Marathon playing games when it comes time to hire Detroit residents.

**brizee** · June-02-14, 11:03 AM

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2014306010087

**Detroitnerd** · June-02-14, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by brizee

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2014306010087

Maybe we should have just given the $175 million tax break to Detroiters who've lived in their homes for more than 10 years ...

**DetroitPlanner** · June-02-14, 11:22 AM

What does the Free Press Marathon have against Detroiters? What a different Marathon? Never Mind! - Gilda Radner as Emily Litella RIP

Seriously I read this yesterday and I was steaming. Something is fishy here.

**Detroitnerd** · June-02-14, 11:28 AM

Same old story. Large corporation doesn't want to pay taxes while its sector is more profitable than ever. Promotes jobs program as window-dressing for its tax abatement. Doesn't follow through with jobs for anybody but those it really wants.

**brizee** · June-02-14, 11:49 AM

While of course the huge waste of money is a disgusting issue.

Why waste those men's time like that?

That's a year of their life wasted. Well maybe not totally because at least a couple are going on to continue their education.

Though some interesting statistics happened to be released this week too...

**Dan Wesson** · June-02-14, 11:52 AM

A side from the tax breaks involved this is happening to people all over the state. Community Colleges are cranking out all kinds of students taking "in demand" courses with internships in facilities and when they graduate, no jobs available.

Health Care is a great one for this.

**Johnnny5** · June-02-14, 01:26 PM

I'm not a Detroit resident, but this story totally ticked me off as well! If these candidates are still not up to Marathon's hiring standards they should be responsible for offering them on the job training until they are.

Personally, I'd love to see a state wide ballot proposal that completely ends tax breaks like these to for profit companies. It's become common practice for these big corporations to basically extort money from their communities under the threat that they'll relocate or expand elsewhere. The majority of the time these are just hollow threats and even when they're not is it worth paying for the "privilege" of having an expanded refinery in our backyard?

**Cincinnati_Kid** · June-02-14, 02:36 PM

This is what major corporations do. CEO's and other upper management geeks are getting record breaking compensation, while at the bottom of the spectrum, nothing changes.

**jj84** · June-02-14, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

This is what major corporations do. CEO's and other upper management geeks are getting record breaking compensation, while at the bottom of the spectrum, nothing changes.

Kevin Orr should just toss out the tax breaks, they were made under different terms and the party didn't live up to their obligations and its removable in bankruptcy. Let Marathon fight it out in court it's time that when companies don't produce the Jobs that are promised the tax cuts that they got get tossed out. Tax cuts really don't work for locating business either, there are may other factors that go into it. [[utility costs, site location, workforce) Though the should also be politicians that don't produce and we seem to reelect them all the time...

**Hermod** · June-02-14, 07:51 PM

Why not just toss out all of the tax breaks and incentive in bankruptcy and see what Gilbert, Illitch, and the other corporations do? See just how many pull up stakes and depart.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · June-02-14, 10:16 PM

The city council should be neither giving tax breaks away to Marathon nor involving itself in its hiring practices.

**Wesley Mouch** · June-03-14, 08:57 AM

I don't know how this company can think they should be able to make the decision on who to hire. And why don't they tell us more about their hiring decisions. Do they think his medical condition is confidential. No. Tell us all about his health problems. Its the law. Details about hiring decisions are public and must be approved by the local community committee of leaders.

**aj3647** · June-03-14, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by jj84

Let Marathon fight it out in court it's time that when companies don't produce the Jobs that are promised the tax cuts that they got get tossed out.

No specific number of jobs were promised and Marathon technically IS living up to its end of the deal. From the Freep article [[which you apparently didn't read):

the company is in compliance with its tax abatement agreement because it doesn’t require the company to hire a certain number of Detroiters.

Blame the Detroit City Council and Kwame Kilpatrick for inking a shitty deal. They should have stipulated some kind of hiring quota for Detroiters and they didn't do so. Of course Marathon was going to take that deal. The CoD didn't have to give away tax money for nothing, but they did.