By Sally Jane Black
The Sewerage and Water Board has in the past month caused two explosions, one in the French Quarter and one at the Carrollton plant in Uptown, where two workers were injured. They have considered pouring waste into the river. They have been charged with not paying payroll taxes to the IRS, and they continue to send excessive bills to workers in New Orleans. This is on top of the criminal neglect they have subjected the city to for more than a decade, culminating in repeated flooding, billing issues and cut-offs, boil advisories, and—inevitably—more scandals to come. After claiming the drainage basins were clear for years, they found not one, but two entire cars clogging one of the canals.
These failures would be funny if they weren’t hurting workers. But every flood means someone’s home or transportation is destroyed. Every boil advisory means health risks for the elderly, immune-compromised, and children. Polluting the river would mean ecological disaster in a city already overwhelmed by toxic air, soil, and water. The broken billing system leaves workers unable to pay bills and keep the water on. No one can even predict whether their water will be turned off or not. And the fines and fees for the lost payroll taxes will be passed on to the rate-payers.
The S&WB should serve the people, not the rich. The New Orleans Workers Group demands that the bosses at the Sewerage and Water Board be held accountable and charged for their assault on the workers of New Orleans, and that billing be suspended until a reasonable system is in place. All outstanding debts by working class residents should be canceled. The bosses at the S&WB cannot continue to punish the citizens of New Orleans for their own incompetence and greed.