BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Central Alabama Water’s decision to cut 135 jobs in a sweeping reorganization has triggered protests from laid-off workers and sharp criticism from a Birmingham state lawmaker who is calling the move a modern-day form of Jim Crow.
The utility, formerly known as Birmingham Water Works, announced Friday that it was eliminating 135 positions — about 23% of its staff — and scrapping 76 vacant jobs in what CEO Jeffrey Thompson described as an “absolutely necessary” restructuring to shore up the agency’s finances and save more than $20 million a year in labor costs. Public-facing offices were closed while employees were called in, handed paperwork and told it was their last day, with some workers saying they were close to retirement when they were let go.
Outside the utility’s Birmingham facility, laid-off employees have protested and chanted that they were “fired for being Black,” saying the reductions fell disproportionately on Black workers and longtime staff. In interviews with local television stations, some former employees said they believe the decisions were “based solely on race” and accused top management of favoring more affluent, whiter suburbs over the largely Black communities that make up much of the system’s customer base.
State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, a Birmingham Democrat who opposed the Legislature’s takeover of the water system last year, has amplified those concerns, saying Black workers are being “crucified for being Black” and comparing the situation to a new Jim Crow in live social media videos and public comments. Givan has argued that the layoffs and earlier policy changes — including stricter drug testing and an end to recognition of the long-standing employee association — reflect a hostile environment toward Black employees under the new state-driven leadership.
Central Alabama Water has framed the cuts as a financial decision, not a racial one, citing a recent credit rating downgrade and warning of long-term pressure on the utility’s budget. The agency did not release a breakdown of the racial makeup of the affected workers in its initial statements, and no public data have yet been disclosed that independently confirm or refute claims that Black employees were targeted at higher rates.
Worker advocates say the layoffs cap months of tension between the new leadership and rank-and-file staff. The utility recently imposed mandatory drug testing that led to on-the-spot terminations and resignations, and the president of the employee association was fired after using a work computer to compile questions for a town hall meeting, according to organizers. One organizer with the Workers Assembly has called the environment “toxic” and accused the CEO and board of “playing political games with our lives” as they carry out the restructuring.
The turmoil follows a 2025 state law that shifted control of the then-Birmingham Water Works Board away from the city after years of billing problems and management disputes, rebranding it as Central Alabama Water and installing new leadership. Since the change, the utility has faced multiple lawsuits, internal conflicts and credit pressure, with S&P Global placing it on negative watch while citing aging infrastructure, reduced cash reserves and leadership turnover.
For now, the sharpest language around race is coming from laid-off employees and Givan, who is running for mayor and has long cast the state’s intervention in the water system as a political power grab that threatens Black workers and ratepayers. In the absence of detailed public data on who was laid off, their claims — and her description of the restructuring as a new Jim Crow — remain allegations that have not been substantiated by independent analysis.