Inflation, unemployment and the energy "crisis" have affected all of us, but certain parts of the country have been particularly hard hit. Detroit, capital of the auto industry, is one such place. The unemployment rate there has been conservatively quoted at 18-19% and is rising; unemployment lines are filled with all types of workers as the entire city feels the pinch. In October of 1979, inspired by the National Day of Protest Against the Oil Industry, a coalition of workers, religious leaders 1 and community organizers formed the People's Energy Committee (PEC). Their ultimate goal is a "people's takeover of the oil industry." Their immediate goal is to place that idea before the people for a popular vote. PEC organized a drive to gain support of its petition: We, the citizens of Detroit, believe that the oil should belong to the people and not to the private oil companies which make enormous profits while we pay enormous prices for energy. The undersigned are joining efforts with a nationwide petition drive calling for this issue to be put before the entire country for a vote. We are duly petitioning the City of Detroit to place this issue before the people of this city for a popular vote in the August 5th, 1980, primary election. More than 15 cities around the country are participating in this campaign. While most are focusing on the national elections in November, Detroit's ballot laws may enable it to vote on the question in its local primary elections. This March, after four months of petitioning and a virtual media blackout on the issue, PEC submitted 11,300 signatures to the Detroit City Clerk. On March 26th the City Council made the petition official for the Detroit primary. When the petition was transposed into legal language by the City Research Department, however, the meaning of the draft was altered from a "people's takeover" to a "government takeover." PEC objected, and so the proposal was rewritten. Another Council meeting was held where both the original and the second, altered copy were submitted for a vote. This time the vote was split with several previous supporters now voting against both versions of the proposal. Curious about this change of heart, PEC did some investigating. They found that each Council member had received three to five calls from the American Petroleum Institute discouraging their support of the petition. In May a third proposal was submitted to the council. A public hearing on the issue was suggested by a supportive Council member, Kenneth Cockrell. Public support for the petition was strong, yet when the Council reconvened for a vote it only drew a tie, effectively defeating the measure. PEC plans to continue efforts to put the petition on the August ballot through an alternate route. In essence, they are challenging the City Clerk to "show cause": why aren't the people being allowed to vote on the question? Working toward a national focus, PEC will join groups around the country in an effort to get the President and Congress to put this issue on the ballot for the November elections. While getting the measure on the ballot would be a considerable achievement in itself, the actual impact of the ballot may be less so. July 1980 RAIN Page 11 The petition is an attempt to bring the idea of a "people's takeover" of the oil industry to an eventual national vote. The actual structure of this takeover has been left purposely vague so as to allow for the development of an appropriate plan. A number of organizations and individuals are supporting the petition and the idea of a "takeover," including the American Federatjon of State, County and Municipal Employees, Locals #243-5 and #457; Garland Jaggers, Office for Black Catholic Affairs; Detroit chapter of People United to Save Humanity (PUSH); Joe Martic, president of Local #698, International Association of Machinists; Pete Goldstein, national representative of Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Union; and Concerned Citizens for Equal Justice. A few local radio stations, th~ Detroit Free Press, and channel 62, Detroit's black TV station, have been publicizing PEC's activities. Certain other political groups·, such as the Detroit Alliance for a Rational Economy (DARE), have chosen to support the petition indirectly, preferring to focus instead on other issues. A number of questions come to the surface as this campaign gets underway: how much impact will this measure have, how far will it be able to go, how effective is its approach? Whatever the answers, the fact remains that PEC has created an active and broad-based coalition of people determined to make changes. This campaign and its effects will be worth watching, for what they can accomplish both directly and indirectly. If you are interested in getting involved, there follows a list of cities and contact people. If a contact person is not listed for your city or if you would like to begin organizing in your community, contact the Detroit PEC at 229 Gratiot, 3rd floor, Detroit, MI 48226, 313/962-4979. -LS "Oil Belongs to the People Campaign" 1. People United for Justice-Phil, Alan or Laurie F., 234 7th Ave., New York, NY 10011, 212/255-0352. 2. People's Energy Committee-Lydia Bayanetta, 656 S. Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, 716/442-1290. 3. People's Energy Committee-Debbie, 359 Niagara, Buffalo, NY 14201,716/855-3055. 4. People's Energy Campaign-Diane Methiowitz, 1257 Glenwood Avenue S.E., Atlanta, GA 30J16, 404/627-3093. 5. People's Energy Committee-Dick, 419 Boylston St., Rm. 204, Boston, MA 02116, 617/247-1778. 6. People's Energy Committee-Julius Corpus, P. 0. Box 6504, . Austin, TX 78762. Other cities participating in the campaign but for which information on contact persons was not available as we went to press: Chicago, Illinois Cleveland, Ohio Milwaukee, Wisconsin Tucson, Arizona Washington, D.C. Greeley, Colorado 0
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