Mass outrage stops Detroit bus cuts

After mass outrage throughout Detroit, the corporate-backed administration of Mayor Dave Bing has suspended plans to make large-scale cuts in public transportation. Several thousand workers, youth, people with disabilities and seniors attended a series of eight public hearings held Aug. 24-27 on the proposed cuts in bus services. Two hearings, sponsored by the Detroit Department of Transportation, were held each day at various locations throughout the city.

The hearings were attended by angry workers who said they would lose their jobs if the transportation cuts were enacted. DDOT plans included proposals to extend wait times, the elimination of at least four routes, the discontinuation of service on certain routes between midnight and 5 a.m., and the suspension of all service on Saturday from 6 p.m. until 5 a.m. on Monday.

It is estimated that 40 percent of Detroit’s population depends upon buses to get back and forth to work, schools, markets, retail outlets, churches, mosques, medical clinics, hospitals, visits to family and friends, as well as social activities.

Over the last several weeks the Bing administration has said the city is facing a $300 million deficit. The administration’s program to address the shortfall is to lay off 1,000 city workers, trim benefits for public employees, slash services for residents, including the much-needed bus service, and at the same time escalate police operations aimed at unemployed workers and youth.

The Detroit Free Press reported on August 30 that “Detroit began its fiscal year [July 1] with less than $20 million in the bank—not even enough of a surplus to pay the roughly 13,000 employees who cost the city $50 million a month in salaries and benefits.” Bing, a former Detroit Pistons basketball star and later businessman who owns a steel corporation on the city’s east side, is allowing the bond rating agencies, banks and corporations to dictate the terms of how the deficit should be addressed.

Public transportation and city workers targeted

Rather than maintaining bus service, the banks and corporations are demanding that workers and riders bear the brunt of layoffs and cuts so that the financial sector can be paid extortionate interest rates on loans and municipal bonds.

A document issued by DDOT at the public hearings stressed that “The economic downturn faced by the nation is a contributing factor, but there are other factors that have affected the services that are provided to public transit users.” It then cited revenue shortfalls, the city budget deficit, a decrease in state transportation funding, no dedicated funding source for public transportation, the restrictions placed on federal transportation dollars and higher operating costs as key factors in the crisis facing Detroit.

Despite all the reasons given for cutting bus service, the thousands who rallied and testified at the public hearings were not accepting the city’s proposals as legitimate or warranted. People pointed to the fact that banks and corporations have been bailed out to the tune of trillions of dollars. They asked where the economic recovery funds were that were supposed to be sent to the state and the city by the Obama administration.

By the second day of the hearings, it became quite obvious there would be political repercussions if bus service were cut. Bing is running for reelection in November for a four-year term. His opponent, Tom Barrow, made appearances at the hearings and was cheered by the people there. Yet most workers realize that Barrow, who is also a businessman, does not offer a real alternative to the current crisis.

Where the money really goes

According to the corporate-owned media, the wages and benefits won by city workers and school employees as a result of years of protracted struggles are the underlying causes for the economic crisis facing Detroit. Such arguments could not be further from the truth. Detroit has suffered immensely as a result of the economic policies carried out by the ruling class and the U.S. government. Even the corporate media admit that the proposed cuts by the city administration would yield savings of less than $10 million.

Trillions of tax dollars and Federal Reserve credit lines have been extended to the banks, corporations and insurance companies since 2008. The ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Colombia, Somalia and other regions have cost the working class additional trillions in public money. But the media make no mention of these factors.

The corporate press, which are backing the Bing administration, are constantly holding the threat of bankruptcy and receivership over the workers. They are telling the unions every day that if they do not accept broad concessions and layoffs, the city will become insolvent.

In the Aug. 30 Detroit Free Press, this ruling-class media put forward its only “possible remedies” to the crisis. According to the newspaper, “Detroit’s financial options remain limited, experts say. Two options are bankruptcy with a receiver being in charge, and having the state appoint an emergency financial manager.”

The “emergency financial manager,” appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, would be tasked with solving the financial crisis. The appointee would be mandated to renegotiate union contracts. With state approval the manager could force the city into bankruptcy.

In bankruptcy, a judge typically appoints a receiver who acts under the guidelines of federal bankruptcy law. The receiver would be tasked with preserving private property during the bankruptcy period. Union contracts can be abrogated during bankruptcy in favor of the creditors and the city administration.

Even though the Bing administration was forced to back away from public transportation cuts, 205 workers received pink slips on Aug. 28. The administration refused to say in which departments the workers would be laid off.

The Detroit Board of Education, in an effort to avoid a strike, extended the existing contract until the end of October. At least 2,000 teachers and school employees have been threatened with layoffs.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for the city of Detroit is now officially 29.4 percent. But this number does not reflect the growing ranks of discouraged workers who see no prospects for finding employment in the city or underemployed workers who can only find part-time jobs.

Emergency measures needed

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs attended the public hearings on the proposed transportation cuts. Coalition members distributed thousands of flyers inviting the people to a mass organizing meeting on Sept. 12 at Central United Methodist Church in downtown Detroit. The meeting will declare an economic state of emergency and demand a halt to the use of working people as scapegoats in the current capitalist meltdown.

Members of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition are proposing further mass actions targeted at the financial district in downtown Detroit. The Coalition says the city should impose a moratorium on debt service payments to the banks until the financial crisis abates and allow city workers to maintain their jobs.