From Public Servants To Corporate Employees: The BC Government's Alternative Service Delivery Plan in Practice
This report examines two cases of alternative service delivery (ASD) to assess the impact on customer service and the quality of working life for the outsourced workers in BC. Our findings suggest that, contrary to the government's claim that "this is alternative service delivery, not privatization," ASD is a form of privatization. ASD allows partnerships to form between the government and companies that specialize in outsourcing, changing the culture and delivery of public services.
This paper looks at how outsourcing has impacted government services and affected the economic security of the workers involved by focusing on two case studies:
• Outsourcing of "back office" work at BC Hydro to Accenture, including customer services, IT services, human resources, financial systems, purchasing, and buildings services; and
• Outsourcing of administration of the Medical Services Plan and PharmaCare to Maximus.
In both cases, work previously done by public sector employees is now administered by a multinational for-profit corporation.