Source: By Ellen Gedalius, The Tampa Tribune (FL), December 20, 2007
TAMPA - Chanting "No justice, no peace!" more than 30 union workers, including several city employees, protested outside city hall this morning.
They said Mayor Pam Iorio shouldn't proceed with plans to lay off 100 employees.
In November, Iorio announced 100 people likely would lose their jobs next year when the city privatizes some services. About 50 security officers and 38 janitors are among those targeted.
Source: By Jane Huh, Post-Tribune (IN), August 29, 2007
Unions from across the region gathered in Merrillville on Tuesday to lend support to the town's paramedics.
About 50 people stood near the intersection of 78th and Broadway in front of the town's government building to protest the Town Council's decision two weeks ago to accept proposals from private emergency medical service providers.
Source: By Jane Huh, Post-Tribune (IN), August 22, 2007
Some Merrillville paramedics say they are bracing to lose their jobs a week after the Town Council began looking into private emergency medical service.
"Everybody's looking," said 39-year-old David Ferris, a paramedic who says he feels betrayed by the council's "sneak attack."
Last week, the Town Council voted to accept proposals from private emergency medical service providers until Sept. 25. Council president Shawn Pettit said town leaders are trying to find ways to cut costs.
Source: By Greg Garland, Baltimore Sun (MD), August 13, 2007
The O'Malley administration is moving to terminate the contract of a private firm charged with providing security at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School after two youths escaped last month -- the third escape from the juvenile detention center this year.
Until last fall, securing and monitoring the gates and perimeter fencing at the facility in Baltimore County had fallen to state employees. But the service was contracted out to a private vendor late last year by the administration of former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
Download the Paper (PDF format) - July 20, 2007
Frequently characterized as either mercenaries in modern guise or the market's response to security gaps, private military companies - commercial firms offering military services ranging from combat and military training and advice to logistical support - play an increasingly important role in armed conflicts, UN peace operations, and providing security in unstable states. Executive Outcomes turned around an orphaned conflict in Sierra Leone in the mid-1990s; Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI) was instrumental in shifting the balance of power in the Balkans, enabling the Croatian military to defeat Serb forces and clear the way for the Dayton negotiations; in Iraq, estimates of the number of private contractors on the ground are in the tens of thousands. As they assume more responsibilities in conflict and post-conflict settings, their growing significance raises fundamental questions about their nature, their role in different regions and contexts, and their regulation. This volume examines these issues with a focus on governance, in particular the interaction between regulation and market forces. It analyzes the current legal framework and the needs and possibilities for regulation in the years ahead. The book as a whole is organized around four sets of questions, which reflect the four parts of the book. First, why and how is regulation of PMCs now a challenging issue? Secondly, how have problems leading to a call for regulation manifested in different regions and contexts? Third, what regulatory norms and institutions currently exist and how effective are they? And, fourth, what role has the market to play in regulation?
Source: NBC6.com, 4:55 pm EDT July 24, 2007
Protesters in downtown Miami on Tuesday demanded that Miami-Dade County commissioners ban the Wackenhut security company from any county contracts.
The protesters from the Service Employees International Union protested outside the county government building as commissioners were meeting inside.
The protest came after an NBC 6 investigation into a preliminary county audit of Wackenhut's contract. The investigation showed millions of dollars paid by county taxpayers to Wackenhut were unaccounted for.
Source: By Jimmy Ryals, The Daily Reflector (NC), Sunday, July 08, 2007
The Pitt County Board of Commissioners will vote Monday on a plan for ambulance service north of the Tar River.
The plan they'll consider would extend county authority over ambulance service in Pactolus, Bethel and other northern Pitt areas to the end of the next fiscal year, June 30, 2008. Last month, the county canceled a $400,000 contract to privatize transportation in those areas.
Continued county management will cost $850,000, according to documents included in the agenda for Monday's county board meeting. Under the plan, employees who left the affected departments as the privatization effort began will be welcome to return, County Manager Scott Elliott said at a meeting with three commissioners Thursday.
Source: By Ryan J. Foley, The Associated Press (WI), June 14, 2007
A sheriff’s constitutional powers to run a jail do not include the right to hire and fire employees who feed inmates, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled today. In a 4-3 decision (.pdf), the court said a public employees’ union can challenge Brown County Sheriff Dennis Kocken’s decision to lay off its workers and privatize food service at the jail.
….. The decision means the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union can file a complaint with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission over the matter.
Source: JOSHUA STOWE, South Bend Tribune (IN), June 19. 2007 6:59AM
An Indiana State Police records outsourcing arrangement will continue to force Hoosiers to pay more for some crash reports, while giving them a more convenient way to get others. The convenience: Under the arrangement, Hoosiers since Jan. 1 have had two ways to buy crash reports from any local police agency in the state. For $12, they can buy a report from a private company by going online to www.BuyCrash.com. Or, for a lesser fee -- for instance, $5 in South Bend -- they can buy a report directly from their local police agency.
........ Although a $12 fee for an Indiana State Police report might not present a large financial burden for a person involved in an accident, he says, it could impair the ability of a citizens' group to gather and present data on multiple accidents that occurred along a particularly dangerous stretch of road.
Source: By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press. Tue, May. 29, 2007
Richard Bergendahl fights the war on terrorism in Los Angeles for $19,000 a year, one of the legions of ill-trained, low-paid private security guards protecting tempting terrorist targets.
........ Bergendahl, 55, says he often thinks: "Well, what am I doing here? These people are paying me minimum wage." The security guard industry found itself involuntarily transformed after September 2001, from an army of "rent-a-cops" to protectors of the homeland. Yet, many security officers are paid little more than restaurant cooks or janitors.
And the industry is governed by a maze of conflicting state rules, according to a nationwide survey by The Associated Press. Wide chasms exist among states in requirements for training and background checks. Tens of thousands of guard applicants were found to have criminal backgrounds.
del.icio.us
Digg it
Yahoo MyWeb
Google
Facebook