Consumers Win as Rialto Council Rejects Water Privatization Scheme

Consumers and the working men and women in Rialto, Calif., won a major victory last night as  the City Council rejected a proposed 30-year lease of the c ity’s water and wastewater system to American Water. The Utility Workers (UWUA), which represents 2,500 American Water employees across the country, mobilized community opposition to the proposed scheme.
More than 300 Rialto citizens packed the City Council chambers and two overflow rooms to speak out against the deal, which would have increased water rates in the city by more than 84 percent in only two years. The defeated proposal also would have required the city to pay American Water more than $23 million every year in service fees and capital charges.
“This is a huge victory for Rialto ratepayers,” said UWUA President Michael Langford.

We believe that turning over the community’s public water system to American Water would clearly have been a bad deal for working families in Rialto.

The UWUA worked with Rialto residents over the past month to mobilize opposition to the privatization scheme.  Many UWUA members live in Rialto and in nearby communities.
The action in Rialto is part of a major commitment by the union members at American Water to  partner with community groups and others to oppose company conduct that is harmful to consumers. UWUA members and community activists have helped defeat the company’s takeover of a suburban system in Trenton, N.J., and blocked the layoff of 10 percent of the water workforce in West Virginia.