BALTIMORE
Community group protests utility office closings
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
Community activists gathered in front of the downtown
offices of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. May 18 to protest
plans to shut down the last two customer-service offices. The
group gathered signatures of passersby on a petition to demand
a public hearing and say "no" to the closings.
Renee Washington, a spokesperson for the All People's
Congress, said: "BGE is channeling customers to ACE checking to
pay bills. ACE checking is a rip-off. They are in the business
of payroll loans that reportedly charge some customers 400
percent interest. Those most vulnerable will fall prey to these
loans when they get shut-off notices."
She continued: "On top of this, the rates we are charged
include customer service. BGE will now pocket the money saved
by closing the offices. We feel this is illegal."
Union activist Jeff Bigelow said at the protest: "Workers
are losing their jobs. We are demanding that public hearings be
held and a full community investigation be held before the
closings are final on July 1, 2002."
The All People's Congress led protests last spring demanding
a rollback in rates when gas prices doubled and tripled. The
group plans future protests.
Reprinted from the May 30, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page