Union Cuts Needed to Avert State Takeover, Detroit Mayor Warns

[The Northerner]

Detroit risks a state takeover and “control of our destiny” unless the city restructures its operations and employees agree to wage and benefit concessions, Mayor Dave Bing said.

Bing called today for the city’s 12,000 employees to pay more for health care and share in pension and other benefit costs as part of his 2012 budget proposal, saying, “Everyone must accept that times have changed.”

Detroit recorded a 25 percent decline in population --about 65 people per day -- in the past decade, reducing the city to 713,777 from a peak of 1.85 million in 1950, according to the Census Bureau.

“We face challenges unlike any the city has ever seen, challenges that demand bold action,” Bing said in his budget presentation to Detroit City Council.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-12/union-cuts-needed-to-avert-state-takeover-detroit-mayor-warns.html

[villager]

1. "Demand 'bold' action that requires us to complacently yield to our Republican masters!"

n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Did the takeover law pass in Michigan?

Detractors claimed it was aimed at Detroit and its municipal unions

[lonestarnot]

3. Yeah cut your shit and donate to the rich. They want it.