Unite campaigners to protest outside UK Power Network’s Sussex head office in ‘demonstration against company greed’

Campaigners will protest outside Energy House, Hazelwick Avenue in Three Bridges between midday and 1.30pm.

Profiteering by the biggest electricity distributor in the South East is hurting local communities in Crawley, according to Unite.

Unite said workers at the company are having to demand a cost of living pay rise despite huge profits

Over the last four years, UK Power Networks made profits of £2.4 billion, according to Unite. As these profits soar so do the number of Crawley residents living in food poverty, Unite added.

Unite’s survey, conducted by leading polling company Survation, showed that 20% of Crawley’s population - 23,700 people - suffer food poverty.

Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “Workers and communities are being hit hard by excessive profiteering. The behaviour of UK Power Networks is a prime example of that. The British economy is broken.”

The research conducted for Unite also found that 28% of residents in Crawley - 33,180 people - have either gone into debt or increased their levels of debt in order to meet the increased cost of grocery items.

According to the survey there are 15,405 (13%) residents in Crawley who are not able to pay their household bills this year.

But UK Power Networks, owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Group, had an average operating profit margin of over 50% between 2017 and 2021, almost five times higher than the FTSE-100 average, according to Unite.

This means that the energy bills of one-in-four households in the UK are being inflated by UK Power Network’s excessive profits, in turn hurting communities like Crawley, Unite added.

But it’s not just consumers, workers at the company are having to demand a cost of living pay rise when inflation is at a 40 year high, Unite continued. Unite said that, despite the company’s profits, UK Power Networks is trying to deny the workers a fair increase.

Sharon Graham continued: “It’s time to challenge the profiteers like UK Power Networks and end corporate greed. Workers and communities must join together to demand higher wages and freedom from fuel and food poverty.

“Unite the Union is now developing its strategy to build power from the workplace to the community.

“Unite has established permanent bases on the ground in Crawley to work with workers within their communities to deliver an economy that works for them.”

A UK Power Networks spokesperson said: “UK Power Networks is making significant investment to maintain reliable supplies and support the low carbon transition, and our average cost to customers is less than £100 a year (2021/22). Our costs are set to fall 7% in real terms during the next five years, while earning a 5% return.

“We have kept our part of the bill among the lowest in the country while achieving better than 99% reliability of power supplies and 93% customer satisfaction.

“We support our employees and recognise their key role in this. Most of our employees have received above inflation pay increases over recent years and constructive pay negotiations continue to finalise a new pay settlement that is fair and affordable.”