CUPE and CEP have written the board of Hydro One urging directors to protect public control of the Ontario utility, rejecting a move by the Eves government to sell shares in the province’s transmission grid.
The two unions that succeeded in scuttling plans to privatize the utility earlier this year told board members they have the power and the responsibility to act in the broader public interest and resist the sale of Hydro One shares. The province has proposed selling up to 49 percent of the utility.
“The government’s attempt at privatizing and de-regulating has already proven a disaster,” says National President Judy Darcy. “We simply cannot afford to sell off our energy sector to a handful of power giants whose goal is profit rather than public service, especially in the wake of Enron and WorldCom scandals. We need to keep this public utility in public hands.”
The two unions have received legal advice that the Board of the publicly-owned electrical utility has a duty to play an active role in safeguarding the public interest in the future of Hydro One. They called on the utility’s new Board to act on its own authority to preserve the public’s ownership of the company.
The two unions that succeeded in scuttling plans to privatize the utility earlier this year told board members they have the power and the responsibility to act in the broader public interest and resist the sale of Hydro One shares. The province has proposed selling up to 49 percent of the utility.
“The government’s attempt at privatizing and de-regulating has already proven a disaster,” says National President Judy Darcy. “We simply cannot afford to sell off our energy sector to a handful of power giants whose goal is profit rather than public service, especially in the wake of Enron and WorldCom scandals. We need to keep this public utility in public hands.”
The two unions have received legal advice that the Board of the publicly-owned electrical utility has a duty to play an active role in safeguarding the public interest in the future of Hydro One. They called on the utility’s new Board to act on its own authority to preserve the public’s ownership of the company.