Mexican Federal Police have seized the plants of the Central Light and Power Company of Mexico, which provides electricity to Mexico City and several states in central Mexico. The government of President Felipe Calderón announced that the company would be liquidated and all its approximately 45,000 workers fired, which would mean the destruction of the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME). SME has asked for international solidarity in resisting the government liquidation of their company, the termination of the workers, and thus the destruction of the union.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a not-for-profit organisation, has developed solid guidelines which companies should use in drafting their annual reports. Company annual reports are being increasingly scrutinised by a wide range of actors to help ensure that companies are responsible actors. They can also be used by unions to strengthen the union position on a range of issues – outsourcing, health and safety, training, etc. PSI worked with GRI or more than two years to develop GRI’s Electric Utilities Sector Supplement. We urge you to recommend this supplement to management and to examine especially the social indicators to ensure that workers' views are considered in the reporting.

Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Join today to start receiving energyunions's updates.

The US waste incineration company Covanta Energy is seeking to take over the waste division of Dutch Essent. Essent wants to sell this company as part of its take-over by RWE, the German energy company. Covanta has a history of environmental, health and safety, and labour relations violations in the US.

Greg McLean (PSI APREC Utilities Coordinator/ASU Assistant National Secretary) and Bobet Corral (PSIRU Asia) were in PSI APRO Singapore from 8 to 9 October 2008. They invited by PSI AP Regional Secretary, Katsuhiko Sato, to facilitate internal discussion and strategic action on a controversial power contract signed in Indonesia recently between state-owned power company (PLN) and an independent power producer/IPP (PT PEC).

South Africa is suffering an electricity crisis. Blackouts have been widespread and the impact disastrous. Electricity supply is predicted to constrain growth for at least the next five years. How could this have occurred when until recently South Africa had a surplus of cheap electricity?

Around five thousand workers joined the anti-privatisation or anti-unbundling mass rally in Jakarta, Indonesia on 30 January. They came from all over the country to protest against the decision of PLN Stakeholders on January 8, 2008 to sell its generator plant.

Energy and Water Unions from Latin America met in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 28-30 October and agreed on a list of priority actions for the region.

Speaking at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD14), PSI has argued that one of the major barriers to improving access to services is government policy premised on privatisation.

In early 2004, massive protests led by workers from the state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand snowballed into a much broader anti-privatisation movement that increasingly challenged the Prime Minister’s plans to privatise public utilities in energy and water.

Manthan in India has just published a new publication called "Public-Private Partnerships in Water Sector: Partnerships or Privatisation?". The report looks at various aspects of PPPs and analyses the arguments given in favor of PPPs, the structural issues with PPPs and the larger governance issues associated with PPPs like transparency, people’s participation, access to information and regulation. It also looks for evidence and experiences of PPP projects in various parts of the world. It draws lessons that need to be learnt and cautions that need to be taken on board when advocating PPPs in public services like water and sanitation.

This PSIRU report looks at problems caused by energy privatisation in the Asia-Pacific region. Companies which were supposed to provide the solution to Asia’s power needs are now withdrawing their money and expertise. The World Bank and development banks have acknowledged their policies are failing. Between half and three-quarters of their money has been consumed by the bureaucracy of restructuring, instead of the needs of developing countries.

PSI-sponsored research paper (from Public Services International Research Unit) which details the many problems with privatisation in energy across the world.

Resistance to privatisation and deregualtion is increasing and is taking many forms. The labour movement works with NGOs, community groups, regulators and politicians to block the privatisation and to ensure quality public services.