Storm blackout stirs public outrage

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5) Reduce the workweek to 30 hours with no cut in pay, and cut the retirement age to 55. Provide unemployment and retirement payments at We propose an EMERGENCY CONGRESS OF LABOR to discuss and 1) Bail out the people, not the bankers! Open the account books of the matches the rises in comsumer prices. To combat high medical costs: A banks to full public inspection. Nationalize the banks to be supervised by 7) Immediate citizenship for all undocumented workers. No job discrimi­ 2) No foreclosures! No forced evictions! Cancel usurious debt pay­ nation; equal pay for equal work — regardless of gender, sexual orienta­ ments, and reduce mortgage payments in proportion to their capitalist8) Nationalize manufacturing, big agribusiness, energy, and transporta­ 3) Full employment at union wages! An emergency public works pro­ tion corporations and place them under the control of elected committees gram to employ all jobless workers and youth! Employ people to build what we need — low-cost quality housing, efficient mass transportation, 9) To mobilize support for the demands it adopts, the EMERGENCY cheap and renewable sources of power, schools, clinics — and to con­ CONGRESS should organize ACTION COMMITTEES in every workplace and neighborhood threatened by the crisis. These committees can draw 4) Immediate and full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq & Afghanistan!

Close all U.S. bases abroad! No money for the military — use funds 10) To put all these measures into effect, we need a LABOR PARTY — instead for public works! Convert the war industries to making products based on a fighting union movement and all people who are oppressed Socialist Action (ISSN 0747-4237) is published monthly by Socialist Action Publishing Association, P.O. Box 460501, San Francisco, CA 94146-0501. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Socialist Action, P.O. BOX 460501, San Francisco, CA 94146-0501. RATES: For one year (12 issues, 1st-class mail): U.S., Canada, Mexico — $20. All other countries — $30. Money orders and checks should be in U.S. dollars.

Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of Socialist Action. These are expressed in editorials. Socialist Action is edited, designed, and laid out entirely by volunteer labor. It is printed by members of Local 583, Allied Printing Trades Council, San Francisco, Calif. HARTFORD, Conn.—On Nov. 17 Jeffrey Butler, the President of Connecticut’s largest electrical utility com­ pany, Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P), resigned amid public outrage following the largest blackout in the state’s history. The blackout was caused by a late-October snowstorm that stretched from West Virginia to Maine and broke October snowfall records throughout the re­ gion, cutting electricity to a total of 3 million customers. In Connecticut 955,000 CL&P customers lost power, 77 percent of the company’s total customers. Full power was not restored for 12 days, with many in the dark for a week.

This autumnal nor’easter closely followed the late Au­ gust tropical storm Irene, which also caused major black­ outs. Both storms brought numerous CL&P practices to light and raised many questions about deregulation, infra­ structure, and climate change.

The outage in Connecticut shut down grocery stores, traffic lights, schools, workplaces, and home heating. Af­ fected gas stations were inoperable, creating fuel shortages throughout the state. Many cable and cell-phone services were also disrupted. Thousands of residents took shelter in community centers and schools as the temperature dipped below freezing at night. Halloween in many cities and towns was cancelled due to darkness and downed wires. At least 187 people were treated for carbon monoxide poi­ soning from using power generators.

Butler estimated the storm would cost CL&P at least be­ tween $75 and $100 million. The company plans to make up the money through rate increases to customers. Accord­ ing to an early estimate by Kinetic Analysis Corp, damage covered by insurance for all storm-affected states will total between $1 billion and $3 billion. However, barely any of the revenue and income lost because of the power outage itself will ever be compensated since insurance policies A WORKERS’ ACTION PROGRAM TO FIGHT THE CRISIS take steps to implement the following demands — workers’ committees.

caused decline in value.

serve our water, forests, farmland, and open space.

for people’s needs and to combat global warming.

SOCIALIST ACTION. Closing news date: Nov. 26, 2011 Editor: Michael Schreiber Canada Editor: Barry Weisleder — $20 for 12 months — $37 for 24 months Name City Phone E-mail I enclose an extra contribution of: — $100 — $200 — Other Clip and mail to: P.O. Box 460501, San Francisco, CA 94146-0501. Credit cards: See www.socialistaction.org to subscribe with PayPal.

2 SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 2011 rarely cover such losses.

The two outages have brought home the impact of CL&P’s staff reductions. CL&P had 430 linesmen in 1976 when they had 850,000 customers. By 2005 they had re­ duced their linesmen to 190 while their customer base grew to 1.2 million. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 420 requested meetings with Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy to discuss low staff levels after Tropical Storm Irene, but the governor never responded.

Meanwhile CL&P and its parent company, Northeast Utilities, are doing quite well. In the last four years NU’s earnings per share have increased by 38%. NU’s stock price grew by roughly 25% in the last year alone, and NU’s top five CEOs presently earn a combined $24 mil­ lion a year. CL&P charges some of the highest rates in the country. The recent outages have raised opposition to de­ regulation. Cirillo, for instance, has pointed out that delays in turning on the power don’t hurt CL&P’s bottom line. Since, following deregulation, the company is no longer a provider of power the company gets paid whether or not power is on.

At a Nov. 19 rally against CL&P organized by the IBEW the level of union wages and benefits.

free, universal, public health-care system.

tion, skin color, or national origin.

of workers.

Address State Zip 6) To combat inflation: A sliding scale of wages and pensions that up more concrete demands than the ones outlined above.

and exploited. For a workers’ government!

• Ashland, Ore.: [email protected] • Boston: [email protected] (781) 630-0250 • Carrboro, N.C.: (919) 967-2866, [email protected] • Chicago: P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657, [email protected] • Connecticut: (860) 478-5300 • Duluth, Minn.: [email protected]. www.thenorthernworker.blogspot.com • Florida: [email protected] • GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.:

[email protected] • Kansas City: [email protected] (816) 221-3638 • LOUISVILLE / LEXINGTON, KY.: [email protected], (502) 451-2193 • Madison, Wis.:

[email protected] • Mankato, Minn.:

[email protected] • Minneapolis/St. Paul: (612) 802-1482, [email protected] the utility under some form of public ownership. The logic of this proposal is increasingly difficult to escape. In the recent blackout municipal and state workers did an unprecedented amount of the work normally performed by the utility company. Also, the restoration was significantly hampered by the recent proliferation of private companies that must negotiate the restoration of each stretch of line and pole. In addition to telephone and electricity compa­ nies are added multiple cable and internet providers. Even large numbers of the poles are now owned by private com­ panies. Public ownership of all these services would cut major costs in redundancy and bureaucracy, and reduce restoration time.

In the midst of a nor’easter falling in an abnormally warm October, media outlets have managed to avoid near­ ly all discussion of climate change. And this was not the only extreme weather of the month. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that more than 500,000 acres burned in wildfires across the U.S., setting a new record for October. Far from a mere “freak” storm (as many accounts put it), climate research shows us that such storms are becoming the new normal due to dramatic climate change caused by industrial capitalism. The last two months provide another glimpse as to what will happen when such climatic change meets a crisis-rid­ den capitalism with all its cuts to public services, privati­ zation, deregulation, over-extended and under-maintained infrastructure, cost-cutting, impoverishment, structural dependence on ever-expanding production, and simple white-collar theft.

A report from the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection found that had Irene been a Cat­ egory 1 hurricane when it hit Connecticut, it would have caused a near total outage of the state and—assuming the same number of crews available—would have required 67 days to restore all power. A Category 3 hurricane would cause a 100 percent outage of the state, requiring 157 days to restore all power. The National Weather Service says a Category 3 hurricane in Connecticut is inevitable. n For info about Socialist Action and how to join: Socialist Action National Office, P.O. Box 10328, Oakland, CA 94610, [email protected], (510) 268-9429 Socialist Action newspaper editorial offices: [email protected] Website: www.socialistaction.org WHERE TO FIND SOCIALIST ACTION • New York City: (212) 781-5157 • Philadelphia: [email protected] • Portland, Ore.: (503) 233-1629 [email protected] • Providence: [email protected] (401) 419-1706 • Salem, Ore.: [email protected] • San Francisco Bay Area:

P.O. Box 10328, Oakland, Ca 94610 (510) 268-9429, [email protected] • WASHINGTON, DC: [email protected], (202) 286-5493 National Office 526 Roxton Road, Toronto, Ont. M6G 3R4, (416) 535-8779 www.socialistaction-canada. blogspot.com

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to keep production going. That financialization

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