To Autoworker Caravan and Autoworker Supporters:

The People's Summit and Tent City,
June 14-17 in Detroit to Counter the National Economic (Corporate CEO)
Summit taking place at the Ren Center in Detroit

Dear Autoworker Caravan and Autoworker Supporters,

On behalf of the Autoworker Caravan I attended an organizing meeting April 12 for a "People's Summit" scheduled for mid-June in Detroit to coincide with a major corporate confab taking place at Ford field.

The next meeting is this Friday, May 22 at 6 p.m. - Michigan Center for High Technology (aka MCHT) near Masonic Temple, 2727 Second Ave. (on TEMPLE between 2nd and 3rd) Detroit , MI (Wheelchair entrance is on Second south of Temple. Call 961-3390 from the ramp just south of stairs. For people who can negotiate stairs, enter through the door off the parking lot on the SE corner of Temple and 3rd. - one block west of Masonic Temple.)

The corporate event describes itself as a gathering to "define America's future in a global economy." The likes of John Engler, head of the National Association of Manufacturers, American Axle's CEO Dick Dauch, Nardelli and Mulally of Chrysler and Ford, etc. will pontificate about the future that the global capitalists have in store for us. If you are able and willing to pay the registration fee of $1,495 you too can have a voice. The International Union UAW is one of
the "Change Agent" sponsors, although no union representatives appear on the speakers' list. More information can be found here: www.nationalsummit.org/

The coalition for a "People's Summit" is organizing a counter event to give organized expression for the people who have been at the receiving end and left out of the corporate vision of America's future - the thousands of neighbors who've lost their homes through foreclosures, workers who have lost their jobs, families which have no access to adequate health care, families and communities which stand to lose everything in the face of bankruptcies of corporations which apparently are not too big to fail, the victims of deportations and wanton police brutality, the young people who face prison-like conditions in the schools, the people who are tired of war after war,
etc., etc..

The focus of this organizing effort will be a tent city erected for the occasion at Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit. Many activities and events are planned to enable the people to articulate a different future and to have their voices heard. More can be found here: peoplessummit.org

The organizers are seeking to expand the coalition, broaden the agenda, bring in new activists, and add to their organizational co-sponsors. The Autoworker Caravan should participate on all fronts.

One idea that we may want to consider is to organize a tour of all the shuttered workplaces dotting our metro region to bring to light the waste laid to our communities by the profiteers gathering at the Ren Center.

Feedback is welcomed, and participation invited. The next planning meeting is Friday, May 22 from 6-8 p.m. at the Michigan Center for High Technology, 2727 Second Avenue, Detroit.

In solidarity,

Frank Hammer

www.autoworkercaravan.org

more: What we are fighting for