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Water
Works
Union leaders
and utility managers from over thirteen (13) public water utilities
across the country converged on San Diego, California, June 27–29,
2004, to discuss better ways to work together to keep water rates
affordable and improve customer service. Part of the Public Sector
Labor Management Committee’s (PSLMC) effort to build a national
movement committed to safe, clean and affordable water in this country,
the group heard presentations from Public Citizen’s Water
for All Campaign about the status of water privatization around
the United States and from Global Trade Watch about the impact of
international trade laws on water and wastewater. Privatization
of water in the United States has been an increasing threat as European
water companies search for new markets, and fiscally-strained cities
and counties look for solutions to paying for public infrastructure
costs.
San Diego was
selected as the site for this year’s meeting because AFSCME
Local 127, San Diego Municipal Employees Union, and San Diego Metropolitan
Wastewater Department together were finalists in the Ash Innovations
in Government Award.
Their “bid-to-goal”
process, in which the utility and union developed new work processes
to exceed the best benchmarks in the industry, was the major reason
for this recognition. One of the requirements of the award is that
“best practices” be disseminated to other utilities.
This conference provided opportunities for union leaders and utility
managers to share their successes and to strategize on ways to deal
with the many threats to preserving water as a publicly-provided
resource in America. For more information on the PSLMC’s water
campaign, contact Allyne Beach at abeach~pslmc@workingforamerica.org.
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