People's Bulletin
February 2003 •
Number 1

RESURRECTION
MONDAY PICKETS TO CONTINUE AT WATER DEPT
AFTER 3 WEEKS OF PICKETING, THE DETROIT WATER DEPT. STILL REFUSES TO TURN ON
WATER FOR ITS
POOR, DISABLED AND SENIOR CUSTOMERS!
For
several weeks, the MWRO has attempted to negotiate a fair and humane resolution
with the Detroit Water and Sewage Department
over the more than 40,000 water shut-offs. We have met with representatives from the Water
Department, City Council, Mayor’s Office, the Governor’s Office, and countless others—still we
have no water!! The Water Dept. is not ashamed to tell us that another 8,400
homes are in shut-off status. It is a criminal act to disconnect service at
almost 50,000 residences. What kind of people would commit such tyranny on the
poor, on the elderly, and on the disabled? Thousands of families are without
WATER because they can't afford to pay for it, while corporations are allowed to
get behind for YEARS without threats or disconnection. If a poor family has
water turned off, the children are taken and placed in foster care for MONTHS,
even years. We are in the midst of a public health crisis! When
poor people who work in low-wage service industry jobs cannot wash themselves at
home, everyone is in jeopardy. When one-third of Detroit school children are
living in homes without water, they are not ready and healthy to learn in their
classrooms. Furthermore, this is not an isolated activity—this is an
international crisis!
WE WILL MARCH FOR A 4TH WEEK ON MONDAY, FEB. 10 FROM
12-1PM
BRING A PAYMENT FOR YOUR WATER BILL
On Monday, February 10, we will continue
our picket of the Detroit Water and Sewage Department with Sweetwater Alliance
and other concerned citizens. We need everyone who has a water shut-off or water
shut-off notice to come to 735 Randolph St. at 12 p.m. to picket with us, and
bring whatever money you can afford to pay on your bill to get your water turned
on. Everyone who is concerned about this crisis should join us! We must
continue to put pressure on the Water Department to do the right thing and treat
us with dignity. Water is a right and not a privilege!

MAKE CERTAIN
THAT YOU STAY CONNECTED
ON THESE ISSUES
To get the latest information on the
utility crisis (water, gas, electricity) and more, contact the Michigan
Welfare Rights Organization:
Telephone: (313) 832-0618
Fax: (313) 832-1409
Website:
www.mwro.org
E-mail: info@mwro.org
Photos courtesy of Sweetwater Alliance-Detroit
Sweetwater Alliance-Detroit (313)
410-4155 www.waterissweet.org
wobbly@waterissweet.org
Fight for your
rights!!

DTE ENERGY TURNS
ON GAS & ELECTRICITY

When no one "noticed" that people were
living in homes without lights and gas in Detroit because they couldn't afford
high bills, we picketed in front of DTE ENERGY to let them know that it is wrong
to turn off utilities during winter months. They responded to those "3" Friday
marches and restored service to many city residents whose names we reported.
This was a good step toward HUMANITY. We must continue to make people respond to
the needs of the unemployed and poor.
On January 17, 2003, the MWRO received a
call from DTE Energy informing us that they will restore gas and electric
service to all low-income, disabled, and senior citizen customers whose
utilities are shut-off. These persons should call DTE at (800) 545-8046
and tell them they were referred by Welfare Rights. DTE will follow this up by
helping these persons make payment arrangements and finding funds to pay off
your bill.
HOW THIS UTILITY
CRISIS CAME ABOUT…
From
1995-96, Wayne County had 198,000 residents receiving cash assistance from what
was then called the Dept. of Social Services (DSS). In 1996, President Clinton signed the
Welfare Reform Bill and began a countdown of five years as the time for
assistance from welfare. A component part of the Bill was "WORK FIRST." It
mandated that recipients leave cash assistance and find work. Utility bills that
these unemployed workers had over the years while they needed assistance were
paid in part under a program called Vendor Pay. A $50 per month gas bill would
garner a $20 payment from the Family Independence Agency (FIA, formerly the DSS),
and that account was protected from shut-off if they enrolled in the Vendor Pay
program. The $30 balance was listed but never addressed and never showed up as
an arrearage on the recipient's bill. Month after month, these balances
accumulated but these recipients had winter protection.
The parent
secures a job and after two months is ineligible for cash assistance from FIA.
In the third month on the job, Michcon [gas company] and Detroit Edison
[electric company] sends out a congratulatory letter praising that mother for
getting a job and becoming independent from welfare, and ask her to send in that
total balance of the utility bill. The arrearage bill she sees is $1500 and, of
course, she can't pay it.
In 2002, Wayne
County had less than 30,000 cash assistance recipients remaining. On October 31
of that same year, the utility companies discontinued the entire Vendor Pay
program and exposed all 30,000 to immediate light and gas interruptions. This is
when our telephones at MWRO began to ring off the hook. We called hearings to
better understand what the nature and depth of the problem was, but even we were
not prepared to learn or hear the truth. To thwart suspicions about what poor
people say, we contacted DTE Energy [after merger of Michcon and Detroit Edison]
to ask exactly how many homes in DETROIT only were without lights and gas. We
were told that 9,800 homes were already disconnected as of August 2002, and that
number had grown since the discontinuance of Vendor Pay. We were also told that
20,000 homes were in shut-off status meaning that they were scheduled for
shut-off within days. What else could we do but to picket DTE and expose this
scandalous threat against life and community. All of Detroit stands in danger
with every family trying to use a space heater. Every block is in peril while
propane tanks have the potential to explode. Every community is in jeopardy
while parents try to re-connect gas and electricity in an effort to keep their
families alive.
Some 75,000
households of unemployed persons in-between jobs, some on welfare, some
temporary workers, some seasonal workers, ALL Detroiters, are living in
unspeakable conditions so stressful and inhumane that we are contacting the
United Nations and have begun to formulate formal requests for foreign aid.
ACTION ALERT! ACTION ALERT!
(FOR
ALL RESIDENTS WITHOUT WATER)
Monday –
February 10th, 2003
From Noon to
1:00 pm (only!!)
Detroit Water
Dept.
735 Randolph
St.
The Water Dept. claims that they are unable to determine who the low income,
senior, and disabled customers are who either have NO WATER or who have
received shut-off notices. We can help them with this problem. If you are already shut-off or if you have a shut-off notice, BRING YOUR BILL,
along with the MOST that you can pay down to the Water Dept.
We will escort you into the office, record the payment, and ask that service
be restored with this payment along with a plan that you can afford. REMEMBER!
Only low-income persons, disabled persons, and seniors
should be prepared to make these payments at the Water Dept. window.
Your payment is a demonstration that you are trying to negotiate in
GOOD FAITH. We will see what type of faith the Water Dept. has.
This is NOT a guarantee that water will be turned on immediately, but we CAN
GUARANTEE that if we don’t do SOMETHING, nothing will
happen and we will be days, weeks, and even months without Water.
Water is a right. Without it, we will perish. Our city is in danger with a
major public health crisis LOOMING because of what diseases might develop.
Fight For Water! Fight For Lights! Fight For Heat!
Fight For Humanity!
…”Don’t lose
faith! Things are happening, because we are not wrong…”
(The
Resurrection Marches Continue…MWRO (313) 832-0618)