NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL, COMMUNICATION WORKERS OF AMERICA LOCAL 3170, AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION LOCAL 1579, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES 2779, NAACP OF ALACHUA COUNTY, SIERRA CLUB SUWANNEE ST. JOHNS CHAPTER, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ALACHUA COUNTY, & ALACHUA COUNTY LABOR COALITION CONDEMN REP CHUCK CLEMONS ATTEMPT TO STEAL GAINESVILLE REGIONAL UTILITIES FROM CITIZENS OF GAINESVILLE
Gainesville, FL - On Thursday, March 16th at noon, workers from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 3170, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) 1579, who represent the majority of City of Gainesville and Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) workers; the North Central Florida Central Labor Council (NCFCLC), NAACP of Alachua County, American Federation of Employees Local 2779, Alachua County Labor Coalition (ACLC), Sierra Club Suwannee St. Johns Chapter, & League of Women Voters of Alachua County joined together in front of Gainesville City Hall to condemn the recently announced bill by Representative Chuck Clemons that would lead to an undemocratic Tallahassee takeover of Gainesville Regional Utilities.
Tomorrow, Rep. Chuck Clemons, as Chair of the Alachua County Legislative Delegation, will hold an official hearing of the delegation for this local bill in Tallahassee, - over 120 miles from the locality the bill is impacting. This is a slap in the face to the citizens of Alachua County.
Rep Clemons GRU Tallahassee Takeover bill would inject an unelected, unaccountable board with unlimited power in between the citizens and their public utility. The Governor would have the sole power to appoint or remove board members. Meaning, there is no public oversight and zero local accountability, all while giving them virtually unlimited power over GRU and our rates.
Together, we call on our local delegation to:
- Allow the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) process to finish
- Have a real local public hearing in Gainesville
- Require a local referendum
Our local labor leaders strongly condemn the bill:
- Robert Arnold, President of CWA 3170, the union that represents all the workers at GRU and many General Government workers had this to say: “The GRU Tallahassee Takeover is fundamentally an anti-worker bill. This unelected and unaccountable board would have unlimited power to lower wages, decrease benefits, and slash pensions. We are proud to work for GRU because it means we are working for our community, for our neighbors. If Chuck Clemons cared about us, he’d move that meeting here and actually talk to us but he won’t because he doesn’t care about us workers and he obviously doesn’t care about the voters.”
- Zef Durham, President of ATU 1579, the union that represents the workers at Gainesville’s Regional Transit System, said: “The right of citizens to have a say in local matters is a fundamental American right. In 2018 they thought citizens deserved that right, what’s changed? Why not let the voters decide?”
- Lanny Mathis, President of the North Central Florida Central Labor Council pointed out “GRU has higher bond ratings than all of Florida’s private utilities, so the idea that we need this because GRU is about to go under is just laughable. According to Moody's, GRU's bonds are rated higher than Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy, Tampa Bay Electric, NextEra Energy.
- Bobby Mermer, Executive Director of the Alachua County Labor Coalition stated “Rep. Chuck Clemons’ giveaway to Florida Power & Light is a direct attack not only on GRU and Gainesville city workers, it is a threat to home rule in all of Florida’s cities and counties. FP&L tried and failed to take over JEA in Jacksonville. So, this time they’re going after the little guy but make no mistake, they won’t stop with Gainesville.”