The Superior City Council voted on Sept. 1 to put a referendum question on the April ballot asking whether the city should take over SWL&P's management of the water utility, and the IBEW is wary of it.
“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.”

The council voted 8-1 to take the question to voters. The main explanation was that an accurate cost of a takeover cannot be calculated by a public board without starting the referendum process. The wording approved by the council was “Should the City transition to a community-owned water utility in the event that the value of the utility, as determined by the Public Service Commission, falls within the City’s financial means?”

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.
“We think this is something that’s likely to be more complicated and costly than at first glance, and there’s a lot of inherent risk,” Renskers said. “The proposal out there is a bit vague. Our greatest concern is that voters have the correct and accurate information to make their decisions.”
At a presentation in July, Superior Mayor Jim Paine said it makes sense for the city to take over SWLP’s duties, as it is currently managing the city’s stormwater utility, and that making the change would lower costs for city residents.
“Public water utilities don’t pay profits, high executive salaries, or taxes,” he said. “It costs more now because all expenses are passed on to you — high executive salaries, state, local and federal taxes, and profits.”
Paine said the costs of purchasing the utility would be paid for through refinancing current debts the city holds.
Bill Fennessey, who worked for SPWL for 40 years, is a member of Superior Community Coalition, a coalition of residents, businesses and Labor organizations that got its start last year working with the city government to resolve issues around lead in water lines. 
Fennessy stressed that the utility is not up for a sale; the city is trying to leverage an “adversarial purchase,” and he said he believes there is a gap between the city’s estimates of what the purchase price would be and what a fair-market assessment might come up with. “After 137 years, why rush to November when you don’t know the final cost?”
Eric Callisto is former public service commissioner for the state of Wisconsin and currently a regulatory advisor and lawyer. He said municipalization of utilities can be a useful and important step, but that he sees it only when the utility is distressed and needs to be rescued, which he said is not the case for SWLP.
Callisto raised other questions that he said have not been answered: Water intake for SWLP is in the state of Minnesota. “It’s an open question whether the City of Superior is allowed to take through adverse process to get the source of water in another state,” he said. In addition, customers in the Village of Superior would be in a legal limbo regarding their service. 
On August 18, the city council discussed whether to file a public notice that a referendum for the municipalization process could appear on the ballot in April 2027. 
Cory Strem has been a SWPL employee for 20 years as an IBEW 31 member. “This trying to take over the water is going after our livelihood and gambling with our pension,” Strem said. He stressed that councilors had not approached the workers themselves about their opinion or how they like working for SWPL. “We love it,” he said. “We’re treated right and fair. The IBEW is a strong union, we stick together, and the company has a strong relationship with the union. We have a president for our company, not a CEO, who comes and talks to the employees and asks us how we’re doing. I don’t get that from the city. Workers aren’t going to want to come and work for a place that’s been bashing us for months.”
Renskers also spoke at that meeting. “Our members work across multiple utilities. SWL&P distributes their costs while making their skills and experience available to each utility…There is no credible scenario in which a takeover benefits these employees.”
“We do not blindly trust any owner or investor. Utilities should be regulated. Owners should be accountable. Commitments should be enforced. As a union, we believe deeply in those principles. Major public decisions should be based on evidence. This takeover does not punish BlackRock. BlackRock will not lose its pension. BlackRock will not lose its collective bargaining agreement. We will.”