Occupy Detroit protesters on Thursday were set to join nationwide protests on the two-month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement's initial encampment in New York City.
The local group will also conduct a day of action against austerity measures, including a banner drop, a teach-in, a march on Detroit's City Council building and a rally in Grand Circus Park.
"When you have a mayor who hasn't created any jobs, but gives tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires to move their businesses to the city and then don't pay any taxes for 15 years -- how's that fair to residents who've lived here and are footing that bill for the police and fire and garbage pick-up?"Occupy Detroit spokesman Lee Gaddies told WWJ.
The group's day of action comes the morning after Detroit Mayor Dave bing announced the need for significant austerity measures to avoid an even greater financial crisis in the city. In a Wednesday night address, the mayor called for a further 10 percent wage cut for city workers and an increase in worker contributions to health care coverage. Bing city police and firefighters should give the same concessions.
AFSCME Local 207 President John Riehl, who represents city workers, said on Channel 7 Action news following the mayor's speech that the unions consider Bing to have lost his leadership role. Riehl noted the mayor had already received a 10 percent wage concession from city workers.
"This contract -- he imposed it on us. If he can't live with it, he should look in the mirror," Riehl said. "He's the problem, not the unions."
Occupy Detroit is moving the site of its encampment away from Grand Circus Park and making plans for the winter months. At least one space on Michigan Ave. in southwest Detroit is being used, according to the OccupyDetMi Twitter.
This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.
Later Thursday, Occupy Detroit's Nov.17 Day of Action events will be livestreaming here.
| @ OccupyDetMI : #occupydetroit using 5000 sqft space in southwest Detroit. Help needed 2 clean/organize donations.Work party Fri 11/18 @ 5900 Mi Ave &Wesson |
Other sources in the Occupy Detroit movement disagreed with the statement on the Occupy Detroit website that suggests the protesters will soon be occupying a building in southwest Detroit.
"We don't have any plans to occupy any buildings at this point," said Joe McGuire, who is a part of the Direct Action working group of Occupy Detroit.
Some Occupy Detroit members may occupy a building in the future, but they have no final plans to do so right now. McGuire added that any decision about plans for the group's future would need to be decided by consensus at a General Assembly.
The next General Assembly is at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
--David Sands and Kate Abbey-Lambertz
Both Council members and Detroit Police were willing to extend the Grand Circus Park campers' permit Tuesday. The Free Press reports:
Some council members likened the peaceful Occupy Detroit to the civil rights movement aimed at extending rights to disenfranchised black people."All of us sit here because some people fought, because some people occupied, because some people demonstrated," Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said. "They did it because it was the right thing to do."
Saying the Occupy Detroit protesters have been peaceful and cooperative, Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said he was not opposed to the one-week extension.
Read more here.
| @ roopraj : News Alert: Council has voted to week long extension until Nov 21st for #OccupyDetroit. |
| @ RevEggplant : RT @roopraj: News Alert: #OccupyDetroit members want to host "Occupy Thanksgiving at 4pm Nov 20th. Council tells them they need a permit ... |
| @ roopraj : News Alert: Even as we wait for council vote on #OccupyDetroit extension, @mayordavebing has approved a one week extension., accd to council |
The Michigan Messenger reports Occupy Detroit members have found several potential relocation sites if either they are forced to leave Grand Circus Park by the city, or they decide to move indoors for winter.
Members of Occupy Detroit have worked with local businesses to secure a multi-story office building, a store front for sign-making, a warehouse, and a renovated 50-unit hotel that will serve as housing for protesters.Occupy Detroit spokesperson Lee Gaddis said the group plans to pack up the Grand Circus Park encampment and move into donated space where it will be able to focus on political work.
?The weather is really crummy ? and going to get crummier,? Gaddis said. ?Our primary concern is the safety of the occupiers. Not everybody is prepared to do winter camping.?
Occupy Detroit spokesman Lee Gaddis told HuffPost Monday that a local businessman has agreed to protesters stay in a 5,000 square foot warehouse in southwest Detroit. Gaddis would not reveal the identity of the warehouse owner, saying he was not authorized to impart that information.
Read more in the Michigan Messenger here.
The status of the city permit allowing protesters to camp at Grand Circus Park remains uncertain, but Occupy Detroit is already planning a party.
Organizers have scheduled a "Music/Dance/Poetry/Comedy Fundraiser" for Friday evening at 1515 Broadway, just a half-block from the campsite. Suggested donation is $5-$15.
Occupy Detroit held a similar fundraiser last week at the Old Miami bar in the Cass Corridor.
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