https://themilitant.com/2020/04/11/pge-bosses-cop-a-plea-to-manslaughter-in-fire-deaths/
PG&E bosses cop a plea to manslaughter in fire deaths
article
BY JEFF POWERS
Vol. 84/No. 15
April 20, 2020
MILITANT/ERIC SIMPSON Joel Britton, left, currently SWP candidate for
U.S. Congress, speaks with carpenter Tony Worino in his RV at Camp Fire
refugee camp
in Chico, California, in December 2018. figure
Joel Britton, left, currently SWP candidate for U.S. Congress, speaks
with carpenter Tony Worino in his RV at Camp Fire refugee camp in Chico,
California,
in December 2018.
MILITANT/ERIC SIMPSON Joel Britton, left, currently SWP candidate for
U.S. Congress, speaks with carpenter Tony Worino in his RV at Camp Fire
refugee camp
in Chico, California, in December 2018. figure end
OAKLAND, Calif. — On March 23 Pacific Gas & Electric bosses struck a
plea bargain with the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, saying
they would admit
guilt on felony counts stemming from the deadly 2018 Camp Fire and pay a
$4 million fine. The deal avoids jail time for company officers who
plead guilty
to 84 counts of manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing the fire.
PG&E has already been convicted of felony in previous fires. In 2017 the
company was found guilty on six felony charges after a pipeline
explosion killed
eight people and injured dozens more in the San Francisco suburb of San
Bruno.
Have you ever heard of another case where someone skips prison after
admitting to killing people, not once but twice?
The November 2018 Camp Fire was the most devastating fire in California
history. Before it was contained, 154,000 acres had been burned, over
15,000 structures
were destroyed, the town of Paradise had been leveled and over 80 people
were dead.
PG&E bosses had consciously failed to maintain their equipment or to
clear combustible dry brush near their transmission lines to save money.
When one
100-year-old line came down in a dry spell, the resulting fire raced out
of control.
Last December, PG&E agreed to a $13.5 billion settlement for victims of
the Camp Fire, the 2015 Butte Fire and a number of other fires the
company has
been held responsible for over the past several years. PG&E declared
bankruptcy in January 2019, saying it faced potential liabilities of $30
billion.
Management hopes that the settlement will improve its prospects for
emerging from bankruptcy before a court-imposed deadline in June.
Half of the $13.5 billion is to come from PG&E stock, which has lost 57
percent of its value since February. The PG&E bankruptcy court plans to
make a
final ruling on the proposal by the end of May, and the deal can still
unravel. Already three members of the court-appointed 11-member panel of
fire victims
have resigned in opposition to the agreement.
Julie Whited lost almost everything she owned in the Camp Fire. She and
her family narrowly escaped Paradise in their cars the day of the
inferno. Whited,
a member of Communications Workers of America, works in a domestic
violence abuse center in Chico.
“I don’t think that $13.5 billion is enough,” Whited told the Militant
in a phone interview. “So many people were affected by the fires and
they will
never be able to replace what they lost.
“I was lucky,” she continued. “For many months after my home in Paradise
was destroyed I was taken in by friends who live in Chico and I slept on
their
couch. I will always be grateful for their kindness.
“Tying our money to the value of PG&E stock is stupid,” Whited said. “My
lawyer says to expect the money no sooner than early summer. There is no
telling
where the stock value will be at that time.”
‘For workers control of production’
“PG&E management was responsible for the devastating Camp Fire and
others,” said Joel Britton, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S.
Congress from
California in the 13th District. “Management had known for years that
the power line that started the fire needed to be replaced. Their
criminal negligence
was the cause of the catastrophe.
“The settlement doesn’t do anything to address the main question at
hand,” Britton said. “Workers know what is safe and what is dangerously
unsafe. We
need to organize ourselves to fight when the bosses create a problem.
Out of these battles our unions will be transformed. PG&E should be
nationalized
under workers control.
“The PG&E bosses and the California and federal governments lie to
working people about their production costs and profits,” Britton said.
“We should demand
they open their books for inspection by workers and consumers. We need
to organize in our millions to fight for workers control of production,
which will
be a school for learning how to run the economy for ourselves in the
interests of all, and a step toward taking political power into our own
hands.”
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IN THIS ISSUE
Front Page Articles
list of 7 items
• Join fights for jobs, higher wages, better conditions!
• Demand mass public works program to provide jobs!
• Bangladesh: Workers fight moves to shut off jobs, pay
• PG&E bosses cop a plea to manslaughter in fire deaths
• Use Militant to advance discussions on the class-struggle road forward
• Dairy farmers forced to dump milk while stores are running out
• As 2020 elections take a time out, Congress passes bailout for bosses
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Feature Articles
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• US rulers deploy the National Guard, target workers’ jobs, rights
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Also In This Issue
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• Cuba vs US: Counterposed class approaches to human solidarity
• Workers say ‘Yes!’ to giving ‘blood money’ to build SWP
• Toilers face brutal attacks from governments in Africa
• Frank Gorton: Over five decades building the communist movement
• Strike against Asarco union busting continues
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Books of the Month
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• Fidel: ‘Voluntary work was one of best things Che left us’
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25, 50 and 75 years ago
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Thomas Paine
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― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
