[P3 Alert] P3 Alert September 2003

[p3alert@lists.cupe.ca]

Blackout illuminates privatization?s fatal flaws

The Ontario power blackout ? the worst in North American history ? is a serious wake-up call, showing how fragile the province?s electricity system has become after being dismantled, deregulated and handed in part to corporations.

Canadians don?t want banks owning hospitals

A new poll shows that while there?s work to do raising awareness about P3s, once Canadians find out what they are, the majority oppose private corporations owning and operating schools, hospitals, roads and other public services.

Call to open books in Alberta

Strong support for public scrutiny of P3s is good news for CUPE members across Canada, including those in Alberta.

Keeping pension funds out of P3 hospitals

CUPE is continuing its fight to keep members? deferred wages from funding for-profit health care. CUPE Ontario recently joined forces with the three other unions with members in OMERS (the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) to oppose any pension fund investment in the provincial Tories? latest P3 scheme, a privatized addiction and mental health facility in Toronto.

P3 hospital already late

Recent revelations in Brampton poke a hole in the privateers? loud claims that P3 hospitals are delivered ?on time and on budget.?

BC: shining a light on transit privateers

CUPE is stepping up the pressure on the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority (TransLink) to come clean on the true costs ? and the real risks ? of the new Richmond-Airport-Vancouver (RAV) rapid transit link.

P3 housing will help the rich, not the poor

The Newfoundland government, already looking to privatize long-term care, is swinging open the door to P3s in social housing.

Harbour cleanup construction starts

Halifax?s harbour cleanup is moving ahead ? and it?s still a P3-free project. A local construction firm is building a collection system for three new sewage treatment plants.

Accenture loses contract in Ontario

Members of CUPE 1750 are celebrating after pushing the private consulting giant Accenture out of their workplace, Ontario?s Workers? Safety and Insurance Board.

The price of private care

There?s more evidence for-profit health services drain money from care. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that administering American health care costs more than three times as much as in Canada.

Big privatization pusher steps back

One of the biggest global privatization pushers has stepped off its soapbox, publishing a report that admits privatization is not the answer to the world?s services needs. While the World Bank report isn?t a manifesto to renationalize sold-off services, it does document corruption, reduced accountability, harm done to poor people and lower-than-demanded profits for corporations.

New ways of winning online

Add a new bookmark to your internet anti-privatization toolkit: the materials from CUPE?s national anti-privatization conference, New Ways of Winning, are now available online.