VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Some of 3,000 marchers who converged on Gov. Rick Snyder's house on Dr. MLK Day, Jan 16, 2012

By Congressman John Conyers, Jr. 

Conyers to Hold Forum on Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law   

(DETROIT) – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-M14) will host a Democratic Judiciary forum concerning the legal implications of the Emergency Manager Law.  The forum will start at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February, 21, 2012 and will be held at Soul Harvest Ministries in Highland Park.

 Currently, there are six emergency managers in place under the Michigan Emergency Law (Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint, Pontiac, Detroit Public Schools, Highland Park School District) and a review for an appointment is ongoing with respect to the cities of Detroit and Muskegon Heights. 

Due to the controversial nature of the law, several lawsuits have been brought challenging its constitutionality, and a petition drive is pending which would suspend the law subject to a statewide referendum in November. 

Congressman Conyers addresses rally against PA 4 Jan. 2, with City Council members JoAnn Watson, Kwame Kenyatta and Brenda Jones to his right

At the same time, other states such as Indiana are considering adopting emergency manager laws similar to Michigan’s statute. This forum will consider a range of issues, including the EM law’s possible impact on voting rights, representative form of government, and the right to contract; as well as the legality and appropriateness of effort in Lansing to reinstate the law notwithstanding the referendum process.  Witnesses will include preeminent constitutional, voting rights, and bankruptcy legal experts as well as representatives of impacted communities, safety officials, and unions. 

In December, Representative Conyers wrote the U.S. Department of Justice to ask the Attorney General to review the law’s constitutionality.  That same month, Representative Conyers along with Representatives Clarke and Peters, 55 State Legislators (9 State Senators and 46 State Representatives) and 8 Detroit City Council Members, wrote a letter requesting a meeting with Governor Snyder to discuss the Emergency Manager Law.  

Soul Harvest Mnistries, Highland Park

WHAT:  Forum to Discuss the Legal Implications of Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law 

WHERE:  Soul Harvest Ministries   16300 Woodward                                      Highland Park, MI, 48288 

WHEN:  Tuesday, February 21, 2012.  5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

WHO:    Participants 

•  The Honorable John Conyers, Jr , Michigan’s 14th Congressional District and Ranking Member House Judiciary Committee 
•   The Honorable Hansen Clarke, Michigan’s 13th Congressional  District                            
• The Honorable Gary Peters, Michigan’s 9th Congressional District                              
•  The Honorable Bert Johnson, Michigan’s 2nd Senate District
•  The Honorable John Olumba, Michigan’s 5th House District
•  The Honorable Joanne Watson, Detroit City Council 

                                *Other participants to be added* 

Brandon Jessup, PA 4 referendum initiator, with petition at PA 4 rally Jan. 2

Panelists

•  The Honorable Fred Durhal, Jr.,  Michigan’s 6th House District and Chairperson Michigan Legislative Black Caucus
•  The Honorable Thomas Stallworth,  Michigan’s 8th House District
•  The Honorable DeAndre Windom, Mayor, Highland Park, Michigan                               
•  Professor Kenneth N. Klee, UCLA School of Law
•  Professor Jocelyn Benson, Wayne State University Law School
•  Al Garrett, President, Council 25, AFSCME
•   Officer Joe Duncan, President, Detroit Police Officers Association                               
•  John Philo. Legal Director, Sugar Law Center
•  Brandon Jessup,  Chairman, Michigan Forward 

                                *Other panelists to be added* 

Contact: Matthew Morgan – 202-226-5543 DaVonne Darby – 313-961-5670

Detroiters including ex-prisoners support last year's Geogia prison strike

The Georgia prisoners who led the massive December 9^th, 2010, prisoner strike have organized the December 9^th Georgia & International Prisoners’ Rights Movement to challenge the Governor and the Department of Corrections to meet their demands to be paid for their labor, to have decent living conditions, education and medical care, for an end to cruel and unusual punishments, a halt to harsh mandatory sentencing, fairness in parole decisions.

At noon on Saturday, February 18, prisoner families, friends and supporters will hold a mass meeting at Atlanta’s Auburn Avenue Library to organize and launch statewide protests and demonstrations, legislative actions and a national effort to challenge the State’s violations of prisoners’ human rights before the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.

Prisoners were viciously beaten after weeks-long strike

The December 9^th Movement includes black, Latino, white, Christian, Muslim, Rastafarian and other prisoner organizations, along with The Ordinary People Society, The Nation of Islam Southern Region, The Michael Lewis Legal Defense Committee, The National Action Network Southern Region, The Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald, The Prodigal Child Project, The National Justice Coalition, Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Movement, Project South.  The Steering Committee includes prisoner leaders, Pastor Kenneth Glasgow, Elaine Brown and Charles Muhammad.  Despite that many of the December 9^th leaders have been brutalized and locked in isolation, the Movement has grown inside and continues to petition the Department of Corrections for their human rights.

Dec9movement@groups.facebook.com

PRESS CONFERENCE HELD LAST YEAR TO SUPPORT GA. PRISONERS

Detroit’s Early-Morning Bus Service Faces Cuts: MyFoxDETROIT.com

By Diane Bukowski

February 16, 2012

DETROIT — Fliers have been circulating around the city for the last month asking Detroiters to take up the fight against bus cuts that were planned for Feb. 24.

VOD broke the story in a thorough article Feb. 9. (To read, click on: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/02/09/bing-to-slash-bus-routes-d-dot-jobs-feb-24-contractor-gets-big/. In addition to the cuts, the article focused on the management contract Mayor Dave Bing awarded to contractor Parsons/Brinckerhoff, which subcontracted to Envisurage, whose CEO is Mark Aesch. 

Mark Aesch

According to Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International officials, quoted in the article, Aesch was a vicious boss, serving as CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority from 2004 through 2011. A PB/E work order (copy included in earlier VOD article) said he is moving to cut D-DOT city jobs and regionalize transportation.

Mayor Bing’s press representative did not see fit to respond to VOD press inquiries, but COO Chris Brown finally acknowledged the cuts to the Detroit News, saying they will involve:

• Discontinuing bus service from 1-4 a.m.
• Route 11/Clairmount weekend service only will be discontinued.
• Route 46/Southfield Sunday service will be discontinued.
• Eliminate Route 78/Imperial Express.
• Route 49/Vernor service will end at the Rosa Parks Terminal in downtown Detroit.

ATU Local President Henry Gaffney addresses 2009 public hearing on bus cuts

According to DDOT, the elimination of service from 1-4 a.m. will save only 6 percent of its daily costs. Brown declined to tell the News about specific staff cuts.

The cuts are to begin March 3 instead of Feb. 24 as originally planned.

Public hearings: FRIDAY FEB. 24, 2012

• Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 6-8 p.m.;
• East-side Wayne County Community College (at Interstate 94), 5901 Conner, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.  

A service document detailing all changes and route alternatives can be obtained from the following locations on or after Friday:

• DDOT main office, strategic planning/scheduling, 1301 E. Warren
• Detroit Public libraries
• Community access centers
• Online at www.ridedetroittransit.com. Click on

Occupy Detroit is currently considering protests against these cuts. Stay tuned to Voice of Detroit at http://voiceofdetroit.net for coverage of hearings and announcement of protests, plus financial analysis of the problem.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder hugs Mayor Dave Bing as he presents Damon Keith award to him Feb. 14

D-DOT gets most of its funding from the state and federal governments, and has 16 new buses paid for by USDOT funds in its terminals. It is likely Aesch is moving to takeover D-DOT and SMART, as advocated by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and establish an authority like RGRTA, at the same time reaping the benefits of state and federal funding.

Snyder gave Mayor Bing the Damon Keith award Feb. 14, indicating opposition to regionalization cannot be expected from Bing.

On February 16, the date listed on D-DOT’s website for its regular monthly “customer comments” meeting, D-DOT riders including several in wheelchairs took city buses to get to the hearing, scheduled for 5 p.m. They were greeted by a notice on the headquarters door that the hearing was canceled, to be replaced with the Feb. 24 hearings.

What would Rosa Parks do?

“I walked all the way from Woodward and Warren to be at the meeting on time,” said D. Griggs, who regularly attends the meetings. “No notices went out that the meeting was canceled. Here we are a week before the cuts are supposed to go into effect, and I haven’t seen anybody mobilize to stop them or offer alternatives. D-DOT is part of the city’s charter, they should not be eliminating it by regionalization.”

Emily Harris has been wheel-chair bound for many years. Referring to friends she brought with her, including another man who is in a wheelchair, she said they are already experiencing terrible service.

“We waited on the Woodward bus for hours. At least four buses passed us up before one stopped and the driver asked the passengers to make room for the wheelchairs. My housekeeper can’t make it on time from where she lives in Hamtramck to my home.”

Antonius Whitley added, “What about the people who go to work on Saturday and Sunday? I have to start from John R and Dequindre. The buses at Woodward and the Fairgrounds are already packed when they leave. People have to squeeze together, and then buses come back to back four at a time.

The mainstream media did not announce the cancellation of the Feb. 16 meeting when it covered the cuts and announced the Feb. 24 meeting.

DDOT customers who showed up for the canceled hearing Feb. 16; (l to r) Emily Harris, Antonius Whitley, D. Griggs, Ella Sanders and William Estell

February 16, 2012

Detroit, MI  — “SAY YEAH YEAH ~ A FELATASTIC EXHIBITION” is the official local artist exhibition for FELA, the Tony Award winning Broadway stage production at the Music Hall. It was designed to help celebrate the creative and social consciousness spirit of FELA Kuti, the Nigerian musical powerhouse and fighter for his people.   

The exhibition contains artwork created with oils, acrylics, photos, fabric and fused glass.  Over twenty artists provided pieces that range in size from about 5 X 6 inches to a towering wall hanging nearly 9 feet tall representing figurative, 3 dimensional, abstract and other styles.  

Fela Kuti

The list of artists reads like a Metro Detroit Who’s Who including Erin Moran, Michelle Smart, Tylonn J. Sawyer, Sabrina Nelson, Timothy Orikri, Tony Roko, Jide Aje, Catherine Peet, Christopher Batten, Omo Misha, Ifoma Stubbs, Robin Sandow, Gigi Boldon, Jeff McFarland, Nivek Monet, Asia Hamilton, Jocelyn Rainey, Tracey Bozeman, Renee Dooley, Lavern Homan, Jessica Caremore and Halima Cassells.  

This Exclusive Exhibition Can Be Viewed 10 A.M. To 8 P.M.,

Tuesday Thru Saturday Through April 9 At The Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center

311 East Grand River / 313-965-8430

http://www.facebook.com/events/183325475106135/

Marchers protesting EM’s converge on Gov. Rick Snyder’s home near Ann Arbor on MLK Day Jan. 16

 Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 12:41 PM

By Jonathan Oosting | joosting@mlive.com MLive.com .

State financial review teams operating in Detroit and the Highland Park Public Schools held a series of private meetings in violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act, according to an Ingham County Circuit Court Judge, who reportedly has voided their work.

Judge William Collette last week issued a temporary injunction ordering the Detroit review team to comply with the Open Meetings Act. WDIV reports Collette ruled today that all work by the team is null and void.

Collette also voided the work of the Highland Park schools review team, according to The Detroit News, including the recommendation of an emergency manager.

Robert Davis

Today’s ruling came in response to lawsuits filed by Robert Davis, a Highland Park school board member, union activist and vocal critic of Public Act 4, Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law.

Gov. Rick Sndyer appointed the Detroit review team in late December after a preliminary examination revealed “probable financial stress” in Detroit, and he appointed Emergency Manager Jack Martin to run the Highland Park schools last month.

The Snyder administration has argued that review teams are not subject to the Open Meetings Act, which is designed to promote transparency in state government, and a spokesperson said last week that the state would appeal Collette’s preliminary injunction.

It’s not immediately clear what today’s ruling means for the review process in Detroit or Martin’s job in Highland Park, but the ruling could have implications for municipalities and school districts across the state currently under control of an emergency manager.

“We will abide by whatever process guidelines are mandated by the judge’s ruling and cooperate accordingly,” Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said in a released statement. “We have been open and transparent about the City of Detroit’s financial condition and will continue to do so.”

The Michigan Treasury and Snyder’s office have not yet responded to a request for comment.

The Detroit review team had up to 60 days to review the city’s finances and was expected to present its findings later this month to Snyder, who could decide to appoint an emergency manager or sign a consent agreement with city officials.

Harry Belafonte waves to Martin Luther King Jr. (right) at a 1965 civil-rights march in Montgomery, Alabama.

 Posted by Black Star Journal February 15, 2012

(VOD editor: this story brought to mind yesterday’s Damon Keith award, presented to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, as Bing cuts bus routes and jobs drastically, and Snyder moves to take Detroit over with an emergency manager.)

BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA,                             Staff Reporter 

February 13, 2012

It was both a walk down memory lane and a call to action when singer, actor, civil rights activist and international humanitarian Harry Belafonte spoke at St. Sabina Church.

Part of a Black History Month program that also brought Princeton Professor Cornel West to the South Side church on Sunday, Belafonte, espousing incendiary views on racism and capitalism for six decades, did not hold back during his presentation Friday night. 

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered Wall Street bail-out

Criticism of President Barack Obama’s bailout of Wall Street banks, comparison of the Occupy America movement to the 1960s civil rights battle, and an urging of African Americans and the poor toward an uprising to alleviate racism and poverty were among topics covered by an 84-year-old luminary who has sat with many of the world’s heads of state.

“I find myself at this time of my life with a lot of questions I thought we had answered,” said Belafonte, who was born in Harlem, N.Y. in 1927, was the first African-American man ever to win an Emmy Award and was a key confidant to Martin Luther King Jr.

“The last time I saw Dr. King, he had come to our home in New York, which was not uncommon as we plotted strategies for campaigns we were waging, and he was in a surly mood,” Belafonte told some 1,000 who braved a snowstorm to hear him.

Greece burns in wake of general strikes, street rebellions Feb. 13, 2012

“King said, ‘We have fought long and hard for the goals we’ve achieved, but therein lies my deepest concern, that in this struggle for integration, which we are achieving, I do genuinely believe that we will be integrating into a burning house,’’ Belafonte said.

“I never understood how prophetic that was until subsequent history revealed itself.”

Deeply entrenched in the civil rights movement, Belafonte was a friend who would bail King out of jail, and who, with such notables as Julian Bond, John Lewis and Dick Gregory, founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 

What future does this country hold for Black youth?

So many of the gains of that movement have been lost, he charged, ticking off decimated and disinvested inner-city communities devoid of a middle class; continuing disparities yielding low funding of public education and high incarceration rates of minority youth; and high poverty and unemployment rates that still more greatly afflict minorities.

“But for all the battles that we’ve won, we have yet not won the war,” Belafonte said.

In 1960, he was named cultural adviser to the Peace Corps, and in 1987, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He has earned worldwide recognition for his dedicated work on behalf of African children stricken by poverty and HIV/AIDS, as well as his outspoken advocacy for the poor and oppressed across the globe.

“And when I’m accused of dishonorably criticizing our president, somebody has tried to turn this into a personal affair,” Belafonte said of his more recent criticisms of Obama’s economic policies. “I like Barack Obama. I think he’s a nice young man. There’s a lot about him that fills me with a sense of pride. His presence as president of the United States of America means that we did something right in the civil rights movement.

Musician Bob Marley also called for people's uprising against poverty and racism

“But all of these truths do not exempt him from the moral responsibility that he has in his governance of this country. What Dr. King taught us was that without an angry people, without the poor rising up in indignation against their conditions, our leaders will never be pushed to do what they must do.”

A World War II U.S. Navy veteran, Belafonte found work as a local club singer to pay for acting classes in the late 1940s but instead found music his calling. His breakthrough 1956 album, “Calypso,” was the first LP ever in history to sell more than 1 million copies. A prolific actor as well as singer by the late 1950s, he won the Emmy for his 1959 TV special, “Tonight with Harry Belafonte.” He was the organizer of the multi-artist recording, “We Are the World,” which won the 1985 Grammy Award for record of the year and raised millions for emergency famine and health aid to Africa, and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts from President Bill Clinton in 1994.

“When I look at young people in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and hear, ‘Why don’t they go get a job?’ I think, where have I heard that before? When we gathered in the early days of our own rebellion, they said, ‘Why don’t you all go smoke a joint somewhere and get lost?’ ” Belafonte said. “What we’re facing now is an opportunity among young people trying desperately to find their way. The pundits say, ‘Where are their leaders?’ Their leaders are found in history. ‘What do they want?’ Take a look at what we wanted, and you’ll find it’s the same menu. What’s missing is that rage.”

Colombia leads the world in murders of trade unioinists, abetted by AFL-CIO

VOD editor: the following is an excerpt from an article, which can be read in its entirety by clicking on The Wikileaks Revelations on the role of the AFL-CIO in Latin America. VOD is publishing this to expose not only the role of the AFL-CIO in Colombia (similar to that in many other Latin American countries), but to question the leadership of the union movement in the U.S. 

While unions in countries like Greece and Italy are conducting general strikes against the horrific austerity policies there (see article below) unions in the U.S. have yet to call on the economic clout held by their members to fight similar attacks. This article makes one wonder what type of meetings are going on between top union leaders in the U.S. and the forces which are carrying out austerity measures here.

By Alberto C. Ruiz

Colombian union leader dead in the streets

There are about a dozen Wikileaks cables which reflect meetings between the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center and the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, and they are quite revealing.    For example, there is an embassy cable from August 11, 2008, entitled, “COLOMBIAN UNIONS, IDEOLOGY, AND THE ARMED CONFLICT.”   

And, in this cable, the Solidarity Center’s Rhett Doumitt [the same AFL-CIO staffer directly involved in aiding and abetting forces that carried out the coup against President Chavez in 2002] professes strong views on this subject to the U.S. Embassy, in particular to Ambassador Brownfield.

Rhett Doumitt (right), Solidarity Center Andes Director; Bill Camp (center), Sacramento CLC California; Nancy Hall (left), CWA Dallas Texas

Thus, in this cable, Mr. Doumitt is said to have “complained of a ‘Stalinist’ approach taken by Communist and other hard-left labor leaders within the CUT,” the largest labor confederation in Colombia.   The cable continues:

In 2006, they affiliated with the Social Democratic international confederation, which later became the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Even then, RHETT DOUMITT of the AFL-CIO affiliated Solidarity Center said the Communists literally ‘turned the lights out’ at the convention in a last ditch attempt to block this affiliation.

Further in the cable, DOUMITT complains that the politics of the labor movement in Colombia impede positive, practical advances on labor issues. In the April 22 monthly ‘labor dialogue’ meeting with President Uribe, the confederations focused discussions on the investigations of the Colombian congressmen associated with the parapolitical scandal.    CGT (Confederacion General de Trabajadores Democraticos) International Relations Secretary Jose Leon Ramirez notes there was no discussion of labor issues at the meeting. Still, DOUMITT says the unions have made progress in moving away from their traditional polemic cold war perspectives.

Colombia is strategically located. bordering on Venezuela and Brazil, which have elected socialist and progressive presidents

Another cable from another meeting indicates identical complaints to the Embassy by Doumitt about the Colombian labor movement elevating its political concerns – e.g., about the “parapolitical” scandal which involved scores of politicians collaborating with the paramilitaries who, among other things, have been hunting down labor leaders – over purely labor concerns.   

In this cable, dated February 5, 2009, Doumitt complained that “the public’s perception that the unions value politics over pocket book issues for workers also limit union membership.  Doumitt complained that the politics of the labor movement in Colombia impede positive, practical advances on labor issues, but noted that some unions are moving away from their traditional socialist ideologies.”

Colombian union march

Still, in another cable dated September 5, 2008, Doumitt seems to side with the Colombian government in terms of the debate over the figures of unionists killed in Colombia.  Thus, the cable states:

The tenor of these cables is repeated in other Latin American countries, such as Ecuador, where the Embassy reported on a meeting with Solidarity Center officials who told the Embassy “that unions generally have a bad reputation all around. Younger workers see them as either communist or irrelevant, and most Ecuadorians seen them as essentially selfish actors.” 

In a January 22, 2007 cable emanating from Peru, and entitled, “GOP Wins Battle Against Radical Teacher’s Union,” the local AFL-CIO representative is cited as siding with the government in this legal victory which, among other things, limited the number of teachers (from 314 to 30) who could engage in full-time union activity and still receive their teachers’ salaries.  Continue reading →

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 By Rev. Edward Pinkney

 February 13, 2012 

It is our distinct honor and privilege to invite you to Occupy The PGA in Benton Harbor, Michigan scheduled for May 23-27 2012.

 [The national Senior PGA championships for 2012 and 2014 are to be held on the luxurious new Harbor Shores golf course in Benton Harbor, bordering the city’s gorgeous public beach on Lake Michigan, which Whirlpool and other corporations are rapidly encroaching on. Benton Harbor is 89.2 percent Black and has a poverty rate of 48.7 percent, compared to Michigan which is 14.2 percent Black and has a poverty rate of 14.8 percent. For more on the PGA’s plans for the Benton Harbor events, click on SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIPS TO BE HELD IN BENTON HARBOR 2012 AND 2014 from PGA website

Harbor Shores golf range in Benton Harbor, Michigan

 We are committed to escalating the Occupy Movement to support human rights in housing in addition to push back against bailouts for fraudulent Banks. 

They are stealing our homes and our lives. We are calling for a national boycott of Whirlpool, Kitchen Aid and all corporations that are destroying the 99%.  

Democracy is non-existent in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  Benton Harbor has its very own Dictator! 

Rev. Edward Pinkney (l) leads march against PA 4 in Benton Harbor 2010

Please place on your face book.

For more information contact Rev Edward Pinkney at 269-925-0001 

blogtalkradio.com/pinkney call in to pinkney show every Sunday at 5 pm 347-994-3644      bhbanco.org

Uploaded by PortlandActionLab on Feb 1, 2012

Occupy Portland calls for a national day of non-violent direct action to reclaim our voices and challenge our society’s obsession with profit and greed by shutting down the corporations. We are rejecting a society that does not allow us control of our future. We will reclaim our ability to shape our world in a democratic, cooperative, just and sustainable direction. Already 30+ cities are planning actions. Get involved and find out more at http://www.shutdownthecorporations.org .

The Portland Action Lab is a direct action spokes council organizing as part of Occupy Portland. More info at www.portlandactionlab.org.

By Barbie Latza Nadeau

Feb 13, 2012 7:07 AM EST

After yet another push for austerity, Greeks have finally had enough, staging massive riots. Barbie Latza Nadeau on how the euro zone’s other nations are reacting.

The burnt out shells of at least 45 buildings in central Athens were still smoldering on Monday morning after a weekend of angry protests reached its apex on Sunday night in what Greek prime minister Luca Papademos called the worst breakdown of violence since 2008. Broken glass, chunks of marble ripped from the public squares and empty tear gas canisters lined the streets after an all-night battle pitted protesters against security forces who say they were outnumbered by a five-to-one ratio. Hundreds of protesters and police officers were injured and local Greek Sky television reported that at least twice, security forces ran out of tear gas.

Greeks rise up against austerity measures weekend of Feb. 11, 2012

Protests were held across the country, including in the tourist havens of Crete and Corfu, but the violence centered in Athens, where over 80,000 protesters took to the streets burning buildings and destroying property. An estimated 20,000 people also gathered in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, where looters broke storefront windows and destroyed city parks. On Sunday, protesters were joined by a violent contingent of masked anarchists who took direct aim at security forces under the violent anti-authority mantra of the Black Bloc movement.

Greeks rise up

The demonstrations followed general strikes last week that were meant to warn politicians against passing a biting austerity package that would save Greece from debt default—at a hefty price tag for the population. The $4.3 billion package was ultimately approved by a 199 to 74 margin in a late-night vote, but the victory was bittersweet for Greek leaders. “We must understand and persuade Greek citizens that when you have to choose between bad and worse, you must choose the bad to avoid the worst,” Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament ahead of the vote. 

Greece burns

Greek leaders had until Feb. 15 to adopt the austerity measures, but they were compelled to push the bill through parliament over the weekend—before world markets opened Monday morning—in an attempt to show European leaders led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the country deserved to be saved. Shares in Greek banks rose by 10 percent on Monday in a clear sign of approval that the bill was passed. But the violent reaction led many to wonder whether ordinary Greeks can afford to stay in the euro zone and whether the weekend’s events will become the norm. Concern that the Greek measures are like putting a band-aid on a cancerous tumor have prompted many European leaders to openly question the fate of the euro zone’s single currency. Greek leader Antonis Samaras, head of the conservative opposition who is favored to win Greek elections, warned supporters of contagion among the weaker European economies.  “We should show the Europeans that what is happening in Greece will soon spread to the rest of Europe if we do not change the policy of endless austerity.” 

Protesters mass outside Parliament building in Greece Feb 2012

Smaller economies like Ireland and Portugal, which also have unsustainable debt like Greece, are watching to see what happens.  If Greece defaults and is expelled from the euro zone, they are vulnerable to follow suit. Leaders in debt-laden Italy, which is often touted as “too big to bail, too big to fail,” and where austerity measures like those passed in Greece top the agenda, are equally worried. Italy’s interim leader Mario Monti has received accolades from America’s President Obama for his work on Italy’s economic debacle, but he’s seen as “public enemy No. 1” to many Italians who say they’ll take the Greek approach if austerity measures become too painful. 

Greece and Italy are both run by caretaker governments after their democratically-elected leaders George Papandreou and Silvio Berlusconi were forced to resign last fall. Both countries will have to hold elections by 2013, and many would-be candidates are concerned about the fallout from supporting these hard-hitting measures. The Greek cuts include trimming 15,000 public sector jobs and mandating a 22 percent decrease in the minimum wage in the private sector—the third such slice in less than a year. In practical terms, the minimum-wage cut would drop the base pay for most non-professional jobs from €751 to €600 a month (in U.S. dollars, $1,000 to $795) for those who already have regular jobs and allow employers to pay 10 percent less to new employees they hire.  Pensions, too, will be decreased, as will many welfare services. A 28-percent drop in tourism and rampant cost-of-living increases spawned by the unrest and panic have meant that most Greeks earn barely enough to scrape by. 

Greeks call for global uprisings

Papademos, who has the unsavory task of trying to save the country from economic implosion, called for calm ahead of the Sunday night vote. “This vandalism, violence.. they have no place in a democracy and will not be tolerated,” he said in a television address before the Greek parliament voted. “I call on the public to show calm. At these crucial times, we do not have the luxury of this type of protest. I think everyone is aware of how serious the situation is.”

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Barbie Latza Nadeau, author of the Beast Book Angel Face, about Amanda Knox, has reported from Italy for Newsweek since 1997 and for The Daily Beast since 2009. She is a frequent contributor to CNN Traveller, Departures, Discovery, and Grazia. She appears regularly on CNN, the BBC, and NPR.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.