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Daily Blog
Please check out my daily blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
About Me
- Alan Maki
- I have been involved in the peace, labor, civil rights, and environmental movements for over 30 years, and I am a socialist. I would encourage everyone to get involved in promoting the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which came into existence on December 10, 1948; we should strive to use the yearly anniversary of this document to popularize it. We need to struggle to create a more progressive, socially just society where all working people receive real living wages and have a voice at work, and in their communities. I have worked with casino workers across Minnesota who are trying to organize a union. I have worked with people in northern Minnesota struggling to save the Big Bog, the primary freshwater aquifer--- this bog is being mined for peat. In my spare time during the spring and fall you can find me fly fishing on the Dark River, a pristine designated trout stream;in the winter ice fishing on Lake-of-the-Woods. I look forward to hearing from you. Nothing human is alien to me.
What you can do to keep the St. Paul Ford Assembly Plant operating under public ownership...
I continue to receive many e-mails and phone calls asking what can be done to help keep the Plant open... this is typical of my responses... please feel free to copy and paste this into an e-mail of your own:
Dear Alan,
What can I do to help get out word about the Ford Plant closing. I want to help but don't know where to start.
Why is there so little interest in this?
signed...
My response generally runs like this:
Thanks for your letter.
The problems of working people don't appear to be too high on the priority lists of most media--- newspaper, radio, or TV.
Actually there has been a great deal of interest in our proposal for public ownership whenever people have had the chance to read our article, and some legislation is now being introduced in the Minnesota legislature to prevent Ford from demolishing the plant as they intend to do (see link below).
My blog postings on this issue have attracted quite a bit of attention.
However, the main reason for “so little interest” is the fact that the major media seems to be kind of “boycotting” any discussion of the concept of “public ownership” of the plant at this point; I think this speaks directly to the issue of what kind of “free press” we have in this country and who this “free press” is beholden to. I sent out an op/ed piece to over 25 newspapers around Labor Day; “coincidentally” not one got published even though several of the papers have often published my views on a variety of issues from the rights of casino workers, to mine closings, contract negotiations, ending the war in Iraq, the minimum wage, etc. It seems the issue of “public ownership” is taboo… but, if the media becomes aware that many other people like yourself consider this a legitimate alternative then they will start picking the issue up, if for no other reason than to attack the proposal, which would create more interest.
Anything you can do to use the internet, etc. to get more interest in this question would be fantastic! Perhaps send out an e-mail with links to my blog and the links below and encourage everyone receiving the e-mail to send it to everyone they know.
Try to get a letter to the editor published. Even if they won’t print it, it lets the media know people are considering the idea.
One thing you and others can do is to circulate very widely the article that Christine Frank and I wrote; ask others to post the article or a link to it. We are each like little snowflakes, we don’t amount to much… but if we all start circulating this article widely we will have the effect of a Midwest blizzard.
Here is a link to an updated article:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/3634
I would encourage you to contact as many Minnesota legislators as possible to get behind this proposed legislation... it is very important that Ford not be allowed to demolish this plant so we have time to continue community and state-wide grassroots and rank and file efforts for public ownership of the plant.
I have not had time to post this article to my blog yet… but will do so today.
Another link I would encourage you to look at and circulate widely: http://www.laborandsustainability.org/
I am cc’ing your letter on to Christine Frank, perhaps she also has some suggestions for you; and to State Representative Bill Hilty. I have bcc’ed your letter to several other people who have expressed a similar concern. Perhaps they will contact you with their ideas, too.
I would appreciate it if you would keep me posted on what you decide to do.
This is for sure one situation where “out of sight, is out of mind.” It will take tremendous grassroots efforts to get things moving.
I would encourage you to contact State Representatives and push the idea of public ownership (you might want to include their e-mail addresses if you decide to send out an e-mail to your friends: Bill Hilty- rep.bill.hilty@house.mn ; Tony Sertich- rep.tony.sertich@house.mn ; and Tom Rukavina- rep.tom.rukavina@house.mn ; Tom Anzelc- rep.tom.anzelc@house.mn I believe these legislators will be key to moving this issue forward… especially Bill Hilty and Tony Sertich.
I am also including the link to my daily blog for your convenience if you want to put all of this together for an e-mail… or even just forward this e-mail on to others and ask them to do the same: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
The link to our article is: http://laborjournal.blogspot.com/2006/12/ford-twin-cities-assembly-plant.html
Some people have told me the issue of “public ownership” is too controversial. However, I don’t hear any other better alternatives than what Christine and I have proposed in our article to keep this plant open.
Quite frankly, I believe that in a democracy such decisions as plant shut-downs should be made with the full participation of all affected and not in secrecy behind the closed doors of corporate board-rooms… I believe this issue is one that if so basic and fundamental to what kind of democracy we have in this country that everyone should be raising their voices demanding a say in the future of the Ford Plant in St. Paul… if we can’t be part of the decision making process on such basic questions, democracy becomes kind of a farce.
By the way, where do you live and work?
Let’s keep in touch.
Yours in the struggle,
Alan
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