This is the first of several interviews conducted by the World Socialist Web Site with retired Detroit city workers who are facing deep cuts in their pensions and health care benefits as a result of the bankruptcy plan submitted by the city’s emergency manager. The gutting of the benefits of 23,500 retirees, which is being carried out despite the state’s constitutional protection of pensions, sets a precedent for similar attacks on teachers, firefighters, and other public workers across the country.