Is the community not tired of the continual rate increases asked for by FortisBC to the BC Utilities commission? To the tune of 10 per cent since the beginning of this year. And just wait until the smart meters are put in and see what your bill is going to be.
We are not fortunate enough to have another utility provider that can force competition on Fortis. We as a consumer are under their control.
This is not a local corporation and therefore the ties to the community are not here. Already employees have quit FortisBC since this lockout and are employed elsewhere. So their dollar is no longer being spent in the community.
This corporation locks its employees out because they want to control them too and do not want to share the huge profits they make each and every year.
Do you really think a 2 per cent wage increase to the employees will bring this company to its knees when the CEO makes over $1.3 million dollars a year. I know wages aren’t the only bargaining chip on the table they are looking at but when CEO’s earn this much in one year while they have put employees out of work shows just how much they care about their employees and welfare of this community.
This lockout I’m quite sure is being felt in the downtown business core. I’m fortunate to have a job while my husband is on this lockout to help pay our bills and purchase food. There is no extra spending. Think about those that don’t have two incomes in the family household. Do you think FortisBC cares? They need to get back to the bargaining table and do it in good faith and think about the community they are affecting.
We as a whole need to send complaints to BC Utility Commissions and show our disagreement to these continual rates increases every year while this company locks out its employees and is still reaping huge profit. There is a link to input complaints online on BC Utility Commission webpage.
We’re surrounded by dams that produce electrical power, yet our rates are the highest. Does that not make you wonder what the heck is going on? One dam is 15 minutes up the road. Our rates should be the lowest since the power is right in our own backyard.
If the community at large backs the people that do their shopping here, that support this community whole-heartedly, then FortisBC will need to sit up and take notice that it’s not going to be tolerated now or in the future.
Make a stand today and help these men and women that have been without pay since the end of June.
Darcy AshbyWarfield