All City Workers & Community Supporters:

 

On April 12 Archer presents his budget. Force him to spend money on good city worker contracts & services!

Come to the Rally!

Thursday, April 12, 4-6 pm

City-County Building, Jefferson Entrance

 

This is the year to change Detroit’s politics and Detroit’s history. This year city workers have a unique opportunity to reverse the long trend of concession contracts, and win real gains. AFSCME Local 207 has already proven that the Archer administration has money and will cough it up if we fight for it. These rallies are part of Local 207’s overall strategy for all city workers to win. Join the rallies called by AFSCME 207 and show Archer that all city workers are prepared to fight this year. The more management is worried, the better the contract they’ll offer us.

 

Archer has good reason to fear that Detroit city workers have had enough of his BS, and will strike to change the long pattern of contract defeats. Archer and his corporate backers know that city workers are sick of taking concessions every contract, sick of seeing skyrocketing hospitalization deductions and gas prices eat up our measly little raises, and sick to death of watching Archer privatize and contract-out Detroit’s jobs, services and political power to pad the pockets of rich suburban contractors. This is the year to fight and win good raises and real job security.

 

Big Victories

 

On March 15, Local 207 held our first rally of the contract struggle, demanding that Archer stop privatizing and contracting-out our jobs. About 200 members and community supporters enthusiastically picketed the City-County Building, chanting slogans against Archer. In the wake of this initial rally we have already scored important victories.

 

Due to a contract concession that has lasted from 1995 through the present many of AFSCME’s most under-paid members had their “minimum” wage rates “frozen.” This meant that their classifications’ entry level wages never increased over the last six years. Under the terms of this concession, these workers were supposed to reach parity within six years by receiving larger than normal step increases. But the city never paid these special step increases. No union officials bothered to catch this contract violation until Local 207’s new leaders took office. We found that not only are the effected members being underpaid, but they are owed retro pay as well.

 

For months Local 207 has been conducting a campaign to get our members paid, and shortly after our March 15 rally Water Department management said that they will pay up. Management says they will start paying people in July, beginning with an increase in the effected members’ current hourly rate. Then they will pay members their retro pay, which for some will amount to thousands of dollars!

 

This shows that management has the money, and that it can be won. Local 207 voted to demand $1.50 per hour, per year of the contract. Especially since Council 25 has not published any wage demands, this should be adopted as the unified demand for all city workers. In addition we must eliminate the “frozen minimums” in the next contract and make sure that no city worker earns less than $12 an hour.

 

Management Backs Down At Sewage Plant

 

At the Sewage Plant, management attempted to stop a practice that had been in effect for over twenty years without bargaining with the union. Now they have backed off and are letting members exercise their rights to switch crews when their assigned crew is being rotated on to a shift they can’t handle. Again this shows that the first rally went a long way toward showing management that city workers will not be pushed around anymore, and that if we fight we can win the fixed (“straight”) shifts we’ve wanted for decades, and maintain our current five crews.

 

Health Coverage Increases Delayed

 

A couple weeks ago management was preparing to announce huge increases in the deductions taken from our checks for health coverage. But given the current atmosphere among city workers, they figured that it would only make us more determined to fight. So management is delaying the announcement, and perhaps looking for a way to cushion the blow somewhat. But the only real solution to having our raises erased each year by healthcare deduction increases is to eliminate all deductions and co-pays.

 

Defeat Privatization & Contracting-Out

 

Archer is attempting to ram an ordinance through the lapdog City Council to subvert the intentions of the City Charter and make it easier for him to privatize the city. Archer and his flunkies in management have a long-term policy of giving away jobs, Detroit taxpayers’ money and political influence and control to big business. The DIA, the Public Housing Department, much of Public Lighting, vehicle repair, repair of water mains, building attendant jobs, mechanical maintenance and dewatering operations at the Sewage Plant are just some of the jobs already given to the contractors. The rest of the Public Lighting Department and the over a hundred jobs in Sewage Plant incineration are also directly threatened.

 

The threats of privatization by Archer’s appointed school board are the direct result of the failure of unions to fight the racist school take over, the cutbacks and privatizations. If we launch a real fight against privatization of city services and jobs, and invite all public workers, including school workers, to join us, we can unite and defeat privatization. Privatization has no real support in the black community. We can mobilize the community to fight for real improvement of city services by forcing Archer to hire more city workers. Local 207 is demanding contract language to stop our jobs from being given away.

 

The city has the money. We must show Archer that all city workers are ready to fight for it. Unity in action is necessary to win. Join us and help build the fight this year to unite the community and our unions to win good contracts, and good services provided by city workers, not contractors. If the presidents of other city locals feel they can not yet join the fight, then the members will have to do it, and pull the leaders along. Come join us and let’s unite to win!