Unions are wary of the City of Superior’s recent push to municipalize the city’s water supply currently controlled by Superior Water, Light & Power Co. 

“It doesn’t make general sense to us,” said Kristin Renskers, business manager for IBEW 31. The union represents about 50 employees at SWLP. “Two thirds of them touch the water system in some way, and we’ve had this private sector contract for 100 years. They’re good jobs.”

There are multiple concerns about taking the utility public, union officials say. Act 10 is still in effect in Wisconsin, severely hampering public sector union efforts to organize and bargain.

Renskers said Superior city officials have reached out to the union, saying the wage rate will stay the same. “They don’t seem to know that the rest of the package, the terms and benefits, are equally important.” 

Kyle Bukovich, president of the Northern Wisconsin Building and Trades Council, added that SWLP, as a private entity, is not tied to imperfect bidding requirements for projects as the city is. Project Labor Agreements are banned on public projects in Wisconsin, and taking the utility public could make it become vulnerable to low-bid out-of-state contractors for projects.

This is a developing story and will be updated.