Example Resolutions from Detroit PMA on March 13th
Action at Chase Bank during Social Forum
Faith and Spirituality Local Committee
Because JP Morgan Chase is a major investor in R J Reynolds who relies on workers, largely undocumented, often in slave labor conditions, in the tobacco fields of North Carolina,
And because Chase is among the major banks foreclosing the homes of Detroiters
With 20,000 people here for the US Social Forum
We call for a faith-led march and sit-in, where unions, religious groups, and individuals disinvest simultaneously from Chase until the bank pressures RJ Reynolds to sign an agreement with growers and workers, and also widely renegotiates mortgages with Detroit homeowners. We also call on the Michigan governor to declare a moratorium on foreclosures.
Resolution of the Detroit PMA -- Action Protocol for US Social Forum
Detroit Local Organizing Committee
Because Detroit is the epicenter of economic and social crises,
because Detroit is a beacon of light in its radical and growing community response to these crises,
because the USSF is coming to Detroit with thousands of activists from across the country and around the globe who will want to support Detroit in its visions, struggles and alternatives,
we commit to: register our organizations for the USSF, reach out to our members to bring them to the USSF, and outreach to the Detroit community; support the four actions; to make sure organizations which want to organize actions in Detroit around the USSF partner with and follow the lead of Detroit local organizations. The DLOC and the PMA offer to coordinate all such requests.
Action at the US Social Forum in support of Restaurant Workers
Restaurant Opportunity Center - Michigan
Because the restaurant industry is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing private employers and a foundation for the U.S. economy,
Because restaurant workers have historically been excluded from protections and benefits guaranteed to other types of workers and because this exclusion continues to this day,
Because too many workers toil ‘behind the kitchen door’ with long hours, no pay, and no benefits, suffering from abuse, mistreatment, and labor violations,
Because this abuse has negative consequences for restaurant workers, responsible restaurant owners, consumers, taxpayers, and public health,
And because restaurant workers in and around Detroit have chosen to organize to transform this industry, including at Andiamo Dearborn Restaurant, where restaurant workers report experiencing severe wage, discrimination, and retaliation violations;
We commit to joining a growing multi-racial and national movement of restaurant workers and their allies who dream, organize, and build towards a restaurant industry that:
• Respects workplace standards and restaurant workers’ legal protections,
• Offers decent wages and benefits, and treats workers and dignity,
• Supports a more just and sustainable food system and high-road workplace practices,
• Treats restaurant workers equally and levels the playing field between restaurant and other workers,
We call on others in the United States to join us in advancing these visions by joining restaurant workers from Detroit and across the country in a series of actions during the United States Social Forum on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in Detroit to support restaurant and service workers’ struggle for dignity, respect, and a decent, secure future for working people and their families.