Detroit has filed bankruptcy. Aren't unions to blame?

Partially union’s fault, administrations that kept feeding them cash like they were printing it to keep the votes are also to blame.

Union and political corruption, coupled with totally out of control gangs are the cause.

There are strong unions all over Europe. I cite the thriving economies of Germany and Sweden. Sweden is unions from top down and they have been nearly untouched by the world economic slide. Why should unions not work in the US? I should think a good look at the successive corrupt administrations of Detroit will reveal the true cause of this disaster.

The documentary Detropia is revealing. At one point the Mayor announced a provocative plan to shrink the city, bring folks in from the outskirts so that services could be maintained. A public works program to convert outer city into farming industry seemed viable to me.

But too many of the folks rejected the plan because they refused to leave their areas. They had an opportunity to do the classic bring people together to solve the crisis long term. But not many were willing to face the truth of their situation.

That’s all I can speak to, what I’ve seen in the documentary. Very interesting on Netflix. There is no one devil to blame it upon. It’s a perfect storm scenario. The population themselves are just as much to blame as anything.

I’m sure the government workers in Detroit are not making any astronomical salaries, and salaries are bargained for by unions. Unions for civil servants bargain for a livable wage and decent benefits, which is something all workers should push for and all employers should provide.

@Espiritus_Corvus Why should unions not work in the US?
Greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, entitlement, greed, with a bit of laziness.

@Hypocrisy_Central Your answer to @Espiritus_Corvus‘s question implies that greed, entitlement, and laziness are distinctively American traits. I don’t believe that.

@josie, your question is a simplistic and vapid one. If it was asked in seriousness, then I strongly suggest you re-read your history, particularly of labor and the union movements. If it was asked in jest, then it’s not particularly funny.

The bottom line reason for Detroit’s bankruptcy goes back about 50 years, to the race riots of 1966–67. It was those riots, largely due to the horrible conditions that blacks lived in in big cities, that caused quite a bit of “white flight” to the suburbs. This had relatively little to do with unions—blacks didn;t, in general, work in the auto industry at that point. In fact, if blacks had worked in the auto factories, there would likely have been no riots, and as a result, the city would not have been destroyed.

Anyway, after the riots, whites moved to the suburbs, and what had been a fascinating and multi-ethnic city went downhill. various attempts to bring money and industry into the city to increase the tax base failed. And that’s why were’ in the situation today.

So your premise about the unions causing the downfall of Detroit is completely and totally fallacious.

@elbanditoroso

So does that mean that looting and rioting Black hoodlums caused the demise of Detroit?

Wouldn’t it more politically correct to blame it on Unions?

@josie , i am going for accuracy, not political correctness.

If you want to blame someone, blame Abraham Lincoln for freeing the slaves. Much of Detroit was populated in the late 1800s with former slaves moving up from the South looking for work.

@elbanditoroso
So if political correctness is out of the equation, that means that looting and rioting Black people were the cause of the demise of Detroit?

@josie – indirectly and over time, yes. The riots were in 1966 and 1967, and it took a generation for white flight to complete. So the riots lit the trigger, but once the process started, it continued on its own. It’s not like there were riots every year for a generation – not a tall, it was more like a rock picking up speed as it goes down a hill.

The question you should be asking are these:

- why did blacks riot in the late 60s?
– why were they generally unable to find work?
– what role did formal US segregation take the economic problems of blacks (and whites)

There is seldom just one cause for things. Detroit’s current issues are due to historical trends from 150 years ago and going forward. Unions are just a very small part of the picture.

@elbanditoroso

If that was the question I should be asking, I would have asked it.

Unions are NOT solely to blame, GREED is. Unions can be greedy. Political bosses can be greedy. Corporate management can be greedy. Voters can be greedy. It’s a confluence of all those me-first forces that brought Detroit down and is threatening to destroy this nation.

I blame Kwame. lol
I actually really like Detroit. It makes me sad that its come to this.
There are a lot of fun things to do there.
Plus, how many of you can say that you have the most dangerous city in America (Flint) an hour north of you and the second most dangerous city in America (Detroit) an hour east of you? lol
How special am I?

@Katniss = Detroit was going down long before Kwame.

@elbanditoroso True story. I can’t remember a time when Detroit didn’t have some issue or another. It’s a shame really. Once upon a time it was a beautiful city, so I’ve heard. Now you can’t see the trees for the burnt out building and graffiti.
I made a wrong turn once and ended up in the Cass corridor. Awful part of the city. It was 2 am and there was a guy sitting in his wheelchair in the middle of the street. I wanted to get out of the car and move him. My husband at the time asked me if I had completely lost my mind. lol