The main municipal workers' union wants to hammer home the impact of potential pension changes on current and past Detroit city workers. It captures their concerns and fears in a slick four-minute video telling personal stories.
"I don't live large at all. I wish I could," says retired finance clerk Ora Mae Mott, 81. "I need every penny that I can get. . . .
Ora Mae Mott, 81, is "very, very upset about the idea of them taking away my pension that I worked 30 years for" as a Detroit Finance Department clerk.
"I'm very, very upset about the idea of them taking away my pension that I worked 30 years for."
AFSCME representative Rachel Wolf tells the Michigan Chronicle:
"There has been almost no discussion of those who will be most affected — the workers, retirees and small business owners who helped build Detroit and make it run every day,
“These real stories from real people in Detroit help put the true costs into perspective."
The "Detroit Matters" video (below) is posted at a new Stand With Detroit website, which presents brief anecdotes about eight Detroiters and a message from national AFSCME President Lee Saunders:
"The potential bankruptcy in Detroit is not solely a Detroit crisis; it is an American crisis. Financially devastated cities all across our nation are now struggling for their survival. The outcome in Detroit affects all of us, and that’s why the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is calling for an urban agenda to strengthen our great cities. AFSCME will not give up on Detroit or the workers who built the city — and neither should you."
Among those featured in the video is retired hospital worker Donald Smith, 68, who says: "I feel like an old jacket. You use me up and throw me away."
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has said city retirees have to share in sacrifices to help pull Detroit out of an $18.5 billion hole, including nearly $10 billion in underfunded pensions and retiree health care.
He proposes freezing current pensions and ending the practice of promising pension payouts to new municipal workers after Dec. 31. City workers would instead participate in a defined contribution plan similar to a 401(k).
