We want to extend an invitation to all progressive activists and organizations to participate in the National Conference to Fight Austerity in Detroit on Saturday March 24. The purpose of the national conference is to map out a strategy for defeating the war being waged by the banks, corporations and government against the workers and oppressed. Capitalism cannot continue unchallenged while our very lives are being jeopardized by the ruling elites who are determined to grow richer and more powerful at our expense, whipping up white supremacy, an anti-immigrant offensive attacks on women and anti-LGBTQ bigotry to keep our class divided.
Detroit along with colonized Puerto Rico has been at the epicenter of bank imposed austerity against the workers and oppressed in this hemisphere. But every U.S. city from Chicago to Baltimore to Cleveland to Milwaukee, from New York City to Oakland and Seattle, has felt the brunt of this attack in the form of cutbacks, school closings, mass transit cuts, water shutoffs, gentrification and destruction of public service unions.
The Trump tax plan and Pentagon War build-up continues the massive transfer of wealth to the rich at the expense of the poor. This war by the banks and on the workers and poor is an international phenomenon spanning every continent. On March 24, we will hammer out a program on how to fight back against the war by the corporations, the banks and their lackeys in government at all levels on the workers and poor.
The conference will take up topics such as:
* The Destruction of our Communities by the Banks.
* Tax giveaways to Dan Gilbert and the Ilitch business empire and gentrifiers everywhere.
* The Trump Tax plan -- A declaration of war by and for the rich on the workers and the poor.
* The Pentagon War Buildup -- funded by destruction of social services.* Continuing Water Shutoffs and Mass foreclosures.
*The Destruction of public educations through defunding and privatization.
* Mass layoffs at retail stores, restaurants, business offices and plant closings* Fighting for a real living wage for all workers.
* Challenging racism, sexism and LGBTQ oppression.
* Defending Immigrant Rights.
* Challenging mass incarceration and prison slave labor.
* Defending Puerto Rico where much the population remains without electricity because of mass robbery by the banks.
* The need for a universal healthcare program* Public transportation and accessibility for all within the urban and rural areas.
*The growth in extreme poverty and homelessness.
* Environmental Justice and the end to the poisoning of the poor.
*Full rights for persons with disabilities.
The Conference will discuss these issues in depth from the perspective of how they all are products of a capitalist system where profits are everything and people mean nothing. We will mobilize support for making May Day 2018 an anti-Austerity Day, as well as lending solidarity to the Poor Peoples Campaign. We will outline a program of action in solidarity with all movements working for social change and transformation.