Detroit firefighters, city workers speak out on bankruptcy decision

Detroit fire firefighters and workers at the city’s giant sewerage treatment plant spoke out last week on the December 3 decision by US Judge Steven Rhodes to sanction the bankruptcy and give a green light to the attack on pensions and benefits nationwide.
One firefighter, rejecting the claim, constantly repeated by the capitalist media, that “there is no money,” told the WSWS, “They’re paying millions to Jones Day. We can’t possibly be broke. I think it was orchestrated from the beginning by wealthy people who control the state and the city. Why else would they hire a bankruptcy lawyer,” he said, referring to Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, a former Jones Day law partner, “except if they wanted to file for bankruptcy?”
Another firefighter noted that in the summary of his ruling, “Judge Rhodes even acknowledged it was a conspiracy. It had been planned for years by Snyder and Jones Day, and Orr rushed the filing to get it through,” before several lawsuits could be filed to stop it, he said.
When the WSWS team pointed out that the plans to “revitalize” downtown Detroit are being implemented by and serve the interests of the ultra-wealthy, the firefighter responded, “Those adjustable rate mortgages caused the collapse, and now the Dan Gilberts of the world come in and started buying up everything for cheap,” he said, referring to the billionaire Quicken Loans CEO and real estate developer. “The rich have just gotten richer off the crash they caused.”
The WSWS reporter pointed out that the Obama administration has actively supported the moves to throw Detroit into bankruptcy, prompting the firefighter to comment on the use of racial and identity politics by the political establishment. “They used race for years to divide people. The peasant doesn’t care what color the king is, he still cannot hunt on the land.”