Puerto Rico Unions Fight Privatization of Schools and Public Power Company - 28:56
Teacher and Utility Unions on the State of the Puerto Rican Labor Movement
After Maria and Governor Rossello's Plans to Privatize the Public Power
Company and Schools
with
Fredyson
Martinez Estevez, Vice- President of the Irrigation & Electrical Workers
Union, Unión de Trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Riego,
and
Mercedes Martínez Padilla, President of the Teachers' Federation of Puerto Rico/Federación de Maestros de Puerto
Rico
In Puerto Rico, hundreds of
thousands of people are still reeling from the destruction caused by
Hurricane Maria. In a time of such dire need, the Trump administration has
failed to provide the support needed to restore water to 7% of Puerto Rican
residents and power to the nearly one in three residents, paving the way for
a catastrophic announcement. The decision to privatize Puerto Rico’s
state-owned power company which follows the same dangerous path mapped out
in the Trump administration’s draft infrastructure
plan.
Whether it’s
water or energy, privatization helps Wall Street at the expense of the well
being and health of communities, particularly low-income families and people
of color. Trump's leaked infrastructure plan similarly provides a blueprint
for handing over public land and public water to Wall Street. It seeks to
privatize local water systems and other critical public services, prioritizing
limited federal dollars to Wall Street and corporate investors. This scheme would also sell off federal assets and create a new infrastructure fund by opening up federal lands and waters to mineral and energy development benefiting the oil and gas industry.
We’ll speak with representatives
of public sector unions in Puerto Rico representing teachers and utility
workers about Governor Rossello's plans to privatize their services, and
about challenges faced by the labor movement and workers following hurricane
Maria and they’ll discuss labor issues affecting those unions under the
Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA)
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