"Full
Employment/Green Jobs" Statement
By Rev. Charles Williams, president of
National Action Network – Michigan:
“Detroit today is a Tale of Two
Cities.
“One city, located in Downtown and
Midtown, is doing well. In fact, it's doing very well with an
abundance of private investment and public subsidies. That city is
thriving.
“The Other City is where the rest
of us live. We're not doing very well. We're still waiting for the
private investment and public subsidies to come our way. Many of us
are barely surviving. Some aren't doing that well.
“The worst thing is so many young
people appear to have given up. They don't believe they have a
future. But I firmly believe a young person with a good-paying job is
less likely to go out and commit a senseless act of violence.
“Prevailing government policies in
Detroit, Lansing and Washington D.C. don't offer our young people
that hope of something better.
“After 50 years of factories and
businesses abandoning Detroit and taking good-paying jobs and much of
our city's tax base with them, an austerity policy only makes things
worse. Cutting public spending on schools, water and sewers, streets,
and everything else people need while cutting taxes on the Top 1% are
exactly the worst policies at the worst time.
“Private capital only goes where
it can make a profit. Government spending can go where people need
it, if policy directs that.
“Kevyn Orr's bankruptcy deal does
nothing to help the Other City. Neither does Gov. Snyder's tax cuts
to business with no strings attached to create even one single job.
And Paul Ryan's federal budget tears the guts out of much needed
social programs.
“We need a new policy
in Detroit, Lansing and Washington D.C. A Full-Employment/Green Jobs
policy will direct government to do its job to create employment in
the Other City, rebuild our nation, stimulate the private economy and
give hope to our youth.”
______________________________________________________________________
The
United Auto Workers Union (UAW)
Excerpts from
“Sustainable Jobs to Sustain Our Planet”
From:
UAW Resolutions, 36th
Constitutional Convention
June 2-5, 2014
“From
extreme weather events that have devastated entire communities to
dirty air, despoiled land and oil-slicked waters, we all have a stake
in reducing America's use of fossil fuels. This environmental
challenge is also an economic opportunity. Clean energy can be at the
heart of a broader strategy to create thousands of good-paying
manufacturing jobs for American workers, while making the communities
we live in cleaner and healthier.
“To
see how policies to reduce fossil fuel consumption can support good
jobs, Americans can look to the auto industry … thousands of UAW
members are working today making the vehicles of the future.
“There
is no reason this positive experience cannot be extended to other
industries. Initiatives to improve energy efficiency, develop
renewable energy sources, and eliminate harmful emissions and toxic
waste can spur technological innovation, drive the growth of new
industries and bring new employment opportunities. Our trading
partners already see the economic potential of green energy ...”
The UAW's Action
Agenda calls for:
- Federal and state investments in green infrastructure, mass transportation and energy-efficient buildings.
- Research into renewable energy and fuel-saving technologies.
- Assistance for workers and communities impacted by changing technologies and the transition to new, renewable energy sources.
- Special attention to the inclusion of women, people of color and residents of hard-hit urban communities in the new green economy.
- Work with our allies in the civil rights and environmental movements to protect and advance workers in the emerging green economy to organize and bargain collectively ... to ensure green jobs are, in fact, good jobs.
"Move
the Money” to “Full Employment/Green Jobs”
This
Bulletin's Full Employment/Green Jobs Statement
comes to us from Rev. Richard Peacock, chairperson of Peace Action of
Michigan:
“The rough winter cost me $211 due to
a pothole. Potholes may have cost you more, and you may have lost
wages by missing work. That is just one reason to Move the Money from
unnecessary Pentagon spending to fixing potholes, rebuilding roads,
insulating houses and more.
"Move the Money" is a project
of Peace Action in Michigan and across the country. Congress,
presidents, lobbyists and corporations have skewed the budget
priorities in favor of Pentagon spending and wars. The core Pentagon
budget grew almost 50% over the last decade. In addition, making war
on and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan is costing us trillions.
“Pentagon spending is a very poor job
creator. For every $1 billion spent on the Pentagon, 11,200 jobs are
created. That same $1 billion would create 16,800 jobs in clean
energy or 26,700 jobs in education. Investing in Full
Employment/Green Jobs is possible because the Pentagon can spend
smarter and less.
“Diverse organizations such as the
Progressive Democrats of America and the Republican Liberty Caucus
have many ways to make Pentagon spending smarter and less. There are
bills in Congress to reduce the amount of our taxes we pay for
"modernizing" unnecessary nuclear bombs. We can lobby our
elected officials to support wiser Pentagon spending. Plus, we must
ask candidates for federal offices: (1) "Will you support
auditing the Pentagon?" and (2) "Will you cut the
unnecessary number of nuclear weapons of mass destruction?"
“Jobs with Justice and Peace Action
can continue to use the vocabulary of: "Full Employment/Green
Jobs," "Move the Money" and "Make Pentagon
spending smarter and less."
“Peace
Action wants to share a “Move the Money” presentation with you
and your friends. Which of your favorite groups could use
suggestions for moving the money from the Pentagon to the People?
Contact Rev. Rich Peacock, Peace Action of Michigan, 248-321-7480,
rjpeacock@wowway.com”
______________________________________________________________________ Rally Green Jobs and Full Employment 2014
Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice thanks the 65-70 people who joined our Rally for Green Jobs and Full Employment on Friday June 29th at Nine Mile and Woodward. There was an impressive delegation of activists from Good Jobs Now, the group that is leading the campaign for a living wage at McDonald’s, Burger King and other low-wage retailers. Also, attending were individuals from Feed Da Streetz, DSA, Moratorium Now!, Occupy Detroit, People Before Banks, CWA, NALC, USW, Peace Action, Halt Fermi 3, SEIU, UAW, MNA, Anti-Fracking, UWUA. Did I miss anybody?
“We also want to thank our speakers: Craig Covey, former mayor of Ferndale, Douglas “G-Style” Myers, environmental justice activist from River Rouge, and Rep. John Conyers, author of the Full Employment bill, HR-1000.
And finally, JWJ wants to thank Al Benchich and Fred Vitale for use of their powerful sound system, The Rust Belt, for letting us their electricity to power the powerful sound system, and Affirmations and Peace Action for offering space to meet if the rains came during the Rally.
