The United Firefighters Union of Puerto Rico (SBUPR) approved in an Extraordinary Assembly in Isabela a resolution in support and solidarity with the workers of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (AEE), affected by the contract awarded by the Government of Rich port to LUMA Energy, LLC for the administration of this public corporation, reported this Tuesday José Tirado, president of the union.
The resolution calls on Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and the Legislature to terminate, amend or renegotiate the LUMA Energy contract, to secure and retain jobs in the EEA, the rights acquired for decades by the workers as well as the permanence of the Union of Workers of the Electrical Industry and Irrigation (UTIER).
“The UTIER is made up of those men and women, who we must not forget, who have contributed in a sustainable way to the industrial and social development of Puerto Ricans, have been present risking their lives, perched on poles, stairs and helicopters at high altitudes to bring electricity to every corner of our beloved Puerto Rico, ”the unanimously approved resolution states.
For Tirado “the Government has a responsibility to safeguard and protect all these workers, their employment, their rights and conquests, as they have served our people well and with great sacrifice.”
“Our call to the Government is to ensure that public servants no longer throw overboard all the sacrifice that AEE workers have made to our people in difficult times,” Tirado said in a written statement.
Given the proximity of International Workers’ Day, which commemorates the 1st. May, we urge the Governor and the Legislature to agree on “defending what is ours over big interests and bad experiments. Let’s not forget that LUMA Energy is a money-making company and we Puerto Ricans we have shown the ability, experience and strength to move forward even in the face of major catastrophes such as hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics, “concluded the president of the SBUPR.