TORONTO HYDRO
or the people,” read the electric sign announc-
duced.The private sector, though, continued to have a siging the completion of Ontario’s first major elecnificant role in power generation while transmitting and
tricity transmission line in 1910. That was the
distributing power, both natural monopolies, remained alphilosophy of Sir Adam Beck, the industrialist who is credmost entirely in public hands.
ited for using Niagara Falls to create what was then the
That is until recently.
largest hydroelectric power plant in the world.
Following decades of neglected transportation infraIt was with that same ethos that we at The Society of
structure, voters demanded better. With tax increases
Energy Professionals (IFPTE Local 160) have taken up
deemed politically unpalatable, the provincial governthe fight against privatization of our province’s electriciment decided to pawn 60% of Hydro One, the agency
ty transmission and distribution systems. I want to tell
that transmits almost all of Ontario’s electricity and disother IFPTE members about our fight against privatizatributes some of it to rural communities. In spite of techtion because I fear this is a
nical shortcomings and deep
fight more of my sisters and
unpopularity the government
brothers of this federation
is steamrolling ahead with
will have to fight if you have
this sell-off.
not done so already.
Now Ontario’s capital city,
The principle that electriciToronto, is also facing a finanty should be a public good decial crunch between big
livered by and for the people
short-term spending priorities
stood up for nearly 100 years
and the profound unwillingin Ontario. One of Adam
ness to raise taxes to pay for
Beck’s most famous quotes
those new priorities. Inspired
underlined this notion: “naby the provincial government,
ture’s gifts are for the public.”
Toronto’s mayor recently anThis system that combined
nounced that he would like to
our natural resources with the
“unlock the value of Toronto
ingenuity of our people gave
Hydro”—code for privatizing
Ontario an extraordinary adour electric utility.
vantage. Our cheap, reliable
The problem is this strategy
power was the backbone of
only works for the shareholdone of North America’s great
ers buying the electricity sysmanufacturing centers.
tem. At a time when bonds
But successive governments, Travers during an interview with Roger Petersen of CityTV discuss- have yielded historically low
beginning in the 1990s, dis- ing privatization at Toronto Hydro.
rates over a period of years,
mantled the compact that
the stable 9% return on an
guaranteed Ontarians reliable electricity at the most afelectric utility makes investors salivate. But expert analyfordable rates possible. Private profit entered the mix in
sis of the impact of privatization on local distribution
the early 2000s and drove up prices.The women and men
companies shows that in addition to governments losing
who worked to bring electricity to every home and busia sustainable source of revenue by giving up their utility’s
ness have also felt the pain, too.
dividend income, the people and businesses that need
Good jobs have come under attack through privatizaelectricity suffer.
tion and corporatization. Even those companies that reLocal 160 retained Mitchell Rothman, the former chief
mained publicly owned outsourced wherever possible in
economist of Ontario Hydro, to help us understand the ima bid to drive down labour costs. Employers sought to
pact of privatization.Rothman reviewed the literature compare back wages, benefits and pensions for new hires.
paring public and private American utilities, and analyzed
Spreading employees across more than a dozen public
the performance of Ontario’s utilities. Rothman found that
and private organizations, which makes it more difficult
public utilities are cheaper in virtually every case, and nevto align our collective bargaining campaigns, diluted
er more expensive than privately owned utilities. In Ontarworkers’ power.
io, the lowest cost utilities are 100% publicly owned. UtiliIt is all part of the ideology that dominates Western ecoties with 10% of shares held privately are 20% more expennomics: shrink government as much as politically possible.
sive and wholly private utilities are 43% more expensive
As private power resulted in politically fatal price spikes
than the public option.
at the start of the 21st century, price regulation was reintrocontinues on page 12
6
FALL 2016 IFPTE
www.ifpte.org
IFPTE Veterans Lay Wreath at Tomb of Unknown Solider
F
our IFPTE members, veterans of the Armed Services and members of IFPTE’s Veterans Committee, laid a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at
Arlington National Cemetery on
the fifteenth anniversary of 9-11.
The ceremony was a solemn
gathering,
mixed
with
unexpect-ed
emotions
and
feelings over-flowing in honor
and glory.
It was a stark
reminder
lives
givenofthat
the we
many
might enjoy freedom, as we also remembered the many lives taken in the tragedy of 9-11.
Months in the making, the wreath laying ceremony
bought together IFPTE Veterans Committee members representing the public, private and federal sectors. They included:
Timothy J. Rudolph: IFPTE Local 195 President; IFPTE
Veterans Committee chair; Public sector; Army
Kathleen R. Giffin: IFPTE Local 30 (Ames NASA Research Center); Federal sector; Navy
Edward W. Leonard: IFPTE Local 2001 (SPEEA); Private sector; Army
Vincent S. Braun: IFPTE Local 2001 (SPEEA); Private
sector; Army
Given the nature of the ceremony and its significance to
our Veterans, their family members were in attendance to
observe as their loved ones paid respect at the Tomb. Rudolph and Giffin were assigned to lay the wreath, each
holding the bottom of the wreath to transfer it from its
holding easel while the Tomb Guard Sentinel held the back,
bringing it to rest on the official easel. IFPTE staff was also
present for the ceremony.
Said Giffin,“I felt so very special and humbled and proud
to have been chosen to be a part of this. Thank you for
giving me this opportunity! I was also, just so marveled at
the camaraderie there was between all of us. I felt like I’ve
known everyone all my life and was getting together with
good friends.”
“I was honored and humbled to attend a wreath laying
ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” Leonard
commented. “I cannot think of a more rich emotional experience on the week of Labor Day to reflect on my military past . . .and to enjoy life with my family.”
If you’ve never attended a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, seen the Changing of the Guard,
or visited the 624 acres housing this historic military ceme-
www.ifpte.org
PHOTO BY CHRIS LANGFORD
“F
By Scott Travers, The Society/IFPTE Local 160 President
tery, we encourage you to visit this hallowed place overlooking the picturesque Potomac River, the Pentagon, the White
House, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol.
Wreath laying ceremonies are conducted thousands of
times each year at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by
civic and service organizations. IFPTE was afforded this
honor by the Ironworkers Union, who through a program with Arlington National Cemetery performs the
wreath laying ceremony several times a year. In the spirit of union solidarity, the Ironworkers extended this honor to IFPTE.
The Tomb of the Unknown is guarded by the elite 3rd
US Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. The
Tomb’s inscription: “HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD”
represents the missing and unknown service members
laid to rest at the Tomb—those who made the ultimate
sacrifice—they not only gave their lives, but also their
identifies to protect our freedoms. The Tomb is the final
resting place for Unknowns from World War I, World War
II, and the Korean War. ◊
SPEEA’s Veterans Committee
Kicked Off September 29th
The new SPEEA Veterans Committee kicked off on Thursday,
September 29th at all three
SPEEA halls. The committee is
open to all SPEEA members, including those who don’t have
military experience. The committee will work with the IFPTE
Veterans Committee to help support military employees, veterans
and their families. ◊
IFPTE FALL 2016
7