No utility shutoffs!

Six children in Chicago died in a fire in early September after their family was forced by a utility shutoff to use candles or live in the dark. This horrific tragedy under scores a major problem facing workers across this country: utility greed at a time of falling incomes for millions of workers.

It is seniors, poorer workers, children and those with health problems who are the most vulnerable. Not only do shutoffs create cruel hardships and suffering for individuals and their families, they also represent a community hazard for entire neighborhoods, especially in urban centers where fires can spread rapidly.

Workers World Party, representing the workers and the poor, is calling for a moratorium on all shutoffs.

There are both legal and historical precedents for the government to take this step on behalf of the common good of the people and in the event of disaster. This is true both on the federal and local levels.

If government fails to protect and serve the people in its jurisdiction, it loses whatever legitimacy it may have claimed.

A people’s commission should be convened to investigate speculation, price gouging, mergers and greed within the utility industry. This should include the failure of the industry to do necessary repairs and the lack of planning created by the chaotic profit-first nature of the system that has led to both massive low voltage and power failures.

The purpose of such an investigation should be a plan of action to protect workers and the community by providing immediate relief. This would include a rollback in all prices and a plan to eventually provide necessary utilities free for non-commercial use.

Utilities such as gas, electric and water are vital necessities in today’s society. They should be run by and for the people, not through the capitalist market for corporate greed. A small fraction of the trillions of dollars spent on U.S. imperialism’s wars and terror against the world’s people could easily, even within the present framework of existing utility service, provide every person with heat and light. An equal allocation could then provide what is needed to begin a systematic program to develop alternative, non-polluting energy sources.