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What PG&E’s bankruptcy could mean for its 24,000 employees

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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 17: A Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) worker surveys a tree that came down on utility wires on January 17, 2019 in San Francisco, California. PG&E announced that they are preparing to file for bankruptcy at the end of January as they face an estimated $30 billion in legal claims for electrical equipment that might have been responsible for igniting destructive wildfires in California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 17: A Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) worker surveys a tree that came down on utility wires on January 17, 2019 in San Francisco, California. PG&E announced that they are preparing to file for bankruptcy at the end of January as they face an estimated $30 billion in legal claims for electrical equipment that might have been responsible for igniting destructive wildfires in California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s 24,000 employees don’t know what the company will look like when it emerges from its complex bankruptcy reorganization, a process it started Tuesday, but the largest worker union says it will oppose efforts to break up the business or make it publicly owned.

Tom Dalzell, the business manager of IBEW Local 1245, issued a statement after the company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, saying his union, which represents 12,000 utility workers, will “staunchly oppose any sale, break-up, municipalization or change of ownership at PG&E.”

“Parceling out the utility into smaller, weaker segments would unquestionably have a negative impact on the safety and stability of both gas and electric service, it would increase costs, and it would decelerate progress towards California’s ambitious clean energy goals,” Dalzell said in the statement. “Furthermore, selling or municipalizing some or all of PG&E’s gas or electric transmission or distribution systems would not solve the overarching issue of climate change and the strict liability policies that have put PG&E and all other California utilities on an unsustainable trajectory.”

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The union is “fully committed” to protecting its members jobs, as well as their wages and benefits, during the Chapter 11 process, Dalzell said. PG&E leadership has said employees will remain working and continue to be paid and receive their health care benefits while the company is under bankruptcy protection.

In his statement, Dalzell also emphasized that claims from 2017 and 2018 wildfires, combined with the strict liability California imposes on utilities, are “the single largest cause of the company’s financial woes that have led them to this point.” He took aim at the legal doctrine known as inverse condemnation, under which PG&E can be held liable for wildfires caused by its equipment even if it wasn’t negligent.

“If left in place, this policy will continue to put an undue onus on all power utilities in California, regardless of ownership, and we urge state lawmakers to act quickly and decisively to reform inverse condemnation immediately,” Dalzell said in his statement.

The Engineers and Scientists of California, Local 20, IFPTE — a union representing 3,700 professional and technical employees at PG&E — also took aim at the state’s liability laws, which “will have to be dealt with as a financial situation,” the statement said.

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ESC Local 20 said the safety work of PG&E employees must continue.

“We all feel terrible for the losses from the wildfires. The employees of PG&E did not start those fires, and we have worked very hard to restore power to the people and communities who were affected,” Joel Foster, an Associate Distribution Engineer at PG&E and Secretary-Treasurer of ESC Local 20, said in the statement. “While PG&E may have to pay costs, it wouldn’t be fair if that comes from the pockets of employees.”

The union hopes the bankruptcy process provides for a “fair settlement of PG&E’s liabilities and debts” without hurting the employees “who keep the lights and heat on.”

“We just want to keep doing our jobs,” Foster said in the statement. “There is a lot of work to do, and if we do not keep working then risks will increase.”

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris

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J.D. Morris covers San Francisco City Hall, focused on Mayor London Breed. He joined the Chronicle in 2018 to cover energy and spent three years writing mostly about PG&E and California wildfires.

Before coming to The Chronicle, he reported on local government for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where he was among the journalists awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 2017 North Bay wildfires.

He was previously the casino industry reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Raised in Monterey County and Bakersfield, he has a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.

He can be reached at jd.morris@sfchronicle.com.