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About the Committee

In early May, workers and young people voted to establish the Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS) to take forward the work initiated by the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire: Utility Shutoffs and the Social Crisis in Detroit. The Citizens Inquiry was launched by the Socialist Equality Party after a series of deadly house fires in Detroit that were the result of the shutoff of gas and electrical service by the local utility monopoly, DTE Energy.

Nearly a dozen people have been killed in utility-related fires since the beginning of the year, including two disabled brothers and their friend in a January 5 fire on Dexter Avenue, and three children, ages 3-5, in a March 2 fire on Bangor Street.

On April 13, the commissioners of the inquiry issued their findings, indicting the energy giant and the government for these and other fatal house fires. They insisted that the company’s top executives and government regulators be held accountable (See “Findings of the Citizens Inquiry” below).

CAUS, which meets every two weeks in Detroit, is planning an aggressive campaign to reach the working class in the coming weeks and months. Sylvia Young, the 32-year-old single mother who lost three children in the Bangor Street fire, urged workers and youth to join the committee and take up this fight. “It’s good that somebody is finally taking a stand and fighting for a cause. What DTE is doing is killing people. People out there who are being cut off of utilities will have their backbones strengthened when they see that someone is fighting. That’s what happened to me. I was alone facing this huge company, the police and the courts. I appreciate the help that the Citizens Inquiry gave me.

“The more people read and keep up with this story, the more they are going to stand up for their rights. If the working class doesn’t stand up, no one is going to stand up for us. This should be a cause for the whole working class because the recession is making it harder and harder to live.”

Join the Committee

The Committee Against Utility Shutoffs has been formed on the basis of the findings and recommendations of the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire. To join, please fill out the form below.

Michigan governor signs law witch-hunting workers for “energy theft”

July 22, 2010

The Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS) condemns legislation signed into law by Michigan’s Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm, Tuesday, sanctioning a crackdown on poor residents in Detroit and other cities for alleged “energy theft.”

The five-bill law is chiefly sponsored by Democratic state senators in Detroit, but it is overwhelmingly supported by both parties in the state legislature. The legislation is designed to cover up the responsibility of the real criminals—utility giants DTE Energy and Consumers Energy—for the deadly house fires and other tragedies that result each year from the termination of gas and electrical service to hundreds of thousands of working class families in Michigan.

It is designed to sanction the actions of DTE that led to the deaths of two wheelchair-bound brothers (Marvin and Tyrone Allen) and their housemate in a January 5 fire on Dexter Avenue and another deadly fire March 2 on Bangor Street. In both cases, the company cancelled service to the homes, allegedly because they had illegal connections.

The Committee to Oppose Utility Shutoffs has been formed on the basis of the findings and recommendations of the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire. To join the committee, click here.

Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire holds first hearing

March 21, 2010
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Vernice Bailey

At the initial public hearing of the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire, held Saturday at Wayne State University in Detroit, Inquiry commissioners heard testimony from residents, experts, and researchers about utility shutoffs and house fires in Detroit, the practices and political influence of energy giant DTE, and the broader social crisis in the city.

The testimony revealed nightmarish conditions in Detroit overseen by a political establishment dominated by corporate interests. A number of residents spoke of the abusive and arbitrary character of DTE’s policies, and several spoke of relatives injured or killed as a result of utility shutoffs. Experts and investigators detailed the lack of assistance to those in need of help, the influence wielded by DTE over politics in Michigan, the profits of DTE and its investors, and the origins of the social crisis in the city.

Inquiry Chairman Lawrence Porter said the Inquiry commission would compile the testimony and release a report next month on its findings, which would be used to expand the struggle against utility shut-offs. He added that the Inquiry would deepen its examination of the role of DTE and its political connections, and would defend Sylvia Young, the mother of three children killed in a March 2 house fire, who is being witch-hunted by the press and persecuted by the authorities.

Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire: Utility Shutoffs and the Social Crisis in Detroit

The Socialist Equality Party is calling on workers, young people and all those concerned about the worsening social conditions in Detroit to participate in a fact-finding inquiry into the January 5 house fire on Dexter Avenue that killed two disabled men and another Detroit resident. The inquiry will be held on March 20, from 1-5 pm, at Wayne State University in Detroit (see below for full details). Contact us today to become involved!

Since January, at least 10 people have been killed in house fires in the Detroit area. The majority lived in homes that had been cut off from heat and gas by DTE Energy.

Among the dead are two disabled brothers--Marvin Allen, 62, and Tyrone Allen, 61--and Lynn Greer, 58. All three were killed in a house fire at 8011 Dexter Avenue on January 5. On March 2, three children, aged 3-5, perished in a fire on Bangor Street. Only hours before the blaze, the mother of the children, Sylvia Young, pleaded with DTE not to turn off her utilities.

These deaths and many more like them never should have happened! Hundreds of thousands of families throughout the region are forced to rely on unsafe heating methods, with deadly consequences.

3. Maurice Funchess, a firefighter, gave a moving report from the floor of the hearing.
3. Maurice Funchess, a firefighter, gave a moving report from the floor of the hearing.
1. Lawrence Porter, Chairman of the inquriy, presented the opening report
1. Lawrence Porter, Chairman of the inquriy, presented the opening report

  • SEP candidate denounces wage-cutting attack on Detroit city workers

    September 1, 2010

    D’Artagnan Collier is running in the November 2 election as the Socialist Equality Party candidate for state representative in Michigan’s 9th District in Detroit. Collier was placed on the ballot in late July, after the SEP submitted nominating petitions with the signatures of 1,129 Detroit voters.

    Collier, 42, joined the socialist movement as a Detroit high school student in 1984 and has spent his entire adult life fighting for the working class. He was the party’s candidate for Detroit mayor in 2009 and a founding member of the Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS).

    As a city worker in Detroit, he has opposed Mayor David Bing’s demands for deep wage and job cuts to be imposed on the city’s 13,000 municipal workers. He has fought to mobilize the working class to defend jobs and living standards and oppose public service cuts being demanded by the Democratic Party-controlled city and state governments. He has opposed the treachery of the city worker unions in collaborating in these attacks and fought for workers to organize independently of the union apparatus.

  • Two Detroit-area men killed in Taser-related incidents

    August 30, 2010

    Two Detroit-area men have died recently after being Tasered for allegedly defying police orders. Fifty-year-old Michael Ford passed away August 25, nearly ten days after being Tasered by Livonia police on August 14. Stanley Jackson, Jr., 31, died on August 20, following a confrontation with officers in the nearby town of Ypsilanti. Both victims were African-American.

    The deaths take place as area officials, including Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, have increasingly called for a law-and-order crackdown to deal with high levels of unemployment and social distress.

    Local news media reported that on the evening of August 13, Michael Ford, who police claim was intoxicated, approached the cops during a response to a loud-music complaint. The officers told Ford to go back into his apartment after the complainant could not be located. A few hours later the police returned after another loud-music complaint.

    According to the initial police account, Ford approached the squad car yelling and wielding a knife in each hand. A police backup was ordered, and when Ford allegedly refused orders to get on the ground, he was Tasered. The police claim that Ford then fell and hit his head.

  • Jesse Jackson, UAW hustle votes for Democrats at Detroit “jobs” march

    August 30, 2010

    The “Rebuild America: Jobs, Justice and Peace” march held in Detroit August 28, had nothing to do with rebuilding the devastated city, creating jobs, or achieving peace.

    The event, called by UAW President Bob King and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, was little more than a campaign rally for the Democratic Party, which has overseen wholesale job and wage cuts in Detroit and nationally while escalating military violence around the world.

    The demonstration was carried out under entirely false pretenses. Presented by Jackson, the UAW, and their backers among middle class ex-radical groupings as a focal point for popular opposition to mass unemployment and social devastation, the march was in reality quite the opposite. It was in fact a demonstration in support of the American ruling class drive, spearheaded by the Obama administration, to put in place a permanent lowering of wages and living conditions in the US.

    The relatively small turnout, perhaps 2,000, in a city where the real unemployment rate is close to 50 percent, speaks to the high degree of alienation of the working class from the Democratic Party, the trade unions and the establishment civil rights organizations.

  • Detroit Symphony musicians appeal for support as contract deadline approaches

    August 27, 2010

    Members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) performed a free public concert Thursday at Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit to reach out for community support as they resist massive and unprecedented concession demands by management.

    Talks between DSO musicians and management broke off Friday without an agreement. No further talks are scheduled. In a statement to the press the players spokesman, cellist Haden McKay, said, “I don’t feel any closer to a settlement. I think we’ve gone about as far as we can go.” Orchestra members will meet Saturday to discuss the next step.

    The 84 current players are being asked to accept a three-year agreement containing a 28 percent pay cut, a reduction in health care benefits, a permanent reduction in the size of the orchestra and other takeaways. The musicians gave up significant concessions in the previous agreement and many positions remain unfilled.

    If no settlement is reached by the August 29 contract deadline, DSO management is threatening to implement a so-called Proposal B containing even more drastic concessions.

  • UAW, Jesse Jackson push illusions in Democrats with phony “jobs march”

    August 27, 2010

    The August 28 “March for Jobs, Justice and Peace” is a fraud perpetrated against the people of Detroit. The aim of the campaign is not to create jobs, but to promote illusions in the Obama administration, which has been chiefly responsible for the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

    The clearest evidence of the real character of this “jobs march” comes from looking at its principal organizers: the Reverend Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow/Push Coalition; Bob King of the UAW; and the local Democratic Party elite led by Detroit’s multimillionaire mayor, David Bing. Each has played a crucial role in the devastation of Detroit.

    The UAW has overseen the loss of 250,000 jobs at the Big Three and the auto parts industry since 2007. Last year Obama’s Auto Task Force shut down dozens of factories, tore up contractually-obligated benefits for auto workers and retirees, and forced new workers to hire on at $14 an hour, half what they used to be paid. Far from organizing any resistance to these attacks, the UAW worked hand-in-hand with the White House to force the measures on auto workers.

  • Another utility worker killed in Detroit

    August 26, 2010

    On August 24, at approximately 1:30 p.m., veteran utility worker Michael Eugene Parks was electrocuted and killed while repairing a power line in northwest Detroit. Parks worked for Energy Clearance Corporation, a company contracted by DTE Energy.

    Park’s death is the second involving a utility worker in the city over the last four months. On April 16 an AT&T worker was struck by a DTE line and killed while working on a utility pole sharing telephone and electrical lines. Working alone, his body hung motionless until a resident discovered it.

    Although the circumstances of Park’s death have not been fully investigated, a spokeswoman for DTE said the accident took place after the worker came into contact with an overhead line.

    “He was injured while changing out a cross arm on a utility pole,” DTE spokesperson Eileen Dixon told the Detroit News. “We have no details yet on exactly how it happened. He was taken to Sinai (Grace) Hospital where he died.”

  • Thousands of Detroit-area unemployed attend “over 50” job fair

    August 26, 2010

    Thousands of unemployed workers attended a job fair August 25 in Southfield, Michigan that was sponsored by employmentguide.com, a job search web site, and the American Association for Retired People (AARP).

    The event, billed as an “over 50” job fair, attracted a wide cross-section of people, testifying to the depth of the employment crisis in Michigan. The state suffers the second highest unemployment rate in the US. Some 5,000 people are estimated to have attended.

    According to the AARP, unemployment among those over age 50 is higher than at any time in the past 60 years. The number of workers over age 50 who have been unemployed for 12 months or more is 50 percent higher now than in 2009. This marks the largest annual increase for any age group.

    Wednesday’s event featured AARP workshops teaching job-seekers how to “brand themselves.” However, there were only a handful of employers with job openings, and most of those required advanced training and experience. From the private sector, a few companies were looking for telemarketers. These were mostly debt collection agencies, especially consumer debt collectors.

  • Wall Street celebrates the destruction of workers’ jobs and wages

    August 16, 2010

    The announcement by General Motors last week that it recorded a $1.3 billion second-quarter profit—its second consecutive gain after ten quarterly losses—has been hailed as the “return of Detroit” by financial analysts, government officials and the media.

    A little more than a year after the US automaker emerged from the “quick and surgical” bankruptcy ordered by the Obama administration, GM is expected to file papers this week for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock later this fall. Wall Street experts say GM’s share value and earning potential have risen exponentially, and the IPO is expected to be one of the largest stock sales in history.

    The New York Times set the celebratory tone last week, declaring, “After a dismal period of huge losses and deep cuts that culminated in the Obama administration’s bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, the gloom over the American auto industry is starting to lift.”

  • SEP candidate campaigns in Detroit against utility shutoffs

    August 16, 2010

    As part of his campaign in the 9th District of the Michigan State House of Representatives, Socialist Equality Party candidate D’Artagnan Collier has been canvassing neighborhoods in northwest Detroit, along with members of the Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS).

    Collier was one of five commissioners at the March hearing of the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire: Utility Shutoffs and the Social Crisis in Detroit, the precursor to CAUS. That hearing took testimony from Detroit-area residents and experts on the relationship between utility shutoffs and deadly house fires in the city. The inquiry exposed the criminal policies of energy giant DTE and the role of the local, state and federal governments in protecting the interests of the utility industry. Its findings can be read by clicking here.

    Collier’s campaign is aimed at uniting the working class throughout the Metro Detroit area in a common struggle against the politicians of big business in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

    Collier spoke with Royce, a resident of the 9th District who recently became disabled. He explained that his family is currently facing a utility bill of several thousand dollars, which is largely due to heating charges in homes he had previously rented.

  • UAW’s Bob King offers up auto workers as fodder for exploitation

    August 3, 2010

    United Auto Workers President Bob King, in a speech to an industry gathering Monday in Traverse City, Michigan, announced that the union was “ready, willing and able to do what it takes” to make the auto firms successful.

    The UAW’s new chief, installed at the organization’s convention in June, didn’t care to spell out what he had in mind, except in general terms, but the thrust of his presentation was that the UAW leadership would be open to any “innovative” proposals by the companies as long as the union retained and, if possible, expanded its dues-paying base.

    What lie ahead for auto workers if King has his way are poverty wages, a more brutal work place and a return to conditions that haven’t been seen in American industry since the early 1930s. The UAW is offering up auto workers as pure and simple fodder for exploitation.

    King began his speech to the Center for Automotive Research conference by noting what an “honor” it was to address “my colleagues in the auto industry,” i.e., the multimillionaire owners of the auto and auto parts companies, and pronouncing himself “deeply grateful to the Obama administration and the American people for saving the American auto industry.”

The Dexter Avenue Fire Inquiry - Post-hearing Interviews