1 min read

Season 2, Episode 41

Texans try to pick up the pieces after brutal winter weather

Working-Class Perspectives

 

Guest Name:


Ken Estey

Guest Website:


workingclassstudies.wordpress.com

Guest Social Media:


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Texans are facing a world of hardship now that their deregulated power sector was knocked out by a winter storm. They have been left to fend for themselves and pick up the pieces.

Ken Estey, a professor at Brooklyn College discussed the current situation in Texas, the related class issues, cost of repairs and what is being done to help Texans recover and more on America’s Work Force Union Podcast.

Outage outrage

Estey said the Texas power outage has shaped into a learning experience for other states, who may be considering deregulation of their power grid. It was this very deregulation that has led to price gouging, massive power provider profit and more.

He said wealthy Texans will be just fine, as they can afford the massively inflated power bills. Lower income individuals and families are having to sell assets and empty bank accounts in order to afford the bills.

Estey said he does not blame wealthy Texans for the outages and being able to afford the bills, but he lamented their path. He said many wealthy Americans only become so through connections, whether it be family or through experience. He added that the hard worker gets passed up for promotions or raises.

Cost of repair

Another result of the winter storm is extensive property damage. Since Texas does not normally face sustained cold temperatures, many insulation and mechanical protection measures are discarded.

Some community groups and labor unions have offered their help by donating material and labor throughout the state. Despite this help, Texans are expected to pick up the pieces themselves.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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