More than 200 picketed at the Ren Cen on June 16, while AAM CEO Dick Dauch and ex-gov John Engler were giving their talks at the National Business Summit. The picket included auto workers from a number of different plants in Michigan and Ohio, and many labor and social justice activists in the Detroit area. There was a lot of energy among the participants and quite a few media interviewed various people.
Following the picket we marched to Grand Circus Park, also in downtown Detroit, which functioned as the HQ for the People's Summit, and where there had been tents and tables set up.
We held a rally at Grand Circus Park and a number of autoworkers and retirees spoke including Frank Hammer, Gregg Shotwell, Tony Browning, Ignacio Meneses, Martha Grevatt and myself. Jesse Jackson also spoke.
AUTO RETIREE ROUNDTABLE
The Real News filmed the picket and rally and asked if we could, at the end of the rally, pull together a meeting of retirees. I believe something like 9 of us got together for a conversation of more than an hour. We talked about our lives and what the economic crisis in auto means for us.
Click here to watch all five videos of the conversation.
--Dianne Feeley, American Axle retiree
