Detroit, Turn on the Water!

Tomorrow CWA activists will march with registered nurses, community leaders, clergy, labor unions, environmentalists and Netroots Nation participants to protest Detroit's program to cut off water to thousands of residents who aren't able to pay their bills.

The heartless decision to shut off water to people already living in poverty is a public health emergency and a major violation of human rights. Rally organizers charge that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and his handpicked emergency manager officials are enforcing the crackdown to promote the privatization of the public water department, the latest gift to Wall Street financial interests that have bankrupted the city.

Starting at 1 p.m. on Friday, protesters will demand a moratorium on the shutoffs and action to ensure water is affordable, protected from pollution, and stays in the hands of the public.

They will also be calling for a tax on Wall Street speculation which could raise money for communities like Detroit, which have been pummeled by recession, unemployment, foreclosures and other pain directly linked to the Wall Street meltdown and plunder of major urban areas.

Frustration is mounting. On Wednesday, during Detroit's bankruptcy hearing, Judge Steve Rhodes demanded that the city address the problem. "Your residential shutoff program has caused not only a lot of anger in the city and also a lot of hardship," he said.

This is just the latest way we're building our movement. CWA knows that together, we're stronger. If we work with our allies, we can fight the economic problems facing working people and restore our democracy.