Nationalise the Utilities Campaign

Re-nationalise NIE How many of you as NIE customers realise that you are paying for a £24million computer and administrative system that is lying idle?  By Warren McCullough The quango that is the Utility Regulator set this system up two years ago to create a domestic electricity market in Northern Ireland, supposedly to introduce ‘competition’. The cost of this farce is being shouldered by households who are paying around £100 more than they were at this time last year.

On top of this the Utility Regulator has squandered over £6million on ‘consultant’ fees. The result of all this is Northern Ireland has the highest electricity prices throughout Ireland and Britain, with price increases of 42% since last year! The Utility Regulator is a joke. You can be sure he hasn’t had to choose whether to eat or heat. Single people, single parents, unemployed families, struggling working families, have all had to make these choices.

The worst hit were our pensioners, more than 500 perished because of the incompetence of those who are supposed to help us. Maybe it is time the Socialist Party had a more permanent presence outside the Regulator’s office.

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

In depth - World Economy

Next Article

Support for campaign unsettles NIE

Related Posts

Civil Service: We want equal pay now!

THE LOWEST paid staff in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) are angry and frustrated that more than a year after the Assembly First Minister Peter Robinson publicly admitted that they had been discriminated against for decades, they are still waiting for the money they are owed. Some continue to be underpaid by as much as £5,000 per year.   

Their fury has led them to take matters into their own hands and a template letter to MLAs has spread like wildfire. They have organised meetings with political parties and one of those directly led to a debate in the Assembly and the passing of a motion which called on Nigel Dodds to ensure that staff receive the money they are owed within three months. The DUP amendment which sought to remove the three month deadline was withdrawn when it was clear there was no justification for the delay. 

Special needs summer schemes cuts overturned

In the opening battle against budget cuts in education, campaigners won an important victory by forcing education bosses to reverse their decision to slash summer schemes for special needs children.

In June, it was announced that the schemes were to be cut from two weeks to one and that special needs transport was withdrawn altogether. This vicious attack on children was answered by trade union members, who alongside parents and Socialist Party members, immediately mounted a militant campaign in late June and early July. A petition was raised, protests were held in Newry, Armagh and Lisburn and the campaign received good media coverage and public support rocketed.