From The Hotline, Spring, 2009 by Michelle Laurie,
President, Local 258 Earlier in this issue of The Hotline, you received some sample questions to ask your provincial candidates in the upcoming election regarding their position on public power issues. Recently, I attended a Power Summit conference here in BC, an event designed for all participants in the electric utility sector. Of course, there were various private generation proponents talking about the critical importance of green, renewable energy sources, and there were utility experts talking about the crucial savings that can be realized through demand side management – DSM – or, in plain language, conservation. These are issues that we all care about, and it infuriates me that the underlying message always seems to be that green and renewable and conservation issues can only be managed if we privatize electricity. In fact, I believe the opposite is true, because as long as someone needs to make a profit, someone (the ratepayer) has to pay a little over and above the cost of service to ensure that profit exists. From your overwhelming vote to support this crucial fight against the privatization of our electricity, I know that the issue is important to you, and want you to know that we in the labour movement are not alone in this particular battle. The largest customer group in the BC Hydro system, the large industrial users (mines, mills, industrial plants) presented a paper to the conference outlining their opposition to the amount of private power BC Hydro is seeking to purchase. Their concern is that the extremely high price of the current power being called for (average of $110 to $120 per MWh) drives the cost up unnecessarily, as we do not require as much power as is being sought. Much of this power must be bought because the BC Energy Plan and Special Direction No. 10 (yes, more wonderful edicts from your current provincial government) mandates that by 2026, BC Hydro must purchase an additional 3000 GWh per year of supply in addition to its known energy requirements as “insurance”. As with any insurance, this means we probably won’t need it, and if we don’t need it, we will have to sell it on the spot market – where the current prices are $60 per MWh. Now, some of my co-workers may tell you that math isn’t my strong suit, but buying at $120 and selling for $60 just doesn’t seem to be much of a deal to me. When it comes to DSM, BC Hydro can cut the demand by investing about $41 per MWh, so, again, you have to ask yourself, why are we so willing to spend so much on energy sources that we won’t own, that generally aren’t reliable (wind, run of river) and mean multiple transmission lines to multiple small sites all over the province? Let me switch hats for a moment, and talk a bit about Workers’ Compensation here in BC. We have been involved in a multi-year lobby to put the benefits to injured workers back to the level they were at before this government gutted them in 2002. Today, if you are injured at work and have to miss time because of it, you will automatically lose at least 10% of your take home income, and that is being extremely conservative. If you are permanently disabled in any way, any pension you receive will end when you turn 65, and will not likely reflect any loss of earnings. This is fundamentally wrong – if you are injured at work, you should not lose income because of that injury. You, as a worker, gave up the right to sue your employer in exchange for that kind of insurance, and since you still can’t sue the employer for workplace injury, you should still be entitled to full compensation. On the regulation side of Workers’ Compensation, did you know that if you are on a joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee in your workplace, you are entitled to at least eight hours of training every year? The Workers’ Compensation Act states: 135 (1) Each member of a joint committee is entitled to annual education leave totaling eight (8) hours, or a longer period if prescribed by regulation, for the purposes of attending occupational health and safety training courses conducted by or with the approval of the Board. (2) A member of the joint committee may designate another member as being entitled to take all or part of the member’s educational leave. (3) The employer must provide the educational leave under this section without loss of pay or other benefits and must pay for, or reimburse the worker for, the costs of the training course and the reasonable costs of attending the course. From time to time, at Union meetings, you will have seen the notices about Health and Safety Courses offered (around the province) through the BC Federation of Labour Health and Safety Centre. These courses are subsidized, and approved by the Workers’ Compensation Board. You can find out more about the courses by visiting our website, www.ibew258.bc.ca, or the BC Federation of Labour at www.bcfed.org and follow the links. We’ve addressed some workers’ issues for you to consider when you vote in May. I expect you may also have other issues that are also critical to you or your community; please be sure to press your candidates to answer your concerns, so that you can make an informed and solid choice at the ballot box on May 12th. |
