Stop Detroit Tax Foreclosures -- Sign Petitions Today

MWRO is working with local organizations to defend the right to housing and stop the nearly 75,000 tax-foreclosures scheduled to happen this year in Wayne County, Michigan, where Detroit is located.

Please help us get out information to people at risk of home tax-foreclosure due to incorrect tax bills with exaggerated property assessments and disputed water bill liens. Here's how you can help:

(1) Sign and share the online petition to the Wayne County Treasurer against the tax-foreclosures at http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50109/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15875

(2) Call MWRO at 313-964-0618 if you are in the Detroit area and want us to mail (or email) a hard copy of the petition form to you to collect signatures from families and friends.

(3) Share information about free tax clinics in March for person in need of information on their housing rights and payment plan opportunities BEFORE meeting with Wayne County tax officials. The tax foreclosure clinics are coordinated by community attorneys at United Community Housing Coalition and the Detroit People's Platform. See flyers below.

We will update this information as it becomes available. For more information, contact MWRO at info@mwro.org or Aaron at the Detroit People's Platform at HomesForAll@DetroitPeoplesPlatform.org

International Network ESCR files legal brief in support of Detroit residents against water shutoffs

For immediate release

International human rights network intervenes in case challenging large-scale disconnection of water supply to tens of thousands of low-income residents in Detroit

New York. February 9, 2015. The International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net), a global network of over 220 groups and 50 individual advocates from around the world working to secure economic and social justice through human rights, has requested leave from the U.S. District Court to be recognized as amicus curiae[1] in the case of Lyda et al. v. City of Detroit[2]in support of residents challenging the City of Detroit’s decision to cut off water supply to thousands of households unable to pay their bills.

As detailed in the plaintiffs’ complaint, by the end of August 2014 the City of Detroit had disconnected approximately 30,000 households of low-income persons and persons living in poverty from the municipal water supply and sewerage service, leaving them without access to drinking water and water for toilets and basic sanitation.

ESCR-Net, through its amicus brief, seeks to bolster the plaintiffs’ legal challenge by highlighting that the disconnections for inability to pay violate a range of legal obligations applicable to the U.S. under key international human rights treaties.

At the same time, ESCR-Net contends that Detroit’s City Charter, which includes a Declaration of Rights recognizing rights to water, sanitation and decent housing, must be respected. Pursuant to long-established principles of both U.S. law and international law, relevant domestic law must be interpreted consistently with treaty obligations. 

Chris Grove, Executive Director of ESCR-Net, said, “Access to justice is required for violations of human rights, and we welcome the opportunity to assist the U.S. District Court with material relevant to consideration of the issues at stake. These issues impact the health, security and human dignity of thousands of Detroit residents and implicate our vision of a just society.”

“A number of human rights are arguably violated by these disconnections, including rights to water, sanitation, adequate housing, health, life, freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment, and non-discrimination. The international human rights obligations of the U.S. also apply to the City of Detroit, and these obligations require that denial of access to water be reversed immediately,” he added.

The City of Detroit’s water disconnection policy has shocked the international community and has prompted, among other reactions, the visit of two United Nations Special Procedures human rights experts to assess the situation in October 2014.[3] Despite the onset of winter, local groups report that the City has continued water shut-offs at the homes of low-income families, the elderly, and the infirmed.

It is hoped that the application of international human rights law will help the plaintiffs achieve a just and effective remedy, including renewed access to water and an end to any further disconnections.

A copy of the amicus curiae brief is available at http://bit.ly/1ESJLdW

About ESCR-Net

ESCR-Net is the largest global network of human rights organizations, grassroots groups and advocates working to build a global movement to make human rights and social justice a reality for all. Please visit http://www.escr-net.org

This action is being led by ESCR-Net Strategic Litigation Working Group members Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia), the Global Initiative on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), the Social Rights Advocacy Centre (SRAC), and the Social Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI).

For information regarding this amicus intervention, contact:

• Susie Talbot. Senior Legal Officer (ESCR-Net) stalbot@escr-net.org

• Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director (GI-ESCR) bret@globalinitiative-escr.org. (Tel. +1-218-269-0214)

For information on the situation in Detroit or to speak with residents, contact:

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization http://michiganwro.blogspot.com

Marian Kramer, Maureen Taylor or Sylvia Orduño +1-313-964-0618

---

[1] An amicus curiae (or ‘friend of the Court’) is a person or organization who, although not a party to a case, is granted leave to submit material to the Court relevant to the disposition of the case and not already brought to the Court’s attention by the parties.

[2]Lyda et al. v. City of Detroit, Case No. 2:15-cv-10038-BAF-RSW, before Hon. Bernard A. Friedman in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.

[3]See: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15188&LangID=E. 

Statement on Court Denial of Detroit Human Right to Water

MWRO's statement on today's decision by the federal bankruptcy court NOT to stop residential water shut-offs, restore water to residential customers without water, NOR implement a water affordability based on fixed incomes for low-income seniors, families with children and persons with disabilities:

Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes

Of course, we are not surprised that our capacity to seek relief from the Federal Courts no longer exists! The fact that low income customers were ushered into court and testified how miserable their lives were because water was cut-off without an option for them to make arrangements with the DWSD could not have impacted the Court because the Court concentrated on what the 1% needed to continue their reign of terror tied to the Emergency Manager and this bankruptcy ploy. 

This is the humanitarian crisis of our times here in America, where every step we take is being analyzed to see which fights we launch as the corporate class encroaches on our standard of living.

Denying specific populations access to clean drinking water was today deemed legal even though rich and wealthy water customers receive a different standard of treatment. Millions are owed by these corporate pirates while $150 and two months behind is the rule applied to our constituency -- a position clearly supported by the Federal Court.

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder

Poor people, their children, seniors, the disabled, veterans -- it doesn't matter -- if you can't pay for water, you can't have it. Go to the river with a bucket and get what you need still remains the sentiment by this draconian class and they have no shame in taking this position.  This sham court-case was just that...a plot to look like justice would prevail if we just had a chance to plead our case.  The answer was always going to be NO!!!

So what are we going to do...give up the fight for social justice?  We think not! 

In the movie, The Untouchables, the question was asked, "What are you prepared to do about this??" When brilliant lawyers went to court to file suit against slavery, and against lynching, at first the Court said "NO"...there is no enforceable right to not be lynched if that is the custom in that area of the country!  The Court's explained that with the laws on the books at that time, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, women, children, and other oppressed folks should be able to manage their lives and avoid pain and suffering, and if not, they had every right to return to Court! Madness and Madness today! 

Our case demonstrated great attorneys, courageous plaintiffs, determined advocates versus conservative, corporate courts who prefer the company of the rich & famous and will not rock the "status quo."  We march on...

Maureen D. Taylor

State Chairperson - MI Welfare Rights Org

Photo credits: http://michigancitizen.com/mc/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/6-RHODES.jpg
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2013/07/24/stop-attack-say-detroit-workers-citys-bankruptcy-reviewed

UAW Local 551 Resolves to Support Detroiters In Water Crisis

MWRO Statement on DWSD 10 Point Plan

Today in Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DSWD) Director Sue McCormick announced a new 10 point plan for water payments and shutoffs for Detroit residents. We note: it does not meet the needs of restoring water delivery and stopping shutoffs to ALL low income residents. Read MWRO's statement on the 10 point plan.

Since March 2014, DWSD has been shutting off water to residential customers -- mostly low income households -- at the rate of several hundred to several thousand per week. MWRO, along with the Detroit People's Water Board Coalition, called for a halt to the inhumane water shutoffs. With support from the Council of Canadians, Blue Water Planet and Food & Water Watch, international attention to this violation of human rights was sent by a letter from the United Nations to DWSD. Netroots Nation with National Nurses United, Robin Hood Tax and actor Mark Ruffalo, helped expose the crisis to wider audiences.

Detroit and Michigan residents continue to fight vigilantly for the right to fresh drinking water in their homes! We know of teachers who wash laundry of school children from homes without water. Our organizational partner, We the People, tells of homes where newborn babies have no water for formula and seniors have no water to clean wounds. This is an outrage that we must not allow to continue.

Sign Petitions to Stop Detroit Water Shutoffs

You've heard about the thousands of low income Detroit residents whose water has been shutoff by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). These shutoffs have continued despite appeals from local residents, national groups and international organizations like the United Nations.

Please lend your voice and support to end these shutoff by signing one or more of the petitions below. Your actions will demonstrate to the DWSD, the Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and President Obama that people across the U.S. -- across the world! -- say water is a human right!

Without water, all life withers and dies within a few days. Babies, the elderly and people who are ill are especially vulnerable to disease and sickness. Whole communities are at risk of public health crises from a lack of proper sanitation and hygiene. Most of all, water is a natural resource that belongs to everyone and must be publicly managed by communities, not profiteers and corporations.

Thank you for defending the human right to water!


More Online Petitions:

• Oppose Detroit Water Shutoffs, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee -- Target: Mayor Michael Duggan, DWSD Director Sue McCormick, and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, updated 7/18/14.
• Sign the petition: Declare a public health emergency in Detroit, Daily Kos -- Target: President Obama and Health Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, 7/16/14.
• Grant Emergency Assistance to Families Affected By Detroit Water Shutoffs!, White House Petitions -- Target: President Obama, 7/12/14. CLOSED
• Provide disaster relief to the thousands of Detroit residents without clean drinking water due to city water shutoffs, Color of Change -- Target: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit Emergency Manager Kevin Orr, 7/11/14.
• Tell Detroit to turn the taps back on: Water is a human right!, Blue Planet Project -- Target: President Obama and Gov. Snyder, Summer 2014.
• Sign the Petition to Keep DWSD Publicly Accountable, Food & Water Watch -- Target: Elected officials, Summer 2014.
• Preserve Water as a Human Right by Investigating Detroit Water and Sewage Department's Water Shut-offs., Change.org -- Target: President Obama and Governor Snyder, Summer 2014.
• Turn Running Water Back on for Thousands, ForceChange.com -- Target: Sue McCormick, Director Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Summer 2014.

International Appeal to Stop Detroit Water Shut Offs

Detroit residents and activists are calling global attention to the city's water crisis where the Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept is scheduling 3,000 shutoffs per week to low income families. This human rights violation is being condemned by national and international social and economic justice groups who believe water is life and can never be denied to human beings.

Maude Barlow's Blue Water Project with Food & Water Watch, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Detroit People's Water Board has drafted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur calling on authorities to stop the shut offs and restore water to those who have been cut off. Read the public announcement about this water shut off crisis.

Please help us in this effort by signing the petition: "Tell Detroit to turn the taps back on: Water is a human right!" directed to President Obama and Governor Snyder. 

More information can be found on the MWRO facebook and MWRO twitter pages.

Water Warrior Maude Barlow to visit Detroit Thursday, May 22

(Reposted from Detroit Greens)

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization members will be there and we know you will be too! Tonight at 6:30pm, Wayne State University, downtown Detroit. This event is co-sponsored by the Detroit People's Water Board -- a coalition of grassroots organizations committed to demanding affordable water, no shut-offs, no privatization and affordable rates for all Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept.residential customers

National Conference to Abolish Poverty

You are invited to:

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC)
and the Social Welfare Action Alliance (SWAA) Announce:

Building the Unsettling Force:
A National Conference to Abolish Poverty

Friday July 17, 2009 -- Sunday, July 19, 2009
Spalding University -- Louisville, Kentucky

"There are millions of poor people in this country who have very little, or even nothing to lose. If they can be helped to take action together, they will do so with a freedom and a power that will be a new and UNSETTLING FORCE in our complacent national life." --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from "Why We Can't Wait," 1963

Join poor and homeless families, social workers, residents of homeless encampments, families fighting foreclosure, Katrina victims, unemployed workers, people without health care, members of the religious community, artists, representatives of the labor movement, and friends from the International Community as we come together to confront the economic crisis and to build "Another World" based in Economic Human Rights for all.

Abolish poverty in these times of increasing homelessness, hunger, and unemployment? We say "yes" and turn to the wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr., who envisioned a movement led by an organized "unsettling force" built across racial lines that would spark a "revolution of values" to reorganize our society.

As we confront the life and death struggles in our communities, the daily Katrinas of hunger, homelessness, massive downsizing, the denial of the rights to health care, heat and water, and the destruction of our families simply because we are poor, we will come together to envision, strategize and organize for “Another United States” and “Another World.”

Join us! See www.economichumanrights.org for more information.

Organized by the Social Welfare Action Alliance (SWAA) and the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC)

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization is a member of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign.

People's Water Board Created In Detroit

By Gwendolyn Gaines and Sylvia Orduño, MWRO

We’re pleased to announce that the first meeting of the People’s Water Board in Detroit was a big success! Representatives from several organizations, including the Green Party, Sierra Club, Call ‘em Out, Moratorium Now, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, AFSCME Local 207, MECAWI, and MWRO, laid the groundwork for this coalition of water activists.

All participants were concerned about the need for clean, accessible water, plus shut-offs, privatization, and the Water Affordability Plan. The People’s Water Board is taking the first steps to ensure that local water remains in public hands, investigate who and where the threats are to this, and will act as an advocate for the people.

The People’s Water Board identified several short- and long-term goals such as ensuring access to water for all people (including getting the Water Affordability Plan on the November 2009 Detroit ballot); protecting water quality and water conservation; and opposing privatization of water resources.

The next People’s Water Board will meet May 26, 2009 at 6pm at MCHT (2727 Second Ave, Detroit, MI). Meanwhile, nominations are underway for Commissioners. For more information, contact Melissa Damaschke at the Sierra Club (313) 965-0055, melissa.damaschke@sierraclub.org

(Image courtesy of Michigan Sierra Club)

World Water Day: Protect Your Right to Water

March 22nd is World Water Day, a day set aside to celebrate and protect one of life's most precious gifts. But is has also become a day when people around the world are forced to defend and demand their right to water!

World Water Day also coincides with the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey. At the Forum, hundreds of United Nations representatives, policy-makers, and business leaders come together to discuss world water solutions but mostly with the intent of driving profits on water. It has also excluded the concerns and input of grassroots groups and world citizens. Hence, water activists hold a Counter World Water Forum to promote water rights and local decision-making around water needs.

Fresh water has become like oil: a once abundant resource that is commodified, taken from the people, and sold to the highest bidder. But critical differences exist. No one owns water, it belongs to everyone. Like air, it is necessary for life and without it, people die.

This possibility is no longer fiction. Countries around the world are allowing their fresh water supplies in rivers, lakes, aquifers, and even rainwater to be tapped, bottled, sold, and distributed by companies seeking easy profits. As a result, children are dying, people are ill, and communities are collapsing. Water belongs to no government, no company, and no international cartel. It belongs to the earth, it belongs to the people.

No one has the right to deny people of their right to life-sustaining water because of their inability to pay. Moreover, companies and governments have no right to enter into agreements that sacrifice clean water access at the expense of local community needs. In Chile, for example, companies are draining more water than they are permitted and entire cities, villages and farms are being decimated.

Food & Water Watch has launched a petition campaign to ask Congress to protect out water and water infrastructure with a Water Trust. Join in and find out what your local officials are doing to safeguard your municipal water system. The solutions to water access and sanitation will not come from big business or free-market governments. Don't be duped! The solutions rests with local communities leading the effort to determine their needs and rights so that everyone can benefit from this life-giving natural resource.

(Image courtesy of U.N. World Water Day)

National Call-in Day for HR 676

It's a travesty that in this country over 50 million Americans are without insurance, and 25 million are underinsured.

In response to this, healthcare activists across the country are encouraging citizens to call their elected representatives on December 22 in support of HR 676 for national single-payer healthcare. It is sponsored by Michigan Congressman John Conyers.

Led by medical practitioners and grassroots activists, Healthcare-Now, describes single-payer healthcare as a financing system where a government-run administrator or "payer" collects and pays out all health care fees. Approximately 10% of current administrative costs for processing private insurance bills would be eliminated, and the savings could be used to pay healthcare for those who are under-insured. Moreover, "...95% of all Americans will pay less for their healthcare than they are currently paying." This sounds good to us!

Help us move toward healthcare coverage for all by calling your representatives in Congress (see Votesmart to locate your representatives)--especially Sen. Edward Kennedy--and asking for their support of HR 676, single-payer healthcare. Also, sign the online HR 676 petition.

The second national call-in day is Thursday, January 15th.

Detroit's Water Czar

While Congress and the White House toss around the fate of thousands of auto workers, and discuss the creation of a "Car Czar," we thought we'd mention another local czar in the news, Judge John Feikens.

Thirty-seven years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sued the Detroit Sewerage and Water Dept (DWSD) and the city to stop polluting the Detroit River. Judge Feikens was charged with overseeing local efforts--as the de facto water czar--and requiring local governments to respond to the lawsuit. Snow, rain, and widespread development created massive storm drain run-offs that contributed to water contamination in rivers and the area's watershed.

Many local groups have applauded Judge Feikens' heavy-handed efforts to comply with this Clean Water Act ruling, and there are noticeable improvements in the areas rivers, lakes, and beaches. In fact, his Detroit efforts have caused some to believe that this could be a national model for other cities.

But during this time, residents of two local water depts--the DWSD and Highland Park Water Dept--had another set of crises that the water czar did not include in his regional remedy plan. Since 2002 in Detroit, thousands of low-income residents had their water shut-off for lack of payment. In Highland Park, nearly half of the city's 16,000 residents had their water shut-off by cash-strapped local officials.

For several years, MWRO has worked in concert with local residents and grassroots leaders to have the water departments address this wide-scale public health and human rights problem. On several occasions, Judge Feikens' name came up by local water and city council officials as we pressed for relief or a moratorium on shut-offs.

Waterless residents were told that before any public policy changes could be made to help vulnerable populations restore their water service or establish affordable payments options, the water czar would first require payment and compliance with his legal orders by the water depts. In Highland Park, this made matters worse. Residents were receiving bills in the thousands of dollars (see film, The Water Front), and the city was nearly under receivership by the Governor because it could not pay its own bills.

For the past six years, MWRO members and local residents have sought a Water Affordability Program that would prevent shut-offs and allow low-income households to make modest monthly payments. We reached out to Judge Feikens for assistance and guidance and not once did we receive a response. If the Detroit water czar is truly interested in improving the area's quality of life through clean water then, we believe, part of that entails ensuring that the poorest members of the community are included and safeguarded against the harm of water shut-offs.

Lastly, a local study found that the cost of modernizing the Detroit region's sewage treatment plants and system pipes could be over $50 billion in the next 25 years. This could also double the cost of water bills within 15 years, which are already rising twice as fast as inflation. Low-income residents cannot manage this increase. What will the water czar do to avert this crisis?

For profit chain gangs in Michigan?

Having family and friends in prison teaches you a lot about what things are like from "the inside." MWRO's comrade and Benton Harbor political prisoner, Rev. Edward Pinkney, has been moved around to at least half a dozen Michigan prisons since he was sentenced a few months ago for quoting the Bible. Doing time is a difficult experience for all involved and the guilty should be punished. But punishment should be fair and not exploit an already marginalized group.

In Michigan, incarcerated men and women in many prisons work for Michigan State Industries (MSI)--a 1980 Dept of Corrections program that assigns jobs to all able-bodied prisoners. Fundamentally, MSI goals sound like a good idea, i.e., they provide "an opportunity for prisoners to learn marketable skills and to acquire sound work experience" while attempting "to address the problem of crime and the tension and idleness in prison resulting from overcrowding...." MSI has a map of all prison production locations where they sell and bid out items such as furniture, bed sheets, and outdoor banners online or through its Lansing showroom.

However, Rev. Pinkney's experience has given him and us some insights into prison conditions and prison work. Last week he wrote:

Prison officials can control virtually every aspect of a prisoner's life. They can decide her/his actions - when (s)he will awake and when (s)he sleeps, how much is spent on food, who can visit prisoners and for how long, whether to force a prisoner to sleep on a metal grating without a mattress, how long a prisoner waits for medical treatment, whether a prisoner spends 24 hours a day in a cell or 12 hours a day at back-breaking labor, and what arbitrary (useless) rules will be followed. How and when to punish prisoners in many different ways, including depriving them of all food except "nutri-loaf" (tasteless ground-up leftovers pressed into a loaf). It is all up to the Dept. of Corrections.

In many states there is a move to remove gov. administration of prisons and privatize them for corporate profit. The labor of the prisoners belongs to the state but when the state transfers their interest to a private corporation, the labor of prisoners belong to the corporation. A corporation will run the lives of prisoners and decide how they shall labor and what they shall labor at. Do you see chances for profit here?

Prison labor is not new. It's been used for centuries to help contain incarceration costs and keep prisoners disciplined and busy. But in recent times, it's being increasingly used in for profit ventures. MWRO opposes the slave labor practice of requiring incarcerated human beings to make or build products for the highest bidder. Not only do these conditions prevent a worker from demanding a fair price for his or her labor, it contributes to abusive and inhumane conditions beyond typical institutional incarceration.

(Image courtesy of Flickr)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60th Anniversary

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and it is being celebrated all year long across the world. See the Wall of Events for international postings.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights is a fundamental document that is designed to prevent the oppression and discrimination of people throughout the world. It was a uniquely broad consensus around civil, political, economic, and social rights. The first committee to draft the document was chaired by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1948, 58 member states of the U.N. voted unanimously for the document, with 8 abstentions (the communist bloc, Saudia Arabia, and South Africa). See the UDHR video that describes each of the 30 articles. They also have a Take the Quiz page where you can test your basic knowledge of human rights.

In this time of great human suffering, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is more necessary than ever. It is a vital set of basic human rights that we can use to protect ourselves and our families while demanding assistance from our governments.

Today, the U.S. does not sit on the United Nations' Human Rights Council. Sign this online letter asking President-elect Obama to recommit to the UDHR and to join the Human Rights Council. Also, download a free human rights poster and display it in your home or office. Check out the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign for information on grassroots work in the U.S., and do your part to support basic human rights in the U.S. and beyond.

Poverty Statistics in Michigan

Like everyone else, we're reading the news and trying to keep up with what's happening. But along the way MWRO notices that a lot of statistics in Michigan are increasing.

Here are some examples:

• In October, the Michigan's unemployment rate was 9.3%, the highest level since July 1992;
• 1 out of 5 Michigan residents live in or near poverty, including 500,000 children;
• 1 in 3 Detroit residents is poor making it the poorest large city in the nation;
• 47.8% of children live below the poverty line in Detroit;
• Between January-May 2008, DTE reported a 56% increase in shut-offs for non-payment;
• 77,900 jobs were cut in Michigan from September 2007-2008;
• In home foreclosures, Michigan ranked 7th nationally with 1 in every 396 homes receiving a foreclosure filing, in Detroit foreclosure filings were 1 in every 68 homes;
• The Michigan Dept of Corrections is the largest state program and accounts for 20% of the state's budget [PDF];
• Michigan has the 11th highest incarceration rate in the U.S. (more than Canada and Mexico);
  
• 44% of Michigan adults read at a 4th grade level or below;
• 1 in 8 Michigan residents receive Food Stamps; and
• More than 1 in 10 Michigan residents will need emergency food assistance.
  

For some readers, these statistics may be shocking but for poor and low-income workers in Michigan they mean day-to-day life is difficult and miserable!

The $700 billion bailout for Wall Street banks is offering nothing to uplift this economy, nor does it appear that it will help protect any more automotive sector job losses. Moreover, the $47.1 billion from HUD to Detroit for lessening the impact of foreclosures on hard hit communities seems destined for the coffers of more unscrupulous banks and greedy developers.

The recession in Michigan has been going on much longer than in other parts of the country, at least since 2004. In Detroit, the impact has been felt the hardest by the city's most vulnerable groups--children, seniors, single-mothers, ex-offenders, homeless, disabled, welfare recipients, immigrants, and those poorly educated.

It seems around every corner there is a new problem or a new vulture waiting to take what little you have left. Poor people are resilient...finding ways to make something out of nothing, and sharing what little they have with others in need. But low-income and poor families need to do more to make their voices heard! We are the majority--a majority who has a right to the same quality of life that is enjoyed by others across this state and country.

Now is the time to stand up and fight for the things we need to survive...to fight for our human rights!

(Image from Flickr Creative Commons)

Calling an End to Corporate Welfare Queens!

Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool announced today that it's cutting 5,000 jobs. These job losses are on top of the 28,300 lost in Michigan during September 2008, and the 77,900 jobs cut over the past year, according to CNN Money.

Meanwhile, Comerica (notorious with Detroit local customers) announced it's taking a $2.25 billion share of the $700 billion bailout from the feds. Not ones to miss out on their share of "corporate welfare," GM and Chrysler are trying to negotiate a Bush-aided bailout (upwards of $10 billion) that will pay for their merger scheme resulting in more job cuts!

But get this: The politicians who voted for this bailout, along with the companies who lobbied for the bailout, who have job-worried employees praying for a bailout...are the same ones who insisted upon welfare reform for low-income people! They argued and ranted that social welfare programs created government dependency and cost tax payers billions of dollars.

They were wrong but their rhetoric and venomous political climate allowed for attacks on poor people. Today, the government is doling out billions in "corporate welfare" for the very same people who called for welfare reform. But you'll hear no cries for "corporate welfare reform" or inflammatory complaints about "corporate welfare queens." Apparently, socialism for corporations is different than socialism for people.

The Corporate Welfare Information Center keeps a large database of U.S. government "corporate welfare" and other tax payer subsidies. They list eight "corporate welfare recipients" who between 1990-1994 received corporate welfare while laying off workers:

"The more corporate welfare received, the more layoffs...

______Welfare received__Employment
GM..........$110,600,000..........-104,000
IBM............58,000,000..........-100,000
AT&T...........35,000,000............-1,077 * #
GE...............25,400,000...........-80,000
Amoco.........23,600,000............-8,300 *
DuPont........15,200,000...........-29,961
Motorola......15,100,000............+9,600 *
Citicorp.........9,600,000...........-15,700
* exceptions to the trend
# AT&T layed off 40,000 people shortly after this accounting

Ralph Nader has long-called for stopping corporate welfare, and he's been working to call attention to the latest national scandal. No one wants a lifetime of welfare! It's a terrible way to live but we do need to find ways for everyone to have a guaranteed annual income. Government welfare is a safety-net for all people in times of need--especially when "corporate welfare queens" are squelching basic human needs and rights.

Tragic Poverty Fires in Highland Park...and the MWRO Utility Summit

The nights have started getting colder in southeast Michigan and low income families are struggling to keep warm. With the socioeconomic crises in Detroit and surrounding areas--no jobs, layoffs, home foreclosures, wide-scale poverty, very low food security, illness--many poor and fixed income households often have to decide between which bills to pay.

Low income families living in large, old, poorly insulated homes in Detroit and Highland Park more often than not are unable to pay altogether for electricity, natural gas, and water. So they make small payments hoping that it will suffice but it doesn't.

Early this morning, another family in Highland Park became victim to poverty fires--dying in one's home because you can't afford to pay for the utility(ies) you need to properly heat it. A beloved grandmother and her three young grandchildren (5, 8, and 10) burned in their home while the children's mother and other relatives luckily managed to escape. According to the Detroit Free Press, the fire department confirmed what neighbors already knew: the fire started from a small space heater used to keep the children warm while they slept.

Yesterday, a neighbor shared information with the grandmother about getting help with her heat bill through THAW, an agency that assists low income families with high bills and getting utilities turned back on. THAW is largely funded through redirected funds from DTE--the Detroit-based utility company that shut-off the family's natural gas in the first place!

Corporations should not be making profits off of the utilities needed for supporting life. We all have the right to shelter, heat, food, water, clothing, and other human rights...and no corporate bottom line should determine who stays warm or who dies. This tragedy, along with neighboring burned homes, never had to happen if low-income families had better assistance, better resources, better information about how to protect their families!

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization is organizing its annual Utility Summit to help families and individuals learn how to avoid utility shut-offs and get assistance. Please encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to attend as we try to put an end to the horror of poverty fires!

MWRO UTILITY CRISIS SUMMIT
Wayne County Community College, Downtown Campus
1001 W. Fort St, Detroit, MI 48226
5:00-7:30pm
Thursday, Oct. 23 for surnames beginning A-L
Friday, Oct. 24 for surnames beginning M-Z

Learn how to avoid utility shut-offs and home foreclosures!
Bring your bills...Show your voter registration card and get a free meal!
Register at (313) 258-6826

Blog Action Day and Poverty

Today is Blog Action Day. Since MWRO has a fairly new weblog, we had no idea what that was until today. Apparently, it's a day when everyone who has a blog writes about the same topic to increase the international awareness and (hopefully) action around the issue. And today's theme is poverty, quite appropriate.

On the matter of blogs, we have found that in this election season our Google Alerts have jumped tremendously on searches for "National Welfare Rights Organization," "NWRO," and "welfare rights." It seems that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of conservative bloggers in the U.S. who are writing about Senator Obama's community organizing work with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Alongside that, they are also writing about ACORN's early relationship with the NWRO and George Wiley, a scientist turned poor people's community organizer.

But these weblogs aren't informative or even accurate. They're mostly inflammatory, ignorant, and built upon discrediting Presidential Candidate Obama and ACORN, and assailing welfare recipients. Here are a couple of examples:
Obama the ACORN nut: From little things, Left Liberal Marxist Socialism Grows;

Obama, ACORN, and Connections to Terrorist William Ayers

Now leading in the polls, Senator Obama surely has a lot to worry about and contend with. And once again, some people in this country--this world--in times of economic crisis have chosen to assess it by launching racist and venomous assaults on poor people instead of critiquing the true villain--a failed capitalist system.

The mission of the NWRO then and the National Welfare Rights Union now is to fight for the rights of poor and low-income people, especially those on public assistance. It's well understood that capitalism relies upon a cadre of low-skilled, low-wage workers to move in and out of the workforce, thereby, creating a permanent pool of the unemployed. Welfare recipients are at the bottom of this abyss and know better than anyone that it's not a place you choose to be in!

We invite critics and naysayers to learn more about welfare rights, economic human rights, and the efforts of many other good organizations and people who are trying to fight poverty and build a better world. Check out the links on the MWRO weblog page.

(Image: Courtesy of Kensington Welfare Rights Union)

Obama's 90 Day Housing Foreclosure Moratorium Is a Beginning

We've finally heard something we can believe in! Today, in wake of the U.S. housing crisis, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama called for a 90 day national moratorium on foreclosures. He presented this proposal as part of a four-part 'economic rescue plan' for middle-class homeowners, according to CNN.

MWRO, along with other groups in Michigan, (particularly, Moratorium Now!,) has also called for a national moratorium on home foreclosures. In Detroit and across the state, thousands of families have lost their homes while national and foreign banks eagerly sought new buyers on the belief that everyone could get rich off of the sufferings of others.

A 90 day moratorium on home foreclosures is a good start and we commend Senator Obama for his proposal but it is not enough! Low-income seniors and families in Michigan and across this country are struggling to survive on a variety of fronts such as housing, jobs, utilities, and food, along with other basic needs and human rights. Foreign wars and defense budgets have drained local communities and states of the resources they need to help us stave off desperation and protect our families.

We believe 90 days is only a starting point. When individuals and families are doing all they can to survive and keep hope alive, the least the federal government can do is provide the basic resources people need to live quality lives. Keeping a roof over everyone's head is the beginning of that. For more on this, see the National Welfare Rights Union's 8 Position Points to Dismantle Poverty in the U.S. (PDF)

(Image: August 2008, Lansing--Detroit residents and Moratorium Now! coalition members rally at the Michigan State Capitol Building in support of a moratorium on housing foreclosures with Senate Bill 1306. Photo courtesy of Daymon J. Hartley.