Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP)

In July 2011, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (which administers the pensions for 178,000 public school teachers, principals and school administrators, and pays pensions to 117,000 retirees) increased its ownership of Chilean private water utilities Essbio and Esval from 50.83 percent and 69.4 percent respectively to 95 percent ownership.

Blog updates:

Ontario teachers must support water justice in Chile
NEWS: Ontario teacher owned water utilities to be 95% privatized in July
NEWS: Protests for public education in Chile, while OTPP buys up private water utilities
Search blog posts related to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan here ».

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan investing in private, for-profit water services in Chile

In Canada and around the world there is clear evidence that the privatization of water services has meant:

Rate hikes and cut-offs to low income households
Violation or elimination of environmental regulation
Reduction in quality of services
Lay-offs and poor labour standards

Public private partnerships (P3s) are often used to privatize water services. Click here to read more about P3s.

Water is a human right and a public resource. Privatization restricts access to water – a vital life resource – to those who can afford to pay for it.

This is why the Council of Canadians has launched a campaign calling on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) to stop investing in private, for-profit water services in Chile.

How is the OTPP involved in water privatization in Chile?

In August 2007, the OTPP invested in Chilean water utilities ESSBIO, ANSM and ESVAL through its investment unit, Inversiones Southwater. OTPP actively participates in the running of these private companies, with two representatives on each of the boards. Since 2007, Southwater has added further acquisitions and now controls 37 per cent of the private water services market in Chile. This investment is worth $1.1 billion.

What are the impacts?

Within a decade, Chile went from almost entirely publicly-run water services in 1998 to 97 per cent private services by 2008.

Rate hikes:
The government admits that within the first few years of privatization water rates rose by 20 per cent. But many groups contend that the rates are even higher than the government figures. The Chilean Organization of Consumers and Users did a review of 15,000 water bills in Chile’s 6th Region and found increases between 100 and 200 per cent. Those who couldn’t afford to pay the higher bills had their water services cut-off. Protests against the rate hikes were organized around the country, according to the organization.

Private water corporations are currently negotiating even stiffer tariff hikes.

Reduction in workforce:
Trained water workers are vital to providing good quality water services to communities around the world. Since water services were privatized in Chile, 30 per cent of the workforce was laid off as a result of cost-cutting measures by the private corporations.

Loss of public control:

The privatization of water services is only one aspect of the privatization of water in Chile. Water is bought and sold on a market system in Chile where communities and small farmers are outbid by large multinational corporations.

Click here to see the letter by Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow to the president of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation.

Click here for a fact sheet on the OTPP's investment in water privatization in Chile.

Pension Update: Ontario Teachers' Federation holds meeting with Maude Barlow and Council of Canadians, March 3, 2010

PLEDGE FOR TEACHERS/FORMER TEACHERS

Given that water is a human right and a public resource that must not be turned into a commodity and distributed according to one’s ability to pay.

Given that experiences with privatization of water services around the world have deprived communities, and particularly lower income households from exercising their right to clean safe drinking water and sanitation.

Given that privatization has resulted in a loss of public accountability and deprived communities from exercising their right to participate in decisions about community water resources.

Given that the privatization of water services in Chile has prevented communities from maintaining public control over water services and resources, lowered environmental and labour standards and resulted in rate hikes and cut-offs.

Given that the private water investments are a threat to efforts being made by Chilean social justice, environmental and labour groups to have water recognized as a human right within the Chilean constitution,

I call on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, as a teacher/former teacher, to defend the right to public water services by divesting from Chile’s water markets.