to help get
signatures on petitions to intervene in her forclosure.
Write and call U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison, representatives of the
state legislature, the mayor of Minneapolis, and other elected
officials.
Demand that Wells Fargo negotiate with MN PPEHRC families losing their
homes because Wells Fargo won’t work with them.
For more information or to get
involved, see mnppehrc.wordpress.com/
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