Labor Leaders Seek Government Aid for Detroit

Top leaders of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the nation’s main federation of labor unions, on Thursday called on President Obama and the Congress to offer an immediate financial infusion to Detroit, which last week became the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy.

The executive council of the A.F.L.-C.I.O, holding meetings at its headquarters in Washington, also called on the state of Michigan to provide a comparable amount of financial support to Detroit, its most populous city.

State and federal authorities have largely set aside suggestions of a bailout in the days since Gov. Rick Snyder and the emergency manager he assigned to solve Detroit’s woes announced that the city required bankruptcy protection. But the appeal on Thursday by labor leaders, who were angered by the prospect of cuts to pensions and health benefits to help resolve the city’s $18 billion debt, suggests that questions about state and federal support for teetering cities like Detroit are far from over.

“There is no question there’s a crisis in Detroit, but impoverishing the city’s public service workers and further decimating public services is not the solution,” said Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and chairman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. Political Committee. “The whole country is watching how this crisis gets resolved. As the nation emerges from the worst of the Great Recession, it is time for Congress and the White House to make it clear they will not turn their backs on our urban centers.”

Responding to earlier calls for a bailout for Detroit, Mr. Snyder, a Republican in his first term, largely fended off the notion. “It’s not about just putting more money in a situation,” he said Sunday on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “It’s about better services to citizens again. It’s about accountable government.”

And White House officials have indicated that solutions to Detroit’s insolvency rest with local leaders and creditors. “While leaders on the ground in Michigan and the city’s creditors understand that they must find a solution to Detroit’s serious financial challenge, we remain committed to continuing our strong partnership with Detroit as it works to recover and revitalize and maintain its status as one of America’s great cities,” a White House spokeswoman said last week.

View the original article here