March 26, 2002 – As the Water and Power Authority board of trustees met in executive session Tuesday morning upstairs in the WAPA building on St. Thomas, more than 75 employees of the utility demonstrated on the sidewalk outside.
The protest was in part against what the workers say is a plan to hire outside personnel as line workers to handle the streetlight responsibilities recently transferred to WAPA from the Public Works Department, something the utility's executive director, Joseph Thomas, said Tuesday morning is not so. The demonstrators also said they are short staffed and some workers are being required to do dangerous work for which they are not qualified.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull arrived at the site around noon and spoke with the protesters for about 20 minutes before going upstairs to the conference room where the board was meeting in closed session.
Hubert Turnbull, president of the WAPA Employees Association, said the protest was "to let the public know what the condition is. We have linemen who have already been able to work on streetlights. There is no reason for anybody else to do this work. We can do this work." He said for the utility to contract out the street lighting work would be "spending money that should stay in the Virgin Islands."
Protesters were outside the building before the 9 a.m. scheduled start of the board meeting. They chanted and carried signs directed against Thomas and Glen Byron, the utility's human services director. Placards read "Send Thomas back to Georgia," "Thomas must go," "Byron must go" and "Don't satisfy customers; satisfy workers, too."
One read "Thomas and Crooked 7 must go," a reference to the WAPA board. Another said "Don't sell out workers; bring back Bruno" — a reference to Alberto Bruno-Vega, who was WAPA's executive director in the late 1980s and early '90s.
Ira Hobson, Housing Parks and Recreation commissioner and a member of the WAPA board, called the Office of the Governor at mid-morning and reported to the group that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull was in a meeting but promised he would come to the WAPA headquarters in Sub Base at noon.
Four senators — Donald "Ducks" Cole, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Carlton Dowe and Celestino A. White Sr., were already there.
When Turnbull arrived, he told the protesters, many of whom crowded around him, "I'm here to hear what you have to say."
The employees told the governor that management is not replacing personnel who retire, the utility is short staffed, and some are working above their job level, doing dangerous work they should not be doing. They complained that Thomas and Byron do not communicate with them.
Hubert Turnbull said the workers have two demands: the ouster of Thomas and Byron and assurance that those demonstrating not be reprimanded or have their pay docked for the day.
The governor responded that he doesn't have the power to fire the executive director; only the board of trustees can do that. Then he said, "I'm going to go upstairs and meet with the board and tell them everything you've told me." He added, "I'm not going to promise things I can't come through on. That is how I am."
All four senators trooped up the stairs with the governor to the second-floor conference room.
At one point Tuesday morning, electricity was cut off to the second-floor conference room where the board was meeting, as well as to the adjacent executive offices and the first-floor customer service offices. As of 1 p.m., the power had not been restored and the board was meeting in the dark.
The board had been scheduled to go into executive session at the start of its meeting and by 1 p.m. still was meeting behind closed doors. In the morning, as the demonstrators demanded that the board members hear their concerns, board chair Carol Burke went down to the street level and told the workers that the board would vote on whether to interrupt the meeting to hear their grievances. Shortly thereafter, the protesters were told that the board had voted against doing so.
The workers say WAPA has requests for proposals (RFP's) out for the streetlight work and that the utility plans to hire outsiders for the work. In brief comments outside the board meeting room Tuesday morning, Thomas said that is not true.
He also said workers were mistaken in thinking that he had "instructed" the board to vote against meeting with the employees. "The board has procedures that they [the workers] must follow," he said, adding that he is willing to meet with them "but this is not the way to go about it." He said the workers "could have presented grievances in a procedure that has to be followed."
According to Hubert Turnbull, "We used to have about 20 linemen" in the days when power outages were more common. "Now we have four."
Thomas has said previously that additional costs WAPA will incur in taking over responsibility for the territory's streetlight will have to be borne by customers in the form of a surcharge of $1.80 on their monthly electric bills.
Hubert Turnbull said another part of the protest is that "We have the employees working in an unsafe situation." He did not elaborate.
The union employees said the demonstration was not a work stoppage and that all of their jobs were covered Tuesday morning.
Thomas earlier scheduled three WAPA "town meetings" this month to engage in dialogue with the community on St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas about the utility. The third and final meeting is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Palms Court Harborview Hotel. It's open to the public.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
