Recently in Overview/General Category

Source: District Council 37 Public Employee Press, July-August 2009

Includes multiple articles on contracting out:

• Our fight against contracting out moves to the streets
• Local leaders testify on budget/ Battling layoffs and contracting out
• Mobilize / Stewards and political activists launch a campaign against contracting out and prepare for the fall election.

DC 37 Report: Massive Waste in a Time of Need (February 2009)

Source: Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee (CA), Tuesday, Jun. 9, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 3A

 

California's budget crisis - and government's tendency to spend every nickel it can - prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday to retroactively cancel contracts with private businesses to save money.

Source: By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene, Governing, June 2009


For some time now, many states, cities and counties have looked to save money by hiring contractors to perform governmental tasks. Debates raged over whether it was fair to government workers to give their jobs to others. People argued about the potential problems of having private companies run essential operations such as prisons. But few questions have been asked about whether real savings were inevitable.

It turns out that they're not.

Source: Mary Milz, Eyewitness News (IN), April 6, 2009 06:03 PM

 

Indianapolis - Mayor Greg Ballard is looking at privatizing some city services to save money, a move that could ultimately effect hundreds of city employees. His administration recently sent draft letters to three unions alerting them to the possibility.

..... Asked if the city was initiating the process to win further concessions, Reynolds said, "This is no way an effort to skirt the union process. It's about us sitting down with them at the early stages and talking about how we deliver services." "I think the numbers we'll show we're as efficient as it gets," said Steven Quick, president of AFSCME Local 725.

Source:By Helen Gao, Union-Tribune (CA), March 23, 2009

 

In November 2006, San Diego voters gave officials the power to let outside companies compete with city workers for government jobs as a way to save taxpayers money.  In November 2008, voters effectively took it away.  Voters elected three new council members averse to outsourcing. When asked during the campaign to name the first city department, if any, that he would outsource, then-candidate Todd Gloria answered flatly, "None."  The trio join three other council members who have opposed contracting out services, for a total of six out of the eight-member council.

Source: By Brad Bumsted, Tribune Review (PA), Friday, December 5, 2008

State leaders should look at cuts for the "country club" types providing financial and consulting services to the government before it freezes salaries or lays off workers, a top union leader said today.

..... The AFL-CIO statewide represents unions comprised of 910,000 workers. In state government, that includes the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters.

Source: By Gadi Dechter, Baltimore Sun (MD), November 26, 2008

With state and union officials set to talk as soon as next week about the possibility of public employee furloughs, labor leaders are arguing that officials should first look at cutting service contracts with non-state workers.

....... O'Malley administration officials said cuts to service contracts with private vendors have been part of the $2.2 billion in "reduced spending growth" achieved since O'Malley, a former Baltimore mayor elected with strong labor support, took office. "Unfortunately ... we are not left with any quick fixes or easy choices," said Rick Abbruzzese, an O'Malley spokesman. "All of this will be painful, but furloughs are a better alternative to layoffs, especially if the national economy continues to worsen."

Source: Telegraph Herald (IA), Sunday, November 30, 2008

For city governments across the nation, the holiday season is a time when the not-so-merry task of finalizing budgets for the upcoming year are hammered out, spliced together and prepared for public display.

..... One way municipalities seek cost-effectiveness and efficiency is by outscourcing services. Privatization ranges from the limited to all-encompassing, like Sandy Springs, Ga.,which outsources the entire operations of the city to a private company. Two of Dubuque's most prominent examples are Five Flags Center and Grand River Center. Both high-profile enterprises are managed for the city by private companies, but there are dozens of other lesser-known contracts -- from collecting delinquent utility bills to concessions at Flora and Sutton pools to library book repair.

Related article from the Associated Press: Other cities have mixed results in privatization

Source: BY ZACHARY GORCHOW, Detroit FREE Press (MI), October 9, 2008

The City of Detroit's budget deficit is at least $100 million -- considerably worse than forecast -- and Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. said Wednesday that he might propose a plan of action within a few days to tackle the red ink. But Chief Financial Officer Joe Harris said Wednesday the deficit could be as high as $150 million.

....... An official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- the city's largest employee union -- said he was not surprised that the deficit is worse than forecast. Leamon Wilson, chairman of the 18 AFSCME local presidents with city employees, said the city could save millions by cutting back on outsourcing work to vendors. "We knew it was going to be big," he said. "We knew that they had mismanaged the hell out of the money."

Source: CUPE, September 19, 2008 10:56 AM

'The Rise of the Public Service Industry,' a report released by UNISON (CUPE's sister union in the UK) has important lessons for Canada. It documents the consequences for government and taxpayers of relying on private companies to finance and provide public services."The union is calling on Government to ditch its fair-weather friends in big business and call a halt to damaging privatisation, " said UNISON president Dave Prentis.