-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Maki [mailto:amaki000@centurytel.net]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:36 PM
To: 'John Remington'; 'Jojo Geronimo'; 'John Remington'; 'Robert Killeen'; 'sen.david.tomassoni@senate.mn'; 'lisa.sarne@senate.mn'

Cc: 'Robert Killeen'; 'rgettel@uaw.net'; 'gdubovich@usw.org'; 'lhinkle@peoplepc.com'

Subject: RE: Upcoming Conference... Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities in St. Paul, Minnesota... May 30 & 31, 2008

John,

I have noted additions to the reinvest website--- still nothing there about saving the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant; and, it is my belief, based upon the lack of any previous involvement from the Labor Education Service, or any of the schools or departments affiliated with the University of Minnesota concerning this issue, that this is by intent and design.

As long as this Plant remains intact, this is NOT A DONE DEAL, and there is the possibility of saving this Plant and the hydro dam as a “manufacturing unit” as described in Senate File 607 as authored by Senator Cohen, and introduced for a vote before the Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs.

Robert Killeen, in an e-mail to me stated that the building trades unions helped to try to kill this legislation in the Senate Committee. I have no direct, first hand knowledge if this is true or not since he also told me that the Republicans killed this bill, which is patently false. I was not at the Senate Committee hearing and the minutes of this meeting were kept in such a shoddy manner by the clerk of the committee, Lisa Sarne, that it is impossible to tell what happened… although I would point out that there are 11 Dfl’ers and only 7 Republicans on this Committee and only one of the DFL’ers was not present when the hearing began which still leaves a very substantial DFL majority.

I would point out, that saving this Plant does not rest on whether or not any or all of the leadership of organized labor is for saving this Plant. I think it is enough that we know that the DFL, like organized labor’s leadership--- for the most part--- here in Minnesota is fully and completely in league with the neoliberal agenda which has as its objective saving capitalism as a social and economic system. Neoliberalism is about saving capitalism when all is said and done. As such, organized labor’s leadership buys into the neoliberal argument that manufacturing and production are the sole property of the private capital… not to be challenged or tampered with.

There is not one single politician in this state, from a city council member in St. Paul or Minneapolis to the Mayors, County Commissioners on up to the state legislators, the governor or U.S. Congresspersons or our two U.S. Senators who will stand before Minnesotans and say, “What a great idea; forget the huge investment made in this manufacturing operation by tax-payers, forget that these we are talking about two-thousand union jobs, let the Ford Motor Company do as they will along with the bankers and real-estate speculators and contractors, and take the wrecking ball to this plant;” not a one of these cowardly little worthless politicians have the political or moral courage to say this. What they do say--- each and everyone of them: “Gee, we really want to save this plant; but, we have tried everything and there is nothing we can do.” Even the Star Tribune has called for saving this plant and the jobs.

I communicated with Gar Alperovitz, a leading figure in saving plants and jobs, about this. Alperovitz is very clear on this issue: The plant can be saved if there is the political will to do so.

Mayor Coleman of St. Paul went so far as to produce a YouTube video to answer those of us advocating public ownership. At one of his community meetings Coleman went so far as to say he is for doing everything possible, and has done everything possible, to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. Them in his next breath he says, “But we are not going to get into public ownership.”

In fact, short of a worker takeover of this plant, public ownership is the one and only last resort. Whether Ford workers get a pay-check from the Ford Motor Company or the State of Minnesota, they do not care; so long as they get a pay-check and maintain their livelihoods and a decent standard of living.

There is something terribly wrong when Mayor Coleman and state legislators along with the Minnesota DFL and the leadership of organized labor will not explain to Ford workers or the very public they pleaded with for funds to subsidize the Ford Motor Company, why these same people will jot now explain there opposition to public ownership as a tool to save this Plant.

The Labor Education Service Conference on Disinvestment makes the claim of wanting to fully explore and get to the bottom of the neoliberal agenda--- if alternatives are not going to be considered there is no use explaining anything.

The person who should have been invited to this conference is Ed Schreyer the former New Democratic Party Premier of Manitoba who over saw the Province of Manitoba bringing a huge bus manufacturing plant in Winnipeg under public ownership, and that plant is still going strong today and stands to provide many good jobs for members of the Canadian Auto Workers union for years to come, even though, after becoming a tremendous success under public ownership--- so successful in fact--- that it was sold back into private hands at a hefty profit to the Province… although, many Winnipeggers at the time opposed the sale back into private hands.

The university community and academia have a very special role to play in facilitating such a dialogue on public ownership. I would note that this Conference and LES along with those like Peter Rachleff are always willing to say they support worker takeovers and militant workers’ struggles everyplace in the world except in their own back-yards. Par for the course. And this is the way it has been in Minnesota since 1938. The lack of academic integrity on the part of academia and the university community when it comes to exploring any alternative that is not acceptable to the capitalist class and the bosses in the mining, forestry, manufacturing, mills, power generating and financial industries is disgusting and shameful. It was even “taboo” for “red” Rudy Perpich to talk about increasing the taconite tax to pay for the socially necessary and useful public programs and to finance infrastructure. Again, not even Perpich received the support from academia and the university community which feared even exploring the impact of significantly raising the taconite tax…. Good thing he didn’t advocate public ownership of the mining industry, eh, or he might have been called something other than “red” Rudy.

It is immoral for the Labor Education Service to call and initiate such a conference and fail to address the issue of saving the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant the hydro dam and two-thousand jobs; completely immoral and unethical.

Myself and Christine Frank have written an article concerning public ownership of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. This article has enjoyed widespread discussion and support all across the United States and here in Minnesota. As part of your conference, I would be willing to debate ANYONE who thinks that public ownership of this Plant and hydro dam is not feasible. People are entitled to such a debate at this kind of conference… let us see who really supports, and who really opposes, the neoliberal agenda and the attacks on the standard of living of working people.

I am including the article below written by Christine Frank and myself. I invite you to read it and distribute it to all conference participants; I invite you to post it on the web site for this conference.

Again, I state in no uncertain terms--- the failure of this conference to fully explore the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant is an act of cowardice and lack of academic integrity on the part of the conference organizers. In fact, conference organizers have not even had the common decency to inform the invited speakers to touch on the issue of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. Peter Rachleff has done the same thing on several occasions including in his own presentations. This is nothing short of intellectual dishonesty. That conference organizers cannot claim ignorance of the issue makes the matter even worse than intellectual dishonesty… many call it capitulation to the bosses and class collaboration… both, as you know, part and parcel of the neoliberal agenda which requires a labor leadership which works against the best interest of its own membership and its own class--- the working class.

As I look at the information on the web site for this conference, what I see is an attempt being made to support the infusion of capital into the “new green economy” the Democratic candidates are advocating which is wholly in keeping, part and parcel of the neoliberal agenda. I dare to speculate, that at this conference we will not be hearing the message: What tax-payers finance, tax-payers should own, including the profits from these new “green” industries… neoliberalism is about the public financing so the Wall Street coupon clippers can profit… this is the bottom line.

I think the approach towards the issue of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant has been established by Mr. Kling in his e-mail to me… describing what I have to say as “tirades” as his excuse for continuing to evade the subject of the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant.

I would remind Mr. Kling and those organizing this conference that they are placing at stake the reputation of not only the Labor Education Service and the Carlson School of Management, but the reputation of the University of Minnesota. As they say in the world of advertising, “When people are happy they don’t say much; but, when they aren’t happy they tend to tell anyone willing to listen” And the advertising community has calculated how much it costs to overcome all the good advertising and all the good promotion--- and their calculations are that overcoming the negatives doesn’t come cheap.

I would also note, that Carl Pope and Leo Girard of the Sierra Club posed at the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant for a photo opportunity claiming they were going to fight to keep the Plant open; since that time Mr. Pope has joined with those moving forward to demolish this Plant without saying why the Plant was worth saving when they wanted a photo opportunity; but since they have had a “change of mind” they fear coming into the light to explain what changed their minds. Sheer treachery and cowardice on the part of Leo Girard and Carl Pope… however, an examination of what is taking place with the Sierra Clubs in Florida sheds some light on what makes Mr. Pope tick… green… money green. As for Mr. Girard… he has a long-standing love affair with capitalism and the neoliberal agenda going back to his days in Sudbury, Ontario… Jim Tester, the former President of the Mine-Mill Union wrote quite a lot about the union Mr. Girard headed up in Sudbury at INCO… so, no one should find his turning his back on two-thousand jobs at the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly plant the least bit strange.

By the way, I see the organizers have an article posted by Carl Bloice, the former editor of the Communist Party USA’s newspaper--- Daily World; his article does not mention the issue of the Ford Plant.

I also see the organizers have an article posted from the Campaign for America’s Future, even though Mr. Borosage and I had a recent dialogue which touched on the issue of the Ford Plant, again, no mention in the article posted.

As for the article posted signed by Ray Waldron and his friends who are the beneficiaries of the wealthy philanthropists of the Twin Cities, Mr. Waldron was shamefully and conspicuously absent from the hearings on SF 607 and for its House counterpart. Not a peep from r. Waldron concerning the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. Quite frankly, I doubt that Mr. Waldron has the ability to explain to working people what the term “neoliberal” even means.

I see in one of the postings, “The War On the Middle Class.” Who cares about the middle class… is this a conference for the “middle class” or the “working class?” Again, another article from the “Campaign for America’s Future,” John Sweeney’s personal neoliberal think-tank.

And then there is a posting from “Portside” cheering on the occupation and seizure of factories by workers in Argentina… yet, the professors of “Marxism” at the University of Minnesota who are associated with the Committees of Correspondence which put up “Portside” have never so much as suggested to their students the public ownership option of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant… actually, they have never even discussed the Plant closing in their classes!

Please, show me where there is any organized intent to address the issue of the closing of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant by this conference or any of the invited speakers. I see no intent to anything of the kind.

You know, Mr. Remington, when Ford told the workers to take their buy-out offers or risk losing everything and the plant was going to be shutting down with-in months… the Labor Education Service never attempted to find out if the Ford Motor Company was telling the truth… workers, worked into a frenzy over concern for their futures were left to fend for themselves as their “union leaders” like Ron Gettelfinger and Bob King schemed behind their backs without insisting that workers and the tax-payers be included in the decision making process… the Labor Education Service never questioned the lack of worker and citizen participation; do you really expect working people to believe that this conference is sincerely interested in challenging the corporate neoliberal agenda? If this was the case, the LES organizers of this conference would go right into the Plant and tell workers: Come to our conference; we want to hear from you; we want to know if you want to keep your jobs at the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and if you do, we are going to discuss how to accomplish this. This is not happening in spite of the fact that I can walk into any of the union offices who are sponsoring this forum at any time and find union officials with their feet up on the desk playing computer games; just as I walked into Mr. Bratulich’s office in Eveleth and asked him for help fighting a foreclosure on a home built by a miner who paid dues to the union for over thirty years. I am sure if I were to walk into Mr. Bratulich’s office today I would find him with his feet up on a fancier desk playing computer games… when, he could be out to the Ford Plant inviting Ford workers to this conference because it takes a lot of steel to keep a manufacturing operation like the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant going which means hundreds of jobs on the Iron Range… how many industrial manufacturing jobs can be lost in this country before workers in taconite plants suffer the consequences? I would be willing to go to the Ford Plant with Mr. Bratulich to pass out leaflets for your conference. We all know that the problem isn’t money or time in reaching out to working people to come to this conference. When my grandfather and the “red” Finns of the Iron Range brought Rangers into the USW they did not worry whether or not they were going to get paid for what they were doing… in fact they not only got no pay from the union they organized, they got kicked out of their own union for being “reds.” Today, Mr. Bratulich can seat with his feet up on his desk because he has a job with a union the “red” Finns built and he could not get up out of his nice fancy chair at his nice fancy desk and take the time to help the daughter of one of these “red” Finns save the family homestead… this has a little something to do with fighting back against the neoliberal agenda.

I will tell you what… you get the organizers of the conference to print up two-thousand leaflets and I will make sure every Ford worker receives one since Robert Killeen is too busy figuring out how to save himself and the local leadership from having to explain to the members of UAW Local 879 why SF 607 cannot make it through a Senate Committee heavily dominated by the very same politicians the UAW supported for so many years.

As I have stated I am not in the least opposed to learning about how the neoliberal agenda has wreaked havoc with the lives of working people in Argentina, Canada, Chile or New Orleans… but, again I state, if it is the intent of the organizers of this conference to talk about what is going on everyplace else in the world except for taking action right here in Minnesota, this is wrong. And for those like Ray Waldron to now make it appear they are concerned about the plight of working people is one big farce… I attended a “rally” at the college in Virginia, Minnesota that was supposed to be a massive rally in opposition to Pawlenty’s cuts to “infrastructure;” and, the thing that was most noticeable about this “rally” was that so few were present in this huge gymnasium capable of holding thousands when the janitors closet probably could have held the entire “crowd.”

There is every indication this conference will be along similar lines as the “rally” in Virginia. No doubt the Minnesota AFL-CIO will bus working people in from all points of the state to “rally” for Democratic candidate for President but the funds can never be found to leaflet or bus people in to flood the state capitol demanding socialized healthcare.

We saw Jerry Tucker of the Center for Labor Renewal brought into a national conference here in St. Paul by Peter Rachleff and Tucker made no mention of the intent by the Ford Motor Company to close the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. I watched Peter Rachleff being interviewed on television and even when the host of the program offered him the opportunity to discuss public ownership as a possible solution he didn’t bite.

Mr. Kling can disparage my comments as “tirades;” however, the fact remains I see not one indication there is the intent to discuss at this conference what can be done to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant… certainly there is no excuse for there to be nothing on the web site because I have provided plenty of material.

I would encourage you to check out the blog I have created on the issue of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant:

http://capitalistglobalization.blogspot.com/



Appeal To Minnesotans For Public Ownership Of The Ford Plant

By:

Alan Maki Of Save Our Bog



And

Christine Frank Of The Climate Crisis Coalition Of The Twin Cities

Christine Frank (on right) with Minnesota State Legislator Bill Hilty and wife Laurie



[Aerial view of St. Paul, Minnesota Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant]



The HISTORY OF THE FORD PLANT

As we are all too painfully aware, Ford’s Twin Cities Assembly Plant is slated to close in 2008. The economic and environmental consequences affect everyone in the state, and for that reason, a concerted effort should be made to keep it open. Yet, city, county and state officials are throwing up their hands and helplessly accepting the situation as a fait accompli. It was the promise of cheap hydroelectric power that prompted Henry Ford to build an automotive assembly plant in St. Paul. The initial dam on the Mississippi River was completed in 1917 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the plant went up in 1924 and a major upgrade was finished on the dam in 1929 for the benefit of the automaker. The St. Paul facility is the oldest Ford plant in operation, and to this day, is still run by renewable hydropower, which is to the benefit of the surrounding community and the natural environment. The onsite availability of high-quality sandstone, making it possible to produce windshield and lamp glass, was another feature that attracted Ford to the area.

The plant first made Model As & Ts. Later, with the advent of World War II, the U.S. witnessed one of the greatest crash militarization programs ever undertaken, and Ford wasted no time in retooling for military production. The plant in St. Paul made T17 armored cars used by the British army and U.S. military police and M8 howitzers, which were light tanks. Local autoworkers also did precision machining on pistons, cam supports and pump gears for Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines. This enabled war profiteer Henry Ford to make money hand over fist. Being blatantly anti-Semitic and pro-fascist, he produced equipment for both the U.S. Army and the German Wehrmacht in his American & European facilities. The main lesson here is that in its 82 years of operation, the local Ford plant has been retooled many times, producing over 20 different model vehicles for peace- and wartime purposes. There is no reason why this cannot be done again for the good of the community.


THE ECONOMIC NECESSITY OF SAVING JOBS

In the face of increased competition from foreign automakers and in the interests of the bottom line, Ford’s president and board of directors have made a conscious decision to divest capital in areas they deem unprofitable and reinvest elsewhere. This is at the cost of 30,000 jobs nationwide. The St. Paul factory is one of the strongest components of what remains of Minnesota’s industrial base.



Its 1,885 hourly & salaried employees, who have given many years of loyal service, along with their families need the jobs, benefits and pensions that have been promised to them. The wages they earn are a vital part of the economy. If the plant closes and they do not have the opportunity to transfer to another Ford facility, they will lose everything. Plus, future generations will never have the chance to work at these good-paying, productive jobs because they will be gone forever. Turning the land over to the highest bidder for development is not the answer either because that will only make a wealthy few richer in the long run. These jobs must be saved to prevent the members of UAW 879 from being thrown onto the scrap heap.


THE ECOLOGICAL NECESSITY OF KEEPING THE FORD PLANT OPEN

With global warming and climate change threatening Earth with ecological disaster, we must take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in every aspect of our lives. This includes transport. We can no longer afford to get from Point A to B in private automobiles. The vast quantities of materials used and waste stream generated are taxing the planet’s finite resources beyond sustainable limits. With only ten years left to put things right, producing hybrids at this point is not enough. In fact, it is a case of too little, too late. If the automakers had begun manufacturing them in the early ‘70s when carbon dioxide concentrations really spiked, then we might have something to show for it now, but that is not the case.

The use of E85s powered by ethanol are problematic as well. Ethanol is a hydrocarbon whose production wastes grains needed for food and creates air pollutants and whose burning adds to CO2 concentrations. Therefore, we must convert immediately to clean mass transit systems powered by renewable energy. Given its past history, St. Paul’s Ford Plant could easily be retooled for the production of electric train engines and carriages that are driven by green wind & solar power. Just imagine convenient and efficient rail systems criss-crossing the entire country carrying passengers and freight and what an aid that would be to Earth’s ecosystems.

INSTEAD OF THE BOTTOM LINE, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF WORKERS’ LIVELIHOODS FOR A CHANGE.

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP IS THE ANSWER

The auto-makers and other Carbon Barons are largely to blame for the dilemma we are in. It was they who destroyed the electric street car systems in the early 20th century in order to build more roads, sell more automobiles and burn more fossil fuels. This proves that they do not run their operations with the welfare of the planet or the rest of us in mind. If Ford’s management and stockholders are unwilling to keep the plant open for either clean or dirty transport, then let’s put it under public ownership. It is not unheard of. The Manitoba provincial government took over the Ford tractor factory in Winnipeg in order to prevent its closing. Let’s go them one better by using a green-powered plant to produce environmentally-friendly mass transit for the health of the planet and us human beings. Being some of the most progressive and ecologically-minded union members in the state, the leaders and ranks of UAW 879 would no doubt be proud to work in such a plant and support this campaign.


HOW WILL WE PAY FOR IT?

We should keep in mind that Ford Motor Company has made billions from war profiteering, government bailouts and subsidies and tax breaks. Being granted its own hydroelectric power is a perfect example of the free ride Ford has gotten. That dam, for all practical purposes, belongs to the community and generates 5 mWh of excess electricity that is sold to Xcel for $4 million a year so, in a sense, the operation already helps pay for itself. In order to make money available to purchase the factory, we can end state-funded corporate boondoggles and development schemes that benefit only the rich, demand that less money be spent for war and more for jobs & the environment, tax corporate polluters and halt waste on every level by reducing, reusing and recycling at the point of production.







In fact, there are many creative ways the project could be funded that are financially sound and ecological—including increasing the taconite tax since keeping the St. Paul Ford plant operating will save mining jobs on the Iron Range too.



It is merely a matter of redirecting our priorities and asserting our societal will. So let’s join together to achieve a worthy goal--retool the Ford plant to produce green mass transit and not only save Minnesota jobs but ultimately Earth!

REAL JOBS at REAL LIVING WAGES !

SAVE THE ST. PAUL FORD ASSEMBLY PLANT !

THE SOLUTION IS PUBLIC OWNERSHIP !

Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/




-----Original Message-----
From: John Remington [mailto:remin003@umn.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 1:35 PM
To: Alan Maki
Subject: Re: Upcoming Conference... Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities in St. Paul, Minnesota... May 30 & 31, 2008

Alan:

Thanks you for you for your response. As I indicated, I am not part of the planning process for this conference and accordingly cannot respond to all of the issues that you raise. I can tell you that Connie Wanberg is the elected chair of the Human Resources and Industrial Relations Department and the elected Director of the interdisciplinary Industrial Relations Center. Her academic area is employee recruitment, selection and training, and not labor relations. LES is part of the Industrial Relations Center and has its own elected Director, Howard Kling. While Connie may be organizationally in charge of LES, I can tell you that she has very little involvement with, or knowledge of, LES activities.

I will look forward to meeting you at the conference.

John

Alan Maki wrote:
John,

I plan to attend and participate in this conference.

Hopefully the planners will make some kind of arrangements for those others unable to afford the cost.

With thousands of working class Minnesotans barely scraping to get by, being evicted from their homes and apartments, unable to pay heating bills not to mention the price of gas and being unemployed, I think the “pricey” fee is an obstacle to the participation of many who could use this conference the most to finally make connections to network with people experiencing the problems created by capitalism and the neoliberal agenda.

While you say the issue of the Ford Plant will be considered, I would think it should be on the web site.

I think someone should speak to the question of why SF 607 is languishing and dying in the Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs handily and overwhelmingly dominated by the MN DFL.

I and others will be looking for some honest answers for a change.

If organized labor cannot get a very simple piece of legislation through a House and Senate dominated by the MN DFL there is something drastically wrong with organized labor’s approach to politics which will not be cured without the infusion of genuine rank and file action.

I would expect that a conference of this nature would bring forward the concept of empowerment to working people to the point of saying, “Look, if you are not happy with the leadership of your unions you need to decide what kind of change is needed and you need to do it fast to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant… if the leaders are not there to take on the corporations and their neoliberal agenda than you are going to have to step forward and lead.”

As far as I can see, many of the unions supporting your conference, including the leadership of UAW Local 879, are already on record supporting the demolition of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. At least this is what was conveyed to me by one Russ Adams which seems to be confirmed in the minutes of the Ford site Planning Committee... of course these minutes may be wrong as so much else has been done deceptively by this Committee… however, Robert Killeen, Jr., the Recording Secretary of UAW Local 879, has never informed me otherwise even though he has initiated communication with me on this issue in the past; and I see the name of Barb Kucera on your list who has written articles for the Communist Party’s “People’s Weekly World” newspaper on this issue but she has never explained to her readers what happened when Senator David Tomassoni brought SF 607 for a vote in the Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs.

While I appreciate your response, quite frankly, your concerns are not shared by the Chair of the Department who I see is on your list. Professor Wanberg has already sent me this e-mail: Hi Alan, please take me off your email list. Thanks, Connie Wanberg.

Alan

Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/




-----Original Message-----
From: John Remington [mailto:remin003@umn.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 4:42 PM
To: Alan Maki
Cc: Howard Kling; Lawrence E Casey-1; Tony DeAngelis; Randall C Croce; Mary Bellman; Deborah Rosenstein; Barb Kucera; John H See-1; Joyce R Hegstrom-1; Connie Wanberg
Subject: Re: Upcoming Conference... Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities in St. Paul, Minnesota... May 30 & 31, 2008

Alan:

Apparently you have some misinformation or misconceptions about the intent of the Crisis of Disinvestment Conference. While I am not a member of the planning committee and have no role in the development or implementation of this conference, I am a faculty member at the University of Minnesota who was copied on your e-mail. Frankly, I was concerned by some of your comments. Indeed, I was quite surprised and disappointed that your criticisms were not directed to any of my colleagues at the Labor Education Service who conceptualized the conference and have been working on it for some time. Accordingly, I discussed your comments with some of them before responding so as to avoid creating more misinformation about the conference.

First, and most important, it will be a real asset to this conference if it is well attended by rank and file workers. Accordingly, I would hope that you encourage as many as possible who share your views to go to the website, www.reinvestnow.org, and register. LES' primary means of reaching workers, other than by word of mouth, is through the organizations that represent them and the elected leadership of those organizations. There is, of course, Workday Minnesota, labor papers, the Daily Planet, and imperfect e-mail lists, but communications of this type are biased in favor of people, like us, who have access to electronic communication. Short of handing out leaflets at plant gates, a technique that would exhaust the limited resources of the Labor Education Service, there are no really effective means of reaching rank and file workers, particularly those who have already been displaced by disinvestment.

Second, LES Director Howard Kling has personally made two presentations about the conference at UAW 789 meetings and has enlisted the support of the elected leadership at this local which represents Ford workers in St. Paul. While it may be true, as you claim, that Ford workers don't know about the conference, it is not for lack of effort on the part of LES.

Third, corporate restructuring and deindustrialization together with globalization, deregulation, and job destruction are on the agenda of the conference. This should be readily apparent from the brochures and the conference website. Come to the conference and find out what the Chilean coup of 1973 has to do with plant closings, broken levees and crumbling bridges (I suspect that you already know).

Fourth, the conference is as cheap as it could be made without excluding a little food and coffee for the participants. Advertising has been very limited but it still costs money; more to construct a website, provide materials to participants, pay for mailings and rent space at the University. (Yes, LES has to pay to use University facilities. This is just one of the results of the long term disinvestment in the University of Minnesota by the state legislature.) Given the fact that the LES program has been under attack for the past two decades and will probably face another budget cut again this year, it shouldn't be surprising that they don't have the money to fully fund a conference of this type. I will be surprised if the conference breaks even despite its "pricey" registration fee.

Fifth, it should be noted that elected public officials are not actively involved in the planning or implementation of the conference. This was a conscious decision on the part of the planning committee, a decision that I am told was reached only after vigorous discussion.

Sixth, the conference agenda includes nothing about electing anyone to anything (union or public office) or even supporting specific legislating or specific causes or actions. It's about as a-political as you can get although admittedly the target audience is primarily on the political left. The idea is to do critical thinking, look at the big picture, examine the disinvestment and neo-liberal agenda and what it means, explore the interconnections between corporate restructuring and shrinking government and a massive shift of power and wealth upwards and collapsing infrastructure, not to mention a health care crisis, attacks on education, off-shoring of jobs, etc. Now you may well say that they have bitten off too big a picture. That's a fair criticism, but not the assertion that the intent of the conference is to "rally the troops to support the DFL." While I am sure that some who attend will try to send that message, it is not the purpose of the conference. Rather, it is clearly to address some critical questions (including the Ford plant), share perspectives and information, and give all who attend an opportunity to participate fully and freely. I hope that you are able to participate.

I have copied this to LES staff so that you will have their addresses in the future.


Alan Maki wrote:
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Conference Web Site: http://reinvestnow.org/

Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities
Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities
Note: Click on any picture to see labels and greater detail.

St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant... its future hangs in the balance---



Will the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant be turned into a pile of rubble?



This is an interesting conference taking place in the Twin Cities at the University of Minnesota.

The cost of the conference is a little pricey if the organizers are sincere about really doing anything... obviously, those who are now working in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws... many of the members of the sponsoring unions have come to work in the casino industry after their mines, mills and plants closed will find the price of the conference an obstacle.

No doubt the intent of the conference organizers will be to "rally the troops" to support DFL candidates on Election Day.

In spite of the limitations imposed on such a conference by those organizing it who have never welcomed rank-and-file participation... there is the possibility of turning this conference into something that could become a strong voice in defense of saving the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant. Of course it would help if one of the Johnny-come-lately sponsors, UAW Local 879, were to bring the issue of the need to save the Plant and the jobs of its two-thousand members forward before this conference in a vigorous way.

Chances are, that if this conference is anything like most such conferences these unions and the Labor Education Service sponsor, most of the unions' rank-and-file members will never even know the conference is taking place. We can all help to change this by getting the word out.

Workers at the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant tell me they haven't even been told about the conference. There are no leaflets or posters up around the Plant, nor in the UAW-Ford-MnScu Training Center.

The following unions have endorsed this conference, "Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities:"
Sponsors

MN Association of Professional Employees

IBT Joint Council 32

AFSCME MN

Steelworkers District 11

UAW Local 879

Saint Paul Federation of Teachers Local 28


Planning Committee

Labor Education Service

Minnesota AFL-CIO

SEIU Local 113

IOE Local 49

AFTRA

MN School Employees Association

MN Nurses Association

HERE Local 21

Minneapolis Building Trades

Saint Paul Building Trades

Saint Paul Trades and Labor

Southeast Area Labor Council

IBEW Local 110

Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

Education Minnesota

Carpenters

Growth and Justice

UFCW Local 789


Perhaps what is most interesting is the pending closing of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant is not even mentioned by the conference organizers. It would be a shame for this conference not to take up the question of how to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant.
Why not?

How can such a conference take place in St. Paul, Minnesota at the state's most prestigious university, the University of Minnesota; initiated under the auspices of the University of Minnesota's outreach program to labor, the Labor Education Service--- and there is not a mention of the pending closing of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant... not even brought forward by United Auto Workers Local 879.


Here is what the conference organizers have placed on their web site:

This one-and-a-half day conference at the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus will bring together union members, staff and officers with allies and friends to expose decades of deliberate disinvestment in our state and our country and to begin building toward reinvestment and renewal. We'll take an in-depth look at how we've gotten where we are - rising unemployment and health care costs, struggling schools and communities, broken levees and falling bridges - and expose the economic models, cultural values and messages that brought us here.


This conference is designed for rank-and-file union members, as well as experienced union leaders and activists, and our friends in the community. Participants will learn how to tell the disinvestment story and ways to share what they've learned with their fellow union members, families and neighbors. Offering a range of workshops, speakers and activities, the conference will foster a sense of hope about our ability to organize and develop tools for rebuilding our state and communities.


"Crisis of Disinvestment: Organizing to Rebuild Our Communities" is sponsored by the Labor Education Service with support from the labor movement and allied organizations.


Check out the site: http://reinvestnow.org/

I would think this conference would be the perfect venue from which to bring forward a clear statement from organized labor in Minnesota to mobilize all out support for S.F. 607. The time has come to tell State Senator Jim Metzen to get on the ball and get S.F. 607 through his Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs... note the word "jobs" is part of the Committee title.

Perhaps participants at this conference would like to discuss the following resolutions passed at MN DFL Precinct Caucuses:


Participants in the February 5, 2008 Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party Precinct Caucuses unanimously passed the following resolutions:


Resolution in Support of Senate File 607

Whereas Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party State Senator Richard Cohen has authored, together with his DFL Senate colleagues--- Senate File SF 607---legislation which would keep the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and the hydro dam which powers the manufacturing operation for free, together as an industrial unit for at least two years after Ford ceases production until a plan can be devised for its continued operation;

Whereas DFL State Representative Tom Rukavina successfully steered companion legislation to SF 607 through a House Committee with bipartisan support;

Therefore, be it resolved, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party supports the efforts of MN DFL State Senators James Metzen and David Tomassoni to have SF 607 reconsidered in the Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs;

And, be it further resolved, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party uses its majority status in both the Senate and the House to bring forward legislation as provided for in SF 607 aimed at saving two-thousand jobs by keeping the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and the hydro dam together as a manufacturing unit until a solution is found to re-open the Plant.



Resolution 0n the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant/Hydro Dam and 2,000 Union Jobs

Whereas Ford Motor Company has stated its intent to close the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant, sell the hydro dam to a foreign corporation, and displace two-thousand workers in the near future without consultation from the workers, the community, or local and state governments;

Whereas this plant, its operations, and the hydro dam have received continued support from every level of government including tax-payer funding, tax-breaks and tax abatements under promises to maintain manufacturing operations and with assurances workers would have job security in St. Paul, Minnesota;

Therefore, be it resolved, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party is for public ownership being used to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant, hydro dam, and two-thousand jobs.



Resolution on Bush’s Economic Stimulus Plan and Initiative

Whereas George Bush’s “economic stimulus plan and initiative” is based upon 150 billion dollars---tax-payer dollars--- being used to bail out a failing economy which includes subsidies to private industries;

Therefore be it resolved that the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party is for tax-payers owning the industries which tax-payer dollars subsidize in proportion to what they subsidize.

Another interesting resolution has come from the Communist Party in Michigan calling for jobs not war:
People in Michigan say, "We want jobs, not war!"

Friday, April 4, 2008
Resolution on Saving Manufacturing Jobs

Note: As I recently traveled through Wisconsin and Michigan many people wanted to know about our struggle to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant through public ownership.

This resolution aimed at Presidential candidates is excellent and should be circulated at campaign rallies and meetings everywhere. This resolution should be posted in every union hall all over the United States... please feel free to copy and post widely... you might want to copy and post this to your blog and ask friends to do the same.

For additional resolutions checkout:


http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2008_02_15_archive.html


With the continued attacks on workers and the endless layoffs and closings of plants, people in Michigan have followed the example of Minnesotans trying to save the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant through public ownership and put together this resolution to use during this election season:


Thursday, April 3, 2008

Support Manufacturing Jobs!


Resolution on Saving Manufacturing Jobs


Whereas our manufacturing base is steadily being eroded and


Whereas this loss of jobs is harmful to our nation and the communities we live in and


Whereas those good paying jobs are frequently replaced with lower paying non-union ones that are driving down the standard of living for all working families and


Whereas the loss of our core manufacturing industry will mean the
loss of our technological edge and vital skills and reduced tax revenues for schools and public services and


Whereas every manufacturing job creates seven others and supports small business, directly and indirectly related to manufacturing and


Whereas the $170 billion we are annually spending on the war in Iraq takes away money that could be better used to rebuild our industrial base and retrain workers


Therefore in rebuilding our industrial base primary attention needs to be placed on locating these new facilities in communities with high unemployment and historic manufacturing centers, such as Detroit, Pontiac, Grand Rapids and Flint and


Therefore by rebuilding our industrial base and with it the construction of mass transit, environmentally friendly autos, affordable and energy efficient housing, and the modernization of our infrastructure, we will create jobs, provide cleaner air for all of us, lower individual family's energy bills, and allow greater energy independence for America


Therefore be it resolved that we call on the Presidential candidates to state their support for taking one-half of the money currently being spent in Iraq to be used instead to rebuild industry and provide jobs in the United States.


Taken From: Labor Up Front


There are two great books that contain a lot of good information about the capitalist crisis of "disinvestment." "Always Bring A Crowd; the story of Frank Lumpkin- steelworker" by Beatrice Lumpkin; and, "Working Class USA; The Power and the Movement" by Gus Hall.

Both of these books can be obtained from members of the Communist Party USA who are members of the sponsoring unions:

Dean Gunderson, Chair Of the St. Paul Club of the Communist Party USA is an active member and elected official of MN Association of Professional Employees

Mark Froemke, a District Organizer of the Communist Party USA from the AFL-CIO

Erwin Marquit who is a distinguished professor at the University of Minnesota and is active in the AFL-CIO retirees. Marquit is on the Economics Commission and International Affairs Commission of the Communist Party USA.



Lynn Hinkle a retired member of UAW Local 879 has pointed out that "labor creates all wealth." To let a bunch of real estate speculators demolish the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant would be a tremendous waste of this wealth... Hinkle repeatedly points out the need to go "green." Looking at the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant really brings home these points made by Lynn Hinkle... just consider the natural resources and the human labor required to obtain the natural resources and turn these resources into building materials from which additional labor was required to build the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant... only a fool would suggest we relegate this kind of tremendous wealth created by labor to become a pile of rubble when this perfectly good plant could be used by workers continuing to create even more wealth by creating socially useful products for society, be these some kind of "green" vehicles, wind generating equipment, equipment for mass transit, or equipment to bring drinking water and irrigation equipment to communities around the world suffering the consequences of drought.

Working people have had no say regarding the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant... what good does it do to hold a conference on the "crisis of disinvestment" if one aspect of the conference is not geared toward empowering working people to force their way into the decision making process concerning the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant?

Actually, the place where this conference should have been held is in the UAW-Ford-MnScu Training Center so all participants could get a good look at what is at stake---



Tax-payers will be left holding the bag for over thirty-million dollars of debt for building the UAW-Ford-MnScu Training Center once the Plant is turned to rubble.

Who will make the decision over the future of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant... working people in a public forum; or the Wall Street coupon clippers behind the closed doors of the corporate board room?



Clean "green" manufacturing? It doesn't get much cleaner or "greener"



An industrial plant in the center of a huge residential community alongside a shopping district and a grocery store next door with huge city parks adjacent, complete with baseball fields for the youth.

All powered by clean "green" hydro...



With rail shipping facilities to bring supplies in and ship manufactured goods out...



With the price of gas and diesel fuel sky-rocketing, it only makes sense to maintain an existing plant with rail shipping facilities in good operating condition.


Alan L. Maki
58891 County Road 13
Warroad , Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/