BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix took time out on Monday, July 18 to meet with over 130 MoveUP members from Accenture and BC Hydro.

The meeting was held at lunchtime in the Stride Elementary School auditorium in Burnaby. Burnaby NDP MLAs Kathy Corrigan and Raj Chouhan came as guests, as did Vancouver City Councillor George Chow.

MoveUP President David Black introduced Adrian Dix. Dix spoke to members and empathized with the uncertainty they face with the Accenture re-bid process still undetermined, smart meters being rolled out, and further threats to contract out BC Hydro jobs. He committed that an NDP government would do its best to bring outsourced jobs back into BC Hydro, although he did acknowledge that election timing would determine just how much an NDP government would be able to do to reverse the damage done by the Liberals.

Dix also raised the issue of the amount of money British Columbians are paying to independent power projects, as revealed in recently released financial reports. He noted that the BC Liberals were drawing an interesting contrast – they claim to be very worried about the $1.6 billion they say BC would lose by rejecting the HST, but are unconcerned about the $25 million in private power contracts for energy that will be surplus to BC’s needs.

Dix answered members’ questions on issues about their jobs, outsourcing, private power, smart meters, and the roles of crown corporations as economic engines and tools for good public policy. He also stayed behind to answer more questions after the formal meeting. This meeting marks the second time Dix has met specifically with MoveUP Accenture members after he and NDP Energy Critic John Horgan joined members for a meeting in downtown Vancouver in May.

MoveUP’s leadership has several times tried to meet with both Premier Christy Clark and Energy Minister Rich Coleman to discuss these issues. Clark and Coleman have not consented to meet with either the union, or our members.