“The mood in Detroit is grim. The workers are very angry. They’ve given concessions over and over and over again without striking. We haven’t struck since 1896.”–Michael Mulholland, Secretary Treasure at AFCME Local 207 in Detroit

In 1983 there were 21,000 Detroit City union employees, now it’s down to about 11,000 and will drop at least another thousand by next year.  After more than 100 years, it looks like the City’s employee union might finally go on strike!

In 2010, Detroit officials legally imposed drastic cuts upon the City employees’ pay and benefits, now they’re threatening more cuts!  In the past two years 2,000 City employees have lost their jobs, now the Detroit Mayor, Dave Bing, wants another 1,000 layoffs.

But, union officials say the Detroit City Council wants to one up the Mayor: “The City Council is competing with him to represent Big Business, apparently, they’re threatening 2,300 layoffs!”-Michael Mulholland, Secretary Treasure at AFCME Local 207 in Detroit

This is part of a sinister plot to privatize Detroit, and the United States: “Detroit has a long history as a leader of the Civil Rights movement, we’re still a 85% Black city.  We have a long history as a leader of the Labor Movement, and I suppose that Big Business figures if they can attack us in Detroit, and get away with it, than they can do it anywhere in the nation, and lower the living standards of the entire population.”-Michael Mulholland, Secretary Treasure at AFCME Local 207 in Detroit