Purchasing naming rights and following the legacy of the DeVos & Van Andel families: Acrisure and the primacy of free market capitalism in Grand Rapids
On Friday, it was announced by all of the area commercial news sources that Acrisure had purchased the naming rights for the downtown outdoor amphitheater. Grand Rapids Mayor, Rosalynn Bliss gushed over the announcement, saying on Facebook, “Super excited about this announcement today and the progress we are making on the amphitheater! We are so fortunate that Acrisure calls Grand Rapids home.”
The announcement was made at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, which makes complete sense, since the market, like the new amphitheater, used mostly public money for a facility that primarily catered to business class interests.
Acrisure purchased the naming rights for the new amphitheater for $30 million. To put this into perspective:
- The City Affordable Housing Fund is currently $17.5 Million.
- Acrisure is currently valued at $25 Billion, which means that purchasing the naming rights at $30 million is like most of us contributing $20 and then getting our name on a building.
- When Acrisure moved their headquarters to Grand Rapids, they were provided $7 million in economic incentives.
- The $30 Million from Acrisure for naming rights for the outdoor amphitheater is equal to the cost of rent for a year for 1,042 families, if those families monthly rental fees were $2000.
Following the legacy of Grand Rapids Oligarchs
In a separate MLive story related to the Acrisure naming rights purchase, the reported shared the following from the company’s CEO Greg Williams:
During Friday’s event, Williams paid tribute to the DeVos and Van Andel families, saying he’s learned from their history of community involvement and philanthropy.
“At the end of the day, we’re just following the lead that you and your families had established years ago,” he said, addressing members of the two families. “I’ve learned from what you’ve done, and I think this community obviously has been a huge benefactor. Hopefully, Acrisure can continue that role and play a role in some of those things going forward.”
Such a statement is rather instructive. If we are to be honest about what the DeVos and Van Andel families have done with their money over the years, what their legacies are, then we can draw some conclusions about what Acrisure might want to emulate in Grand Rapids.
The DeVos and Van Andel families have done the following:
- Made their initial billions in the form of a pyramid scheme known as the Amway Corporation.
- Have been the largest campaign contributors to the GOP in Michigan since the 1980s, which has translated to public policies that have been devastating to working class families, BIPOC families and other communities that are exploited under neoliberal capitalism.
- They have used their wealth to imposed their ideological values on the rest of the city, values that have done concrete harm to the LGBTQ community, promoted the privatization of public services, attacked reproductive rights, undermined public education, have subjected all of us to their brand of Christianity, and increased the wealth gap in Grand Rapids.
- Using their wealth to influence City and County officials to design the the downtown in ways that will primarily benefit their interests. Plus, they have done this hiding behind so-called Public/Private partnerships, meaning that they get the public to cough up millions for their pet projects without public consent or public input.
As for Greg Williams, who is CEO and Co-Founder of Acrisure, his current net worth is $56.5 million. Now, that is a meager amount, especially compared to the DeVos and Van Andel families, but Williams no doubt has greater aspirations.
In regards to what it is that Acrisure does, well it’s not entirely clear. Acrisure often refers to themselves as an insurance brokerage. However, the company also states that they offer retirement and cyber services, along with tech-driven financial services. In other words, Acrisure doesn’t produce anything, they only provide services that ultimately rely on market forces and speculative capital.
Greg Williams did sign on to the letter in support of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce ordinance proposal to criminalize the unhoused last December. It would appear that the Acrisure CEO is indeed following the same political and business model as the DeVos and Van Andel families.
3 white dudes with no labor organizing experience talk shit about the UAW strike: Acton Institute podcast and the celebration of greed
When workers organize to fight for a better living, that is when people will often take sides on economic issues.
On Monday, the focus in their weekly podcast, Acton Unwind, the right wing think thank, the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, certainly showed us where they stand on the UAW strike.
Their weekly podcast had the headline, Has Organized Labor Overplayed Its Hand? Again? Of course, this was to be expected, since the Acton Institute, founded in the early 1990s by Roman Catholic Priest Fr. Robert Sirico, has always preached that Capitalism and Christianity are perfect bedfellows.
3 White Dudes with no experience with organized labor
I’ll provide a brief analysis of the content of the podcast, but before that I think it is important to mention something about who was on this week’s podcast. The show is produced by Eric Kohn, who is Director of Marketing & Communications at the Acton Institute. Kohn is also often the host of the show. Before coming to the Acton Institute, Kohn was at another right wing think tank, Illinois Policy, which promote Right to Work policies and took a hardline anti-union stance. Kohn was also on the board of Chicago group known as America’s Future. America’s Future was founded in 1995, with the goal of provide future generations an opportunity to learn about and practice Capitalism.
A second guest on the show was Dylan Pahman, who is a research fellow at the Acton Institute. Pahman claimed during the podcast that he always got a better deal as an employee, especially better wages when he worked in the manufacturing sector. However, according to Pahman’s Linkedin profile, he only worked in the manufacturing sector for one company, Medbio, LLC, for only 11 months. It seems that Pahman was stretching his claim about “always” finding a better deal when working in the manufacturing sector.
The other guest on the podcast was Dan Hugger. Hugger is a librarian and research associate at the Acton Institute, along with the author of two books on the pillars of free market Capitalism, specifically Lord Acton.
Talking Points from the 9/18 Acton Unwind podcast
- Someone listed the demands of the UAW, and one demand was read with a sarcastic tone stating that the UAW wanted to have their members paid for 40 hours, but only work 32. Later in the show someone referred to this demand as “ridiculous.”
- Another person made the claim that if the Big 3 auto companies hire more people who are part of the UAW and demanding better wages, that they will be forced hire more temp workers. I think the podcast guys meant to say that the auto companies would chose to hire temp workers, as a way to avoid paying people a livable wage with benefits.
- A third claim was centered on the idea that the Big 3 auto companies needed to remain competitive, which meant a flexible workforce and more automation. If not, then they will repeat what happened in cities like Flint and Detroit. This was a curious and completely false claim, since the fact that Flint and Detroit lost auto manufacturing jobs over the years was always a policy decision by the Big 3 auto companies to find cheaper wages, non-unionized workers and move to state that had Right to Work policies, or countries that provided free trade zones to operate in. Free Trade Zones are essentially gated communities for corporations that had legal protections and were often provided huge economic incentives to relocate.
- At one point the 3 white dudes began to talk about how they loathed public sector unions, even though it had nothing to do with the UAW strike. In addition, they all made the claim that public sector unions were nothing more than private political organizations.
- The 3 white dudes also praised Elon Musk and the Tesla Corporation, but derided UAW retirees.
Not asking the more appropriate questions
So much of how commercial media and pro-Capitalist media is determined by how they frame critical issues of the day, like the current UAW strike. Here are the questions they sought to answer in the 9/18 podcast:
- Are the demands from the UAW reasonable?
- How should we think about trade unionization in America today?
- Are there any risks to the new strategy that the UAW is engaging in?
Now, these questions are not necessarily unreasonable questions, but they always put the onus on workers and never on the corporations. What kind of a discussion do you think would happen if these questions were asked?
- Ford, General Motors and Stellantis made a combined $21 billion in profits in just the first six months of this year. Should those profits we shared with auto workers?
- There are multiple lower wage tiers, such as the workers in parts distribution centers and many of those making components for electric vehicles. Should these tiers be done away with?
- The CEO salaries at the Big 3 auto companies are $29 million for GM’s Mary Barra, $21 million for Ford’s Jim Farley and $24.8 million for Stellantis. Don’t the workers deserve a more equitable wage, considering how much the CEOs make?
It’s clear that the Acton Institute, with their institutionalized bias in favor of Capitalism, would do a podcast that essentially demonized labor unions and autoworkers. We wouldn’t expect anything different, but at the same time we believe it to be important to know where organizations and institutions stand on issues like worker rights, economic justice and the growing wealth gap between the Capitalist Class and the Working Class.
Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids document for those who are unable to join us Saturday in person
From the introduction to a Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids:
In his insightful book, Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong. radical historian James Loewen takes us on an enlightening tour of the US and examines historical markers in big cities and small towns to see what lens history is presented in.
Grand Rapids also has many historical markers, especially in the downtown area, most of which have been sanctioned by Grand Rapids City officials or by other entities that are reflective of those who run this city.
An example of numerous historical markers, are the series of statues that have been created over the past two decades, known as the Grand Rapids Community Legends Project. The Community Legends Project was the brainchild Peter Secchia, former US Ambassador to Italy, former CEO of Universal Forrest Products and a member of what I identify as the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
Most of the statues are of people who have historically been part of the local power structure, although there are a few exceptions. What I want to do in this book, is to provide a counter-narrative to what those in power have sanctioned.
The locations that I have chosen follow more of a people’s history of Grand Rapids, whether we are talking about individuals, social movements or historical events that have taken place in the downtown area of Grand Rapids, or at least near downtown Grand Rapids.
I chose this book title, A Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids, in part because it could be part of an actual walking tour, indeed even performance art, that deconstructs the dominant narratives about Grand Rapids and allows us to collectively imagine how we might think about Grand Rapids if the stories of social movements and acts of resistance were how we talk about this community.
However, this book will also be an online tour that people can traverse virtually, whether you live in the area or not. There are a total of 34 locations on this radical tour, with a mix of historical markers and historical events. A Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids, is also a companion book to my book, A People’s History of Grand Rapids.
My hope is that this book will not only get you to think differently about Grand Rapids, but that it might inspire other radical walking tours throughout the city, where we can share more history from below, instead of the kind of history we are told to believe.
We recognize that spending several hours on a Saturday afternoon participating in a Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids, might not be the most appealing thing to do. We do believe that it is important that people become more familiar with the Radical History of Grand Rapids, since it is a fairly rich history that is often suppressed.
We plan to livestream the Radical Walking Tour, post photos, create a YouTube channel of videos for each of the stops along the tour, possibly create an app that people can access and do the tour on their own, plus it might even become another book.
In the meantime, we have put together a PDF of the Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids, which you can access at this link. Besides the text/scripts we will be using on Saturday, there are numerous images of either the location of each stop or other graphics that reflect what was happening on the date(s) when these actions happened.
We hope you find this useful and we plan to add many more for a final version of the Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids. We are also grateful for everyone who has provided some creative energy, their time, resources and passion for helping to make the Radical Walking Tour of Grand Rapids a reality.
Love & Rage!
Mel Trotter Ministries receives an additional $200,000 for storage bins for the unhoused, which makes them an accomplice in the criminalization of the unhoused
On Tuesday, Grand Rapids City officials approved a resolution that will give Mel Trotter Ministries up to $200,000 to continue their personal storage program. This is according to the Agenda Packet (pages 31 – 33) for the Fiscal Committee meeting for September 19th.
The $200,000 that the City of Grand Rapids is giving to Mel Trotter Ministries for personal items bin storage, will go into effect on October 1, 2023 and continue until September 30th, 2024.
Now, to those who have not been following the issue of how the City of Grand Rapids and faith-based non-profits have been responding to the unhoused, providing storage bins to people might seem like a compassionate response. However, if we look at the totality of why people become unhoused, we can clearly see that entities like Mel Trotter Ministries are in no way interested in eliminating the housing crisis, especially for the unhoused, in Grand Rapids. In fact, as GRIID has written before, we refer to entities like Mel Trotter Ministries as part of the Homelessness Industrial Complex in Grand Rapids.
Mel Trotter Ministries has been around for more than a century and they have always only practiced charity work and in no way are interested in addressing the root causes of the current housing crisis. Like many faith-based groups, particularly Christian groups, they practice a form of White Saviorism, where the often refer to “helping the homeless as helping Jesus, since Jesus can be scene in the homeless.”
Mel Trotter Ministries does not want to address the root causes of the current housing crisis, since that would require them to challenge the market-driven for profit hosing system that put profits over people. This is why Mel Trotter Ministries CEO signed on the letter last December, in support of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce proposed ordinance, which would criminalize the unhoused.
If by chance Mel Trotter Ministries would address the root causes of the current housing crisis, they would also likely lose most of the current funding, especially from the large family foundations. For example, just within the most recent round of 990 document disclosure from numerous local family foundations, there has been……..Here is a list from the most recent 990 foundation document contributions to Mel Trotter Ministries.
- Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation – $25,000
- Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation – $5000
- Cheri DeVos Foundation – $25,000
- Jerry & Marcia Tubergen – $525,000
- David and Carol Van Andel Foundation – $1,500,000
- Jandernoa Foundation – $187,500
Just with these few local family foundations, all of which are part of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, Mel Trotter Ministries received over $2 Million in one year. If Mel Trotter Ministries suddenly decided to challenge the for-profit driven housing market system or began to advocate that people earn $25 – 30 an hour for their work, then the money from the above foundations would dry up.
Lastly, it is important to note that one of the ordinances adopted by the City of Grand Rapids in late July, has to do with unhoused people who have their possessions with them. Yes, Mel Trotter Ministries has bins for people to store their possession, but not everyone trusts that their possessions will be safe with Mel Trotter Ministries. The ordinance also states that people will not be fined up to 30 days, as long as they reclaim those possessions. Not everyone, especially the unhoused have the means to reclaim said possessions, especially if those possession are not easily accessible.
More importantly, since Mel Trotter Ministries benefits from public funding (through this contract with the City) they have little incentive to see these types of contracts end. In addition, the very fact that Mel Trotter Ministries is a link in the system that criminalizes the unhoused, they are clearly an accomplice to the criminalization of the unhoused. The only way for Mel Trotter Ministries to not be an accomplice in this instance, would be to make it a goal of their to confront the root causes of the housing crisis, with the goal of closing their doors, since if there are no unhoused people, then they would have no reason to exist.
Rockford Construction’s commitment to the principle of Profits Over People, got them the $12 Million contract to manage the redevelopment of Lyon Square
In August, GRIID post an article entitled, $12 Million to redevelop a small riverfront park in Grand Rapids is more money than the amount of money the City has set aside for their Affordable Housing Fund.
In that GRIID article from August 9, we wrote in part:
However, the point I want to make is that compared to several years of putting together an $11.5 Million budget for Affordable Housing, the City of Grand Rapids approved $12 Million to redevelop a small downtown park with one simple vote. The $12 Million for Lyon Square will not be used for housing, but for a park space that will primarily benefit tourists and members of the Capitalist Class.
Now imagine for a moment that the DeVos family would foot the bill for the Lyon Square project and the $12 Million that the City will now be borrowing, would instead go directly to affordable housing. Affordable Housing is a relative term, but let’s say that for a new modest home for a family of 4, it would cost $250,000. With $12 Million, the amount they will be spending on redeveloping a small park, that amount of money could cover the cost of building a $250,000 home for 48 families.
Forward 5 weeks and we read in the Agenda Packet for the Community Development Committee for September 19 (pages 5 – 8), that Rockford Construction is being awarded $12 million dollars in a Professional Services Agreement for Construction Management services for Lyon Square.
In the Agenda Packet of the Community Development Committee for September 19th, it states:
A Qualification Based Selection (QBS) process was used to solicit respondents and evaluate final procurement of a construction manager by an evaluation team consisting of City staff, Amway Hotel Corporation representatives, Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. (DGRI) staff, and ASM Global representatives. The evaluation team selected Rockford Construction Co. (Rockford) as the highest qualified firm from a short-listed group of respondents. Subsequently, as part of the QBS process, a proposal was received and, on February 12, 2019 (Proceeding No. 88470), the City Commission approved preconstruction services for Rockford. Having completed those services, they are now prepared to move into the construction work based upon subcontractor bids received on August 10, 2023.
So, an evaluation team made up of City staff, Amway Hotel Corporation representatives, DGRI and ASM Global chose Rockford Construction to receive the initial funding in 2019. Now, GR City staff have always been partial to those with deep pockets, so no surprise that they would choose Rockford Construction. The Amway Hotel Corporation choosing Rockford Construction is a no-brainer, considering the longterm relationship/partnership that the DeVos family has had with Rockford Construction. The DGRI Board of Directors is primarily made up of representatives from entities that make up the Grand Rapids Power Structure, which also includes a staff member of Rockford Construction. ASM Global manages the Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place, which are under the control of the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority (CAA). The CAA is also represented by members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, and includes Michael Verhulst with Acrisure Benefits, but he was the Vice President of Rockford Construction from 2017 – through April of 2022.
Companies like Rockford Construction often are chosen because they are part of the inter-locking systems of power in this city. Besides the fact that Rockford Construction is part of the GR Power Structure, they also get these kinds of contracts because of their ideological commitments to Capitalism. This has been on full display in the past 9 months, since Rockford Construction has been front and center to the profits over people dynamic with how downtown Grand Rapids Companies have responded to the unhoused population. Specifically, Rockford Construction has been a complete backer of the interests of the downtown business community that was manifested in the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce ordinance proposal in December of 2022, followed by the letter of endorsers of said ordinance proposal, followed by the backing of the City of Grand Rapids ordinances (a modified version of the GR Chamber’s proposal) adoption this past July.
The CEO of Rockford Construction was present when the City adopted the two ordinances that will further criminalize the unhoused. I posted an article the following day, which included these comments: Right after the vote to adopt the criminalizing ordinances, I got up to leave. Sitting two rows behind me was Rockford Construction’s CEO Mike VanGessel. VanGessel was sitting with another white guy and I just simply said, “well boys, you got what you wanted and what you paid for.” VanGessel is part of the Chamber of Commerce and is the chair of the municipal council, which represents 130 businesses downtown. VanGessel didn’t bother to speak during public comment, as he would prefer to let his money speak for him.
The fact that Grand Rapids will award a total pf $10,321,660 with a total amount not-to-exceed $12,462,996 to Rockford Construction is completely expected, considering the company’s relationship to the interlocking systems of power in Grand Rapids and their deep commitment to the principle of Profits Over People.
Legislation has been proposed that would allow Rent Control in Michigan, but will it get enough support?
The Rent is Too Damn High Rally that happened on September 5th in Lansing, has already pushed politicians to proposed legislation to allow for Rent Control in Michigan.
The statewide coalition of groups that came together to push politicians with 4 demands, is already gained some traction, since on September 7th, Rep. Carrie Rheingans proposed HB 4947, which states:
A bill to repeal 1988 PA 226, entitled “An act to limit the powers of a local governmental unit regarding the leasing of private residential property,” (MCL 123.411).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Enacting section 1. 1988 PA 226, MCL 123.411, is repealed. 2 Enacting section 2. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days 3 after the date it is enacted into law.
Now, this is just a proposal, which means it will have to go through the normal legislative process. On September 7th, HB 4947 was referred to Committee on Economic Development and Small Business, which is made up of 13 members, 8 Democrats and 5 Republicans. Once this committee discusses the matter, they are likely to hold a public hearing on the issue.
While there is a growing coalition centered around renters rights and rent control, you can bet that the Real Estate industry and the Property Owners Associations across the state will be lobbying state legislators heavily in the coming months, along with making sizable campaign contributions to candidates and incumbents for the 2024 elections. In fact, the Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan has already contributed $10,000 to the Michigan Senate Democratic Fund, $10,000 to the Michigan House Democratic Fund, $5,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee, $5,000 to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee and several candidates running for office in 2024, most of which are incumbents, according to State Campaign Finance records for just the July 2023 campaign contributions.
The other question to consider is how quickly any public hearing will be held and whether or not they issue will be taken up this fall? If the proposed legislation that would allow communities to put in place rent control in their communities doesn’t happen before the end of 2023, we might now see any action in 2024. Rent Control might be seen as too radical and political candidates, especially incumbents do not want to be seen as supporting policies that are “radical” – meaning that such policies really serve the people.
However, if the growing Rent is Too Damn High statewide coalition can continue to apply the necessary pressure on current state officials, then maybe we can get a hearing on Rent Control in Michigan before the end of the year.
Locally, the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union is encouraging people to sign on to an Action Alert that would pressure Senator Brinks, who is the current Senate Majority Leader, to embrace the four demands of the statewide Rent is Too Damn High coalition. Just go to this link to sign a digital letter to Senator Brinks, then share it with your social media circles.
However, even if the state efforts to win Rent Control won’t happen through legislation, that doesn’t mean we can’t be working on Rent Control right now on a local level. Rent control campaigns have been won by getting tenants from specific Landlords or Property Management Companies, when tenants are organized.
What a landlord/Property Management Company rent control campaign would look like, is to organize tenants in a particular community who all rent from the same landlord or Property Management Company. If we begin to identify Landlords and Property Management Companies that own multiple properties, we could also connect with other communities in the state to see if these same Landlords and Property Management Companies have tenants in their cities. Building a statewide movement for rent control could also happen like this.
In fact, no tenant movement should put all their eggs in the basket of getting governments to adopt rent control, since we can do the work directly in our own communities right now. We can work on a rent control strategy that is 2 pronged, both government and landlord/Property Management Company as targets. Plus, the advantage of targeting Landlords and Property Management Companies is that you can demand more than just rent control, thus tackling multiple demands that would make any tenant movement more robust.
If you are a renter and this is something that you want to be involved in, then please contact the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union by sending an e-mail to gratunion@gmail.com or leaving a message on their Facebook page.
UAW workers go on strike: Celebrating the legacy of UAW organizing in Grand Rapids
The current UAW workers strike is being called historic, especially since it is the first time that unionized workers in all three of the auto companies have been on strike together.
Alex Press, writing for the Jacobin, says that the UAW workers strike should matter to all working class people in the US. Press writes, “The entire working class will be watching to see if autoworkers can claw back decades of concessions and win a transformative contract.”
To honor this historic strike by UAW workers, we thought it would be important to provide some background on the history of UAW organizing in Grand Rapids, particularly after the Great Depression. What follows is an except from chapter 3 of my book, A People’s History of Grand Rapids.
Pushing Grand Rapids Left
Still reeling from their defeat during the 1911 furniture workers strike, Grand Rapids unions were not effectively mobilized to respond to the growing power of industrial capitalists. However, the insurgent labor organizing by the UAW and the CIO provided new inspiration and new opportunities for workers to challenge the business community in Grand Rapids.
In the Spring of 1937, the UAW called for strikes at the Robert Irwin Co., the Macey Co., and Irwin Seating, all based in Grand Rapids, which involved roughly 1,000 workers over a five-week period. In September of that same year, more strikes would break out at the Furniture Shops of America, John Widdicomb, Grand Rapids Chair, and other furniture factories in the area. In each of these instances the union won a closed shop contract guaranteeing to hire only union workers. The unions also won a check-off procedure, meaning union dues would be automatically deducted from the pay of authorizing employees, and, perhaps the cause of the most celebration to many of the workers, they won wage increases.
After a failed attempt to organize a union at the Kelvinator refrigerator and domestic appliances plant, the UAW tried again in 1937 and won their first contract, which included the recognition of the union and wage increases. Known as Local 206, this UAW organizing effort became a model for many of the other labor organizing efforts across the city of Grand Rapids. In some cases, workers defied local courts’ anti-picketing injunctions, and many workers went to jail for brief periods in order to win labor contracts and build worker power from the ground up.
While most of the labor organizing in Grand Rapids involved walk-out strikes and picketing that made significant gains, workers at the Atwood Brass Works held a wildcat strike and factory occupation that lasted for three days, following Flint’s example.
The radical direct-action efforts of the workers in Flint scared the business community enough to be willing to negotiate with angry workers in Grand Rapids out of fear that a wildcat strike might break out here. When people engage in radical direct action it pushes everything to the left. Workers in Grand Rapids were able to seize the moment created by the wildcat strike in Flint and mobilize workers (that had been labeled as “not radical enough” and “conservative”) to demand their rights and to unionize several thousand workers over the next several decades.
After the UAW and the CIO began organizing in Grand Rapids, union membership grew significantly. Yet union leadership at the national level made a deal with business leaders and the Roosevelt administration. The result was that the unions agreed to not strike while the US was involved in World War II.
Despite the no-strike pledge, union membership in the US grew from 7.2 million in 1940 to 14.5 million at the end of WWII. The strikes began almost the moment that the bombs stopped dropping on Japan. In September 1945, 43,000 petroleum workers and 200,000 coal workers went on strike. In October, 44,000 lumber workers, 70,000 teamsters, and 40,000 machinists joined them. Then in November 1945, the UAW called its first major strike against GM since the company was unionized in 1937. Nearly a quarter of a million men walked out. Grand Rapids saw the same dynamic: workers who experienced years of frustrations during the no-strike pledge of WWII began to challenge the capitalist class by engaging in walkouts and strikes. In 1946, workers at the UAW Local 730 at the GM plant in Wyoming, Michigan were part of the national UAW strike that lasted for 113 days. The UAW striking workers were fighting for better wages, pensions, and improved working conditions, all of which were denied them during the no-strike pledge of WWII.
What this brief history of UAW organizing in Grand Rapids reveals to us is that working class people must always remain vigilant in the fight against the Capitalist Class, especially since they are relentless in their efforts to exploit workers whenever they can in order to increase profits for the owners and the shareholders.
Another GR Chamber report on immigrant contributions to the economy means they love the profits their members make from cheap labor
On Tuesday, MLive posted an article entitled, ‘Our economy wouldn’t work without them.’ Report shows how immigrants contribute to Kent County. This headline is accurate, but not in the way that the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce sees it.
The US economy, thus the local economy is built on exploiting immigrant and migrant labor. However, this is not the content of a new report published by the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and the American Immigration Council, Economic Impact Report of New Americans in Kent County.
This new report from that the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce co-authored has the following four findings, with GRIID responses to each:
- Immigrants are helping the county meet its labor force demands. In 2019, immigrants were 27.3 percent more likely to be of working age than their U.S.-born counterparts, allowing them to actively participate in the labor force and contribute to the economy as taxpayers and consumers. GRIID – This point is just stating the obvious, but with no qualifiers. It is true that immigrants are part of the labor force, but they are also disproportionately exploited, with wages that are at poverty levels.
- Immigrants support the federal safety net. In 2021, they contributed $192.3 million to Social Security and $47.8 million to Medicare. GRIID – Again, the point here is true in terms of what immigrants paid into social security and Medicare, even though those who are undocumented are often unable to access these social benefits. According to Aviva Chomsky’s book, “They Take Our Jobs!”: and 20 Other Myths about Immigration, undocumented immigrants contribute billions of dollars annually to Social Security, yet they will never be able to access what they have contributed to.
- Immigrants are helping Kent County meet its rising labor needs in key industries. While making up 8.9 percent of the county’s overall population in 2019, immigrants represented 53.1 percent of agriculture workers, 15.3 percent of construction workers, and 14.8 percent of transportation and warehouse workers. GRIID – Again, just providing data is fairly meaningless, especially in this case, since agricultural workers and warehouse workers are some of the most exploited in the US. In fact, agricultural workers are one of only two labor sectors where businesses do not need to pay even a minimum wage.
- Immigrants in Kent County help create or preserve local manufacturing jobs. Immigrants strengthened the local job market by allowing companies to keep jobs on U.S. soil, helping preserve or create 2,600 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise been eliminated or moved elsewhere by 2019. GRIID – The context of immigrants allowing companies to keep jobs in the US is primarily because they can pay immigrants less, since most new immigrants are not unionized. Just think about the recent scandal in Grand Rapids, where immigrant youth were being exploited by companies who were paying them poverty-level wages, as reported on by the New York Times. This type of exploitation is more common than is often reported in the news media, which is the main reason why many manufacturing companies will keep their operations in the US, since they can exploit workers with ease.
This same issue was the topic of discussion with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce back in early July, which we reported on. In that post, we identified three reasons why the Chamber’s celebration of immigrant labor is superficial and often harmful.
First, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and West Michigan Business leaders have a long track record of primarily endorsing and providing campaign contributions to GOP candidates at all levels of government. The Republican Party has rejected any and all aspects of Immigration Reform over the past several decades, even the mildest of immigration reforms. Not that the Democratic Party embraces any sort of immigration justice, but there have been several attempts since the Obama years to adopt some sort of Immigration Reform policies. (See the book, All-American Nativism: How the Bipartisan War on Immigrants Explains Politics as We Know It, by Daniel Denvir.)
Second, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), along with other such trade policies, have undermined workers and displaced small farmers in countries like Mexico, which has led to massive numbers of immigrants coming to the US. These trade policies have been fully endorsed by the US Chamber of Commerce and the regional ones, like the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. I remember attending an event at San Chez in 1995, which was co-sponsored by the GR Chamber, and was all about how businesses can market their products in Mexico after NAFTA had been adopted in 1994. The GR Chamber spokesperson even wore a fucking sombrero during his welcoming remarks to the event attendees.
Third, the GR Chamber of Commerce and many West Michigan businesses love immigrant workers, primarily because they are willing to work for low wages. There are literally tens of thousands of migrant workers (mostly of whom are immigrants) in West Michigan that make very little money for doing physically demanding work. Then there are all thousands more in West Michigan that work in the service sector – fast food industry, restaurants, janitorial, construction and hotel workers – all of which make low salaries. If the GR Chamber of Commerce and West Michigan Business leaders wanted to truly celebrate immigrant workers, they would pay people a living wage and be an outspoken advocate for people to earn no less than $25 an hour, regardless of the kind of work they do.
Since I wrote these reasons in July, I would like to add a fourth reason why I don’t trust the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce to really celebrate immigrant workers and their contribution to the economy. The fourth reason is simply this – the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce has been silent and arguably complicit in the anti-immigrant climate in West Michigan, since they have contributed significantly to GOP candidates and they have never spoken out against the state violence perpetrated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), even though there has been strong opposition to this violence for several decades as I noted in chapter 9 of my book, A People’s History of Grand Rapids.
While the President of the GR Chamber of Commerce and the other West Michigan Business leaders talk a good game about US immigration policy, the need to fill the talent pool gap, and how much immigrants benefit the economy, what they really mean is that they are the ones who primarily benefit from immigrant labor in the current neoliberal capitalist economy.
Once again Movimiento Cosecha visits Sen. Brinks in Lansing without a commitment to passing legislation providing undocumented immigrants with drivers licenses
Since 2018, Movimiento Cosecha Michigan has made drivers licenses for the undocumented community one of its top priorities.
Legislation was initially introduced in 2019, primarily because of the organizing done by Movimiento Cosecha and other immigrants rights groups.
After the Democratic Party took control of the Governor’s office, the State Senate and the State House in early 2023, Movimiento Cosecha, along with many immigrant justice groups believed that passing legislation to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses would be a priority of the party that claims to stand for those most marginalized in our society.
In March of 2023, Movimiento Cosecha went to Lansing, specifically to speak with Senator Brinks, especially since she became the Senate majority leader at the beginning of 2023. However, upon speaking with staff members of Senator Brinks, they came away frustrated, especially since Senator Brinks’ staff could not make any promises on passing what is now called the Drive Michigan Forward bill.
In early May, GRIID posted a piece entitled, Elected officials need to participate in the social movements that are being led by BIPOC communities in Grand Rapids. In that article we stated:
Now, some might say that since Senator Brinks, who has introduced a bill in support of Driver’s Licenses, doesn’t need to attend Movimiento Cosecha events. People are aware of the fact that Senator Brinks has introduced legislation, but the undocumented community, who can’t obtain Driver’s Licenses, also cannot vote. Therefore, it seems to me that regardless of whether or not people can vote, if they are some of the most vulnerable people in the state, then elected officials should make it a priority to develop relationships with them.
In looking at Senator Brinks’ Facebook page, it is clear that she attended several other events last week and even a local coffee shop that was just a few blocks from where the May Day march had been walking in the rain last Monday. People in positions of power and privilege need to interact with, develop relationships with, and be in solidarity with undocumented immigrants. Proposing legislation and even passing legislation are not enough, since they can learn a great deal from those who facing family separation on a daily basis.
In June, Movimiento Cosecha made a trip to the Detroit area, to pay a visit to Rep. Tullio Liberati’s home, since the Democratic Representative had not yet committed to supporting the Drive Michigan Forward bill. No one came to the door at Rep. Liberati’s home, but Cosecha organizers left a message and encouraged people to call his office to pressure him to support the legislation that would provide undocumented immigrants the right to obtain a drivers license.
Earlier today, roughly 40 Movimiento Cosecha Michigan members took a bus to Lansing to once again visit with the Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and urge her to make the Drive Forward Michigan bill a priority for 2023.
Movimiento Cosecha members arrived at Senator’s Brinks’ office and walked in with the idea of sharing a clear message about what passing this bill was so important, along with several members who planned to share testimonies about how difficult it was to feel safe and take care of their families without a drivers license. You can see in the picture above, all of the Movimiento Cosecha Members packed into the Senator’s office.
Within minutes, about a half a dozen capitol police showed up, forcing their way in and demanding that Movimiento Cosecha members removed themselves from the office. All 40 of those who were in the office, slowly filed out and then gathered in the hallway, where they were then met by the Senator’s staff who asked them to share their concerns. What was interesting is that several of the capitol police/security guards were flanking the Senator’s staff, to make sure there was no harm done to them. (See picture below) This was ridiculous, especially since Movimiento Cosecha Michigan has always taken a stance of non-violence since they began organizing in 2017.
Several people did speak up and share the urgent message that they did not want to hear any more promises made from politicians or their staff about drivers licenses, rather they wanted a verbal commitment to pass the Drive Forward Michigan bill this fall, especially now that the Democrats control all three branches of the State government.
There were other people who shared more personal messages, like one man who worked 3rd shift last night, came home, and then went straight to where Movimiento Cosecha had a bus lined up to take people. Another young man talked about having a brother with a disability, which further complicated the fact that his parents did not have a drivers license, limiting how they could get around for medical appointments for his brother. He also mentioned that he would have to get up a couple of hours earlier for school to walk to the nearest bus stop and then catch a bus to go to school. These dynamics, all due his parents not having a driver’s license, caused tremendous stress, and that was on top of the fact that ICE agents could arrest, detain and deport family members at any time.
The staff members from Senator Brinks’ office never made any commitments, nor could they promise that Senator Brinks would make passing the Drive Forward Michigan bill this fall. The only thing they said they would do would be to schedule a meeting with members of Movimiento Cosecha Michigan, which meant they provided a sheet of paper for anyone who wanted to provide their contact information.You could see that many people felt frustrated and demoralized, by the look on their faces. People began saying to each other, “What else do we have to do to make it clear to these politicians that it is a life and death matter for their families have drivers licenses.”
After leaving the capitol building, the Cosecha community members shared food, beverages, and some music. After about 30 minutes of communal food sharing, Cosecha Michigan organizer Gema Lowe let everyone know about the next actions that were being planned and that they were not giving up the fight to win drivers licenses for all in Michigan.
On Wednesday, I was invited to speak to a group of GVSU students about the history of Environmental Movements in Grand Rapids
My presentation to the students was a sorter version of chapter 8 in my book, A People’s History of Grand Rapids. Many thanks to the GVSU professors who invited me to speak, specifically Professor Melba Velez Ortiz. Mil Gracias!!!!
Like all cities, Grand Rapids has its own history of environmental destruction. An example of this can be seen quite simply, and possibly innocently, in the former title of Grand Rapids being the “Furniture City.” To look underneath this name, however, reveals the productive necessity of clearcutting trees in West Michigan, in northern Michigan, and as far away as parts of northwestern states, this according to records documenting from where the furniture barons of Grand Rapids were importing lumber.
We could also talk about the increased levels of industrial pollution that ended up in the Grand River, since a great deal of industry was positioned along the river for decades. In addition, we could identify the increased use of automobile use in Grand Rapids, which later resulted in the construction of US 131 and 196 highways that intersect near downtown Grand Rapids.
The recognition of the increasing levels of air pollution, water pollution, industrial waste and other consequences of industrialization and hyper-consumerism, eventually led to a growing awareness that the destruction of ecological systems would result in our own destruction as human beings.
The First Earth Day took place in communities all across the US in April of 1970, including right here in Grand Rapids. There were several events/actions that took place on that day in 1970, which in many ways would set the tone for the future of the environmental movement.
In the afternoon, there was an event with song and signs at the Calder Plaza, with the featured speaker being Rep. Guy VanderJagt, a Republican from Cadillac. The comments by VanderJagt, as reported in the Grand Rapids Press, spoke of the urgency to take action. However, the representative from Cadillac framed the environmental urgency in terms of how much people would be willing to pay in taxes to get clean air and clean water.
There was also a large community event, with an estimated 1,500 people in attendance at the Civic Auditorium in the evening. The event featured images on the big screen, musicians and speakers, including Rep. Gerald Ford. When Ford spoke, he received boos, loud comments about the war in Vietnam and sometimes Ford’s comments were greeted with loud stomping of feet. According to the GR Press, Ford suggested that we need to make personal sacrifices, including consumer spending and taxes. Ford also suggested that people should “reduce pollution from the internal combustion engine.” He claimed that President Nixon, along with the private sector, would be creating a “virtually pollution-free automobile within five years.”
Besides the two informational/educational events, there was also a student-led protest at a Grand Rapids meat factory. Students from Grand Rapids Junior College chose to protest at a meat factory because of the pollution the business was emitting as a result of how the company cured the meat. The factory had been the target of complaints from neighbors for years because of the pollution. One student who was interviewed in the Grand Rapids Press stated that the protest was not singling out this particular factory. It was to protest air pollution in general. One of the signs that was used during the protest read, “Smoking Killed Hogs Brings Killing Smoke Smog.”
This last action, organized by students, is more reflective of the kinds of actions people were taking across the country, which focused attention on corporate pollution or structural pollution. In fact, in its early years, Earth Day actions were either to engage in collective projects that would promote ecological sustainability or to confront those most responsible for environmental destruction, such as the corporations and militarism.
From that first Earth Day in 1970 to the present, those involved in doing environmental work have either focused on personal lifestyle choices, voting or on whatever the non-profit environmental groups were involved. However, this is not what social movements are traditionally centered around. Movements challenge systems of power and oppression that are the root cause of the problems that a movement choses to address.
There have also been greater efforts to organize around Food Justice work, especially in the past 20 years, organizing that was born out of an Environmental Justice Movement framework. In addition, there has been organizing to fight for climate justice, most recently from student-led efforts like the Sunshine Movement. Climate Justice organizing has taken on numerous forms in the past 20 years, but one example of this organizing that is worth looking at was the anti-fracking movement. The anti-fracking movement is certainly one component of the larger Climate Justice Movement. This movement begins around 2010 and owes some of its expansion to the documentary film Gasland, by Josh Fox.
Deep hydraulic fracturing became a technological process being used by the fossil fuel industry, which allowed corporation to drill deeper than normal in search of methane gas that was trapped in the earth. The technique of fracking opened up new possibilities for corporations to extract gas, which also led to a mad scramble to either purchase land or to lease land from the state.
Beginning in late 2011 in the Grand Rapids area, people began to meet and talk about forming an autonomous group that would promote and practice radical environmentalism. This group, who later called themselves, Mutual Aid GR, first crafted their own organizing document, which not only provided their framework for organizing, but also provided analysis on larger areas of concern such as food, transportation and energy.
Shortly after producing this document, Mutual Aid GR hosted their own People’s Assembly for Radical Sustainability. This event was designed to not only create more conversation around critical environmental issues, but to build a greater capacity for doing the necessary organizing work in Grand Rapids. By the fall of 2012, the group already organized its first major action coinciding with the International Day Against Fracking, which was action at Wolverine Oil & Gas, a local company that had a history of fracking. Three members of Mutual Aid GR occupied the offices of Wolverine Oil & Gas and were later arrested by the GRPD. The group released a statement, which in part read:
“Today, we occupy the offices of Wolverine Oil & Gas as one action against the consequences of oil and gas extraction in Michigan. We are confronting Wolverine Oil & Gas because they have a history of profiting from environmental destruction and particularly their use of the natural gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing.
We are occupying Wolverine Oil & Gas to demand that they release all information about the type and amount of chemicals they have used in fracking to date and the amount of water used; to release information on the location of all oil and gas wells they own and operate in Michigan, and to stop the practice of fracking where ever they engage in this practice.
No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth!”
A month after the Wolverine Oil & Gas occupation, Mutual Aid GR began doing research into companies that were applying for land leases in order to engage in fracking. The group found that there were some large multinational corporations that had already entered into lease agreements in Kent County, such as Shell Oil, AMOCO, Uniroyal Inc., and Western Land Services.
In the same month that Mutual Aid GR was researching land leases in Kent County for fracking, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hosted one of its bi-annual auctions for leasing mineral rights for oil & gas companies across the state in Lansing. Mutual Aid GR and other radical environmental groups decided to attend the state auction, with the goal of trying to prevent the State of Michigan from leasing land to oil & gas companies who wanted to engage in fracking.
As people were entering the room where the state land auction was being held, they had to pass by a crowd of people lined up with anti-fracking signs. In addition to those who protested outside, some people released a banner that was attached to balloons inside, while others who sat in the room where the auction was taking place began to disrupt the meeting by making statements. At one point, several people stepped over the divider separating the public seating and the bidder seating, locked arms and sat on the floor in an act of civil disobedience. Simultaneously, there were some noise tools released to disrupt the auction and then the whole room began chanting in opposition to fracking and the arrest of those who sat down.
Mutual Aid GR continued organizing educational events and participating in direct action against the fracking industry for another 12 months after the actions in Grand Rapids and Lansing. However, they eventually folded. Yet, before they folded, they were instrumental in getting the largest environmental non-profit in Grand Rapids, WMEAC, to finally take a public stance against hydraulic fracturing.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 