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Presidents Message

The cover story in the March issue of the IBEW Journal is about the power crisis in California, but the implications of the power crisis goes far beyond one state. The botched electric utility deregulation in the largest of the United States threatens all IBEW members, their families and their communities.

Yes, I said all IBEW members. Even if youre not from California or you dont work in the utility industry, you have cause for concern.

Our members at Californias utilities have borne the brunt of the crisis. They have been abused by irate customers and now face the most uncertain of futures. And all due to a process that we warned against, worked against, and accepted only after strenuous political negotiation and effort. Saying We told you so to the powers-that-be may give us a certain satisfaction, but it wont save anybodys job.

While nobody has the magic answer, the time-tested principles that must be applied to this crisis are clear. Peoplethat is, workers and consumersmust come first. Prices must come down at all levels. Utility company bankruptcies must be avoided at all costs.

That last point is critical. As trade union men and women, we know that collective bargaining is our only true protection. If Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and other utilities were to go into bankruptcy, we take our place in line with other creditors. We could lose our ability to speak as a union and obtain any measure of justice for our members.

This is no time for anyone in the IBEW to say Too bad; glad it didnt happen to us. Because what happens in California could and probably would snowball quickly across America, especially into states where deregulation is already in place, and perhaps Canada as well. If we lose collective bargaining at utilities that are major employers of IBEW members, then collective bargaining rightsthat have set the standard for quality utility jobs in the United States and Canadaare not safe anywhere in this entire industry.

In addition, many of our members working for construction and maintenance contractors rely on work provided by the utilities. Many of our members in manufacturing make equipment used by utilities. And many of our pension fundsas well as many membersare shareholders in utility companies.

So we must all understand that we are in this together. As always, politics will play a central role in resolving this issue, whether we like it or not. The same forces that wanted to put this multi-billion dollar industry in play back in the 1990s are still out there, and they are profiteering from the situation in California. We in the IBEW and those in other unions must mobilize our grass roots political strength to counter the big dollars that they will throw around. Much as we did in the heroic effort that overcame the paycheck deception movement in California and elsewhere in 1998, we must make sure that our voices cut through the clutter.

The IBEW was a driving force behind the AFL-CIO Executive Councils statement adopted at its February meeting on the deregulation crisis, as outlined in our cover story. That is only a first step in what promises to be a long process. You will be hearing more about this in the months ahead, and I urge all of you to visit our web site for regular updates on the situation.

The road ahead is fraught with many dangers. However, we have prevailed against great odds as a union just to survive for 110 years. And together we will prevail in this struggle.

Ed Hill,
International President