AFSCME Privatization Update

Source: BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY, Detroit FREE PRESS (MI), May 9, 2008

The food program provided to Detroit Public Schools students could soon be served, as well as managed, by school employees.

The Detroit Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday night to allow the contract with Philadelphia-based Aramark Educational Services, LLC to expire on June 30. Aramark has managed the $44-million food-services operation since 2001.

....... The vote came after at least a year of lobbying and protests staged by union employees who argued that DPS employees could do a better and cheaper job of running the food services.

..... Aramark President Dennis Maple wrote in a May 6 letter to Calloway that DPS should stick with his company. He also offered to work under contract to help transition to in-house management by employees.

Posted by Info Center at 11:13 AM in Food Services | Publicization | Schools K-12 | Victories | Permalink
Tags: Michigan

Source: Cathy-Soleil Cyr-Racine and Patrice Jalette, Journal of Collective Negotiations (subscription req.), Vol. 31, no. 4, 2007

Anecdotal evidence shows that unions contribute to reverse privatization, but their role in the process is far from clear. The reverse privatization process, and unions' involvement and capacity to influence it, was extensively studied in four reverse privatization experiences in two Canadian municipalities.

The experiences analyzed show that unions acted pragmatically, quite a different image from that depicted in the literature as a one-track-minded opponent of privatization. In all the experiences studied, internal knowledge regarding data collection and computing cost figures was a key union input in the reverse privatization process.

These case studies show that public unions can definitely bring value added to the decision-making process regarding public service delivery by reducing local governments' expenses and preventing the waste of taxpayers' money.

Posted by Info Center at 3:39 PM in Publicization | Permalink

Source: AFSCME Local 3694, Josephine County, OR, Feb 22, 2008

This is an update on ERB Unfair Labor Practice ruling. To review, the Employment Relations Board (ERB) ruled in October that the Josephine County Board of Commissioners (Ellis, Riddle, and Raffenburg) illegally privatized Mental Health in 2006 and committed an Unfair Labor Practice in the process. This ruling only spoke to why the BCC chose to privatize the programs, not if there were other valid reasons for privatizing. ERB ruled the violations of the law were "egregious" and "flagrant."

The ERB Order included a half dozen main components, including back due compensation to employees as well as returning the programs to the County.

Oregon Employment Relations Board Case UP-26-06

Posted by Info Center at 10:51 AM in Mental Health | Publicization | Victories | Permalink
Tags: Oregon

Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee Democrat (FL), February 25, 2008

The whole idea behind privatization is that it's supposed to be cheaper and better than having state employees do something.

Not one or the other, but both. Sometimes, however, it doesn't quite work out that way.

And when that happens, the test of a good administrator is to admit it and try something else. Politically, that's not always easy.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, wants to take over some staffing at three nursing homes that were opened with private nursing-assistant and kitchen employees during the administration of Gov. Jeb Bush. This is the latest example of something that looked good at the time, but apparently didn't work out precisely as planned.

Bush always advocated the "cheaper and better" idea, but his private-sector background and barely concealed disdain for most things governmental tilted any evaluation toward the outcome he wanted.

Posted by Info Center at 11:19 AM in Health | Publicization | Permalink
Tags: Florida

Source: By Donna Beutler, Whitewood Herald, December 3rd, 2007

It was bad news for private school bus owners who will no longer be in the business of providing bus service for students in the Prairie Valley School Division (PVSD) following the board's decision to have its own fleet of buses in operation by August of 2008. The motion was supported by six board members and opposed by four.

Private bus owners were shocked to hear the news that the decision had been made at special meeting of the board on November 23rd and according to local bus owners like Les Beutler and Kevin White last Thursday when The Herald spoke to them, they had not yet been notified of the decision by the Prairie Valley office.

Posted by Info Center at 11:27 AM in Publicization | Schools K-12 | Transportation | Permalink
Tags: Canada

Source: By GREGORY N. HEIRES, Public Employee Press (NY), November 2007

About 40 Local 375 members who were laid off in the budget crisis of 2003 have returned to the School Construction Authority, capping a long campaign by the union to win back their jobs.

..... The authority's failure to meet its legal obligation to assign 40 percent of its design, drafting and inspection to in-house staff was at the core of the lawsuit. For years, the local had contended that SCA was not meeting that requirement; the suit showed the union was right.

Posted by Info Center at 3:06 PM in Publicization | Victories | Permalink
Tags: New York

Source: By David Siders, The Record/Public Services International (CA), November 30, 2007

STOCKTON - A city panel Thursday endorsed a plan for the transfer of Stockton's water and sewer utilities from private to municipal control, promising in the transition's oversight to involve activists who sued the city to undo its privatization deal.

If approved next month by the City Council, the plan would establish an oversight group including labor groups, activists and the council's water panel, the body that recommended the plan Thursday.

Posted by Info Center at 11:55 AM in Publicization | Water & Sewer | Permalink

Source: By ELISE CASTELLI, Federal Times, October 09, 2007

Congress is pressing the Defense Department to transfer possibly billions of dollars worth of contracted work in house.

The Senate last week passed a Defense authorization bill that would direct the Pentagon to transfer its contracted professional services work to its own employees or else renegotiate those contracts to promote better performance and less cost. If Defense can't do that, it must cancel the work, according to the bill.

The bill also would require the department to let employees compete for new and existing work that would typically go directly to contractors.

Posted by Info Center at 1:53 PM in Federal | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By Hank Gross, Daily Freeman (NY), 09/27/2007

NEW WINDSOR - The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey intends to take over the operation of Stewart International Airport on Nov. 1, but before that can be accomplished, a number of steps must be completed.

The state Transportation Department, the airport's owner, is in the process of revising the operating lease, which was written for National Express Corp. about six years ago. The remaining 93 years of that lease is being sold to the Port Authority.

......The Port Authority is paying $78.5 million for the remainder of the airport lease. National Express paid $35 million for it in 2001.

Posted by Info Center at 3:20 PM in Asset Sale/Lease | Publicization | Transportation | Permalink

Source: By Jerel Wohl, Academe Online, September/October 2007

Nearly ten years ago, the University of Pennsylvania announced that it would outsource its facilities and real-estate operations to Trammell Crow Higher Education Services, Inc. The agreement included management of school facilities--155 buildings over 269 acres on the West Philadelphia campus, excluding the four hospitals and other units of the health system, an off-campus arboretum, and the veterinary school's large animal hospital, which is located outside of Philadelphia.

...... The contract, however, was reduced in scope in March 2000, when operations and maintenance components reverted back to the University of Pennsylvania while Trammell Crow continued to manage the capital project and real-estate components. Then, in 2002, the agreement with Trammell Crow was completely terminated and the university took back the responsibility for management of its capital projects, as well as the property management of real-estate holdings. Trammell Crow no longer had a presence on the Penn campus.

Posted by Info Center at 3:07 PM in Higher Education | Maintenance | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, USA Today, August 21, 2007

....... In July, the Stockton City Council voted unanimously to roll back the largest water privatization in the West. After four years, the $600 million showcase deal with a multinational consortium, OMI-Thames Water, has been scrapped in favor of a return to public control.

The decision came after repeated court rulings determined that the deal violated California's environmental law, but the legal issue was only the last straw. Noxious odors drifted regularly from the sewage treatment plant. There were sewage spills, fish kills, increased leakage from underground pipes, staff turnover and increases in water rates after years of rate stability.

........ Now, doubts about corporate water privatization are spreading from small towns such as Lee, Mass., to midsize cities such as Stockton and metropolises such as Atlanta, where water privatization failed miserably in 2003.

Even so, whenever a bridge falls, a levee breaks or a steam pipe bursts, we invariably hear renewed calls to privatize. Let Stockton's experience testify that privatization is not the solution.

Posted by Info Center at 10:35 AM in Publicization | Water & Sewer | Permalink

Source: By Sharon Woods Harris, Pekin Times (IL), Tuesday, August 14, 2007 2:33 PM CDT

City Council member Tom Blanchard says he cannot support any increase in the wastewater fee in the future because the city has saved a lot of money by operating the wastewater plant on its own.

Previously, the wastewater plant was operated by United Water. The city took over operations of the plant in April 2005 while under the administration of former Mayor Lyn Howard, when bids increased significantly.

United Water's bid was $949,568 for one year in 2005. The city estimated it would save $221,355 in the first year if the contract was not renewed and it operated its own wastewater facility.

Posted by Info Center at 10:31 AM in Publicization | Water & Sewer | Permalink

Source: By Stephen Barr, Washington Post, Tuesday, August 14, 2007

A three-year controversy over who should answer telephone calls for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission appears to be at an end.

The EEOC has decided that calls from the nation's workers about job discrimination will be handled by an in-house team, replacing a contractor-operated call center.

Posted by Info Center at 11:10 AM in Federal | Publicization | Permalink

Source: BY GARY FINEOUT, Miami Herald (FL), Thu, Aug. 09, 2007

The agency responsible for helping Florida's disabled residents has come up with a novel way to cut its budget: Hire more state workers and fire the private companies that now do the work.

If the proposal is accepted by the state Legislature, it would represent a startling turnaround from the eight years under former Gov. Jeb Bush, who cut thousands of state jobs and handed the work to private vendors.

Officials with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities say that hiring state employees would in fact, save the state money.

Posted by Info Center at 11:50 AM in Publicization | Social Services | Permalink

By Dakarai I. Aarons, Memphis Appeal (TN), July 24, 2007

Memphis City Schools is looking at bringing part of its busing in-house.

......... When the district's more than $20 million a year busing contract with LaidLaw ends in 2009, the cost is likely to go up by more than 20 percent because of the lack of competition, said Michael Goar, the district's chief operating officer.

....... The district has often come under fire for its longstanding contract with Laidlaw, which has been criticized as overpriced.

Posted by Info Center at 3:11 PM in Publicization | Schools K-12 | Transportation | Permalink

Source: Chris O’Malley, Indiana Business Journal, Sat. July 21 - 2007

The Indianapolis Airport Authority, which has assumed management of the city’s airports from BAA, said it paid the British firm $21 million over nearly a dozen years to bring brand-name stores and restaurants to a terminal where concessionaires long had gouged passengers.

The BAA contract unceremoniously expired on July 15, and authority officials now taking the helm for the first time since 1995 say they’re confident the millions of dollars in tuition schooled them to continue to innovate as they prepare to open a new terminal.

But those now running what was the first airport in the nation to be privately managed will have to be diligent to boost revenue, to resist the kind of government patronage alleged by BAA’s former Indianapolis director—and to stay current with peers, observers say.

........ If anything, Kish sees advantages to returning to municipal management. Besides saving an average of $1.75 million a year by not having to pay BAA management fees, municipal management removes the need for BAA oversight by the airport authority.

Posted by Info Center at 11:17 AM in Publicization | Transportation | Permalink

Source: By David Siders, The Record (CA), July 18, 2007

The City Council abandoned the city's landmark, $600 million water privatization deal late Tuesday, dropping its appeal of a court's ruling that the deal was illegal and promising to retake control of water and sewer facilities by March 1.

The decision, reached 5-0 in a private meeting, cheered the Concerned Citizens Coalition of Stockton, which has sought to dismantle the 20-year deal with water giant OMI-Thames Water since the council approved it in 2003.

......... In a separate agreement with OMI-Thames, the two sides struck a partial settlement in which the company will finish upgrading the city's sewer plant and will pay the city about $2.1 million to settle outstanding issues before leaving Stockton next year, officials said.

Related article from Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE): Stockton California water stays public

Posted by Info Center at 10:54 AM in Laws/Legislation | Publicization | Water & Sewer | Permalink

Source: Susan Ruttan, The Edmonton Journal (Canada), July 13, 2007

EDMONTON - The city should end its scandal-plagued photo-radar contract with a U.S. company and run the photo enforcement program itself, a new report says. Running the program in-house will reduce operating costs from $2.8 million a year to $555,000 a year, it says.

.......The contract with Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services can be terminated with two months' notice, he said.

ACS was charged in 2006 with offering secret commissions to two Edmonton police officers to get a long-term contract worth up to $90 million over 20 years. The company will make its next court appearance Sept. 10.

Posted by Info Center at 10:19 AM in Horror Stories | Information Technology | Publicization | Permalink

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.

Posted by Info Center at 10:50 AM in Health | Public Safety | Publicization | Permalink

Source: Sherry Anne Rubiano, The Arizona Republic, May. 25, 2007 08:28 AM

........ The Dysart Unified School District will begin running its own buses June 11, the first day for summer school activities, and will begin its full-scale operations when school starts in the fall. That means district-employed bus drivers and district-owned buses will be in charge of student transportation, rather than an outside provider.

Durham School Services had operated the school's transportation system for years. But problems with buses not running on schedule and incorrect pick-up and drop-off points prompted the change.

Posted by Info Center at 1:36 PM in Publicization | School Bus | Schools K-12 | Transportation | Permalink

Source: By EDWARD SIEGER, The Express-Times (PA), Tuesday, February 06, 207

EASTON | Weeks after relinquishing control of its water operations, Easton is planning to bring management of its sewer plant back under city control. Public Services Director David Hopkins asked city council to consider hiring four new employees and ending a contract with Miller Environmental. Despite adding new employees, Hopkins said the proposal should save Easton at least $90,000 a year.

…… Miller Environmental will remove a no-competition clause from the transition contract allowing Miller employees to apply for the new positions, Hopkins said. A secretary will be the only new union position and can be bid for by members of AFSCME Local 447.

Posted by Info Center at 10:54 AM in Publicization | Water & Sewer | Permalink

Source: Tina Chau, kgmb9.com, December 29,2006 08:59 PM

Kahuku Hospital's Board signed a memorandum of understanding with the State today that could make the hospital a part of the State's hospital system by July.

Plagued with piles of debt, an under-utilized facility and rising healthcare costs, Kahuku Hospital officials announced in November the hospital was to close by New Year's Eve. Support came from the public and then the State, providing hope for the hospital. And today, the administrator says, the hospital got the $500,000 as promised by the State and will be able to stay open until at least February. This also buys the hospital officials more time to figure out what to do next.

Posted by Info Center at 10:54 AM in Health | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By Jim Ash, Tallahassee Democrat (FL), November 21, 2006

After making a dramatic decision not to award a $707 million contract for prison health care, the Florida Department of Corrections spent its first day Monday managing the job itself. ........ McDonough said the solution they came up with is a ''hybrid'' form of privatization that involves issuing 145 smaller contracts and purchasing orders. The department does not have to hire additional workers to get the job done, McDonough said.

Posted by Info Center at 1:57 PM in Corrections Health | Publicization | Permalink

Source: BY JOHN DORSCHNER, Miami Herald (FL), October 12, 2006

In a major shake-up of South Florida's healthcare industry, two financially troubled, for-profit hospitals in Miami-Dade and South Broward will become government-owned facilities aimed at serving the poor and the ever-growing number of uninsured. Jackson Health System announced that its board approved Wednesday the purchase of Parkway Regional Medical Center in North Miami Beach for $35 million from Tenet Healthcare, a national chain.

Posted by Info Center at 10:05 AM in Health | Publicization | Permalink

Source: BY NIALA BOODHOO, Miami Herald (FL), Thu, Sep. 28, 2006

Florida International University to move contract janitorial jobs in-house. Janitors at Florida International University will be eligible for salary increases of almost 50 percent and access to healthcare under a new plan to bring the janitorial staff positions back in-house, the state university said Wednesday.

The union that organized janitors at University of Miami, the Service Employees International Union, had been campaigning for similar representation on behalf of the 133 workers at FIU who were contract workers for the university.

Posted by Info Center at 3:20 PM in Custodial | Publicization | Permalink

Source: Guillermo X. Garcia, San Antonio Express-News (TX), 05/10/2006 12:00 AM CDT

Effective immediately, state workers again will be responsible for processing applications for assistance programs such as food stamps and Medicaid after myriad problems resulted with the private company hired to do the job. Bermuda-based Accenture LLP won an $899 million, five-year contract early last year to take over the state's public assistance eligibility system. The switch comes about as state Health and Human Services officials acknowledge flaws with several components of the system, which is supposed to help applicants compile the information that's used to determine eligibility for public assistance programs.

Posted by Info Center at 10:35 AM in Horror Stories | Publicization | Social Services | Permalink

by: Veronica Lewis, New University Paper (CA), April 26, 2006

In response to increasing pressure from student and worker groups culminating in a planned candlelight vigil in front of Chancellor Michael Drake’s house on Jan. 26, UC Irvine administrators have determined to employ campus food service workers directly, and to offer them the same benefits as other UC employees. Details of the agreement between workers and administrators are yet to be finalized, but it is likely that the change will come at an increased cost to students.

...... It is estimated that about 170 employees will be affected by the move. Depending on their situations, it will cost between $8,000 and $12,000 annually to bring each worker in-house. The total financial impact on the university will be about $1.7 million each year. The Aramark workers who operate the on-campus dining and food facilities will be required to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 labor union once contract terms are finalized.

Posted by Info Center at 11:06 AM in Food Services | Higher Education | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By HENRY L. DAVIS, Buffalo News (NY), 4/1/2006

The University at Buffalo plans to stop outsourcing its custodial work to private companies and return to using unionized employees, school officials said Friday. …. "The problem is the wages," said Michael F. Dupre, associate vice president for university facilities. He said the established minimum prevailing wage for maintenance personnel in the Buffalo area is only $7.03 an hour, which is not high enough to maintain a stable work force. Today, four private firms provide about 135 custodial workers compared to the 70 or so employees still represented by the Civil Services Employees Association Local 602.

Posted by Info Center at 11:44 AM in Custodial | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By JENNIFER LIBERTO, St Petersburg Times (FL), April 1, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Department of Corrections is killing two no-bid contracts with a private company, together valued at $84-million, after months of criticism and a scathing audit. In two letters written Friday, interim prison boss James McDonough wrote that the state is ending two contracts with Tallahassee's TYA Pharmaceuticals, including one to repackage medications for prisoners, worth $72-million, and the other to split tablets, valued at $12-million. ..... The state plans to take over the pill splitting at the end of 30 days, conducting the work in-house at a savings, McDonough wrote.

Posted by Info Center at 11:39 AM in Corrections Health | Horror Stories | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By KAREN KELLER, HERALD NEWS (NJ), Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Passaic County Jail inmate prayers -- and stomach rumblings -- have been heard. Sheriff Jerry Speziale is firing the jail's meal provider, Aramark, and inmates will take charge of the kitchen come May, Speziale spokesman Bill Maer said. "We can do it as well as them at this point," he said. The company's $1.7 million annual contract is being terminated based on poor "quality, service, attentiveness," Maer said. Jail officials haven't estimated how much they will save by cooking in-house, but the financial aspect is secondary, Maer said. Inmates said the food is cold, measly in portion size, not varied enough and served on dirty trays, forcing some to pay as much as $200 a month on prepackaged food from the jail's commissary.

Posted by Info Center at 10:12 AM in Corrections | Food Services | Horror Stories | Publicization | Permalink

Source: Rob Moritz, Arkansas News Bureau, Jan 13, 2006

LITTLE ROCK - A legislative committee Thursday questioned the state Department of Correction's use of $8 million in salary savings from open positions for other needs within the prison system. Prison officials went before lawmakers seeking permission to take the money from the agency's regular salaries account. Prison Director Larry Norris said about $5.5 million of the money would be placed in the system's medical assistance account. ..... Two prison units in Newport, the Grimes Unit and McPherson Unit, were managed by the Wackenhut Corrections Corp. of Coral Gables for several years, but management problems forced the state to retake control, the prison director said. "We've tried it and it did not work," Norris said. "In my opinion, they can't do it better for less."

Posted by Info Center at 10:55 AM in Corrections | Publicization | Permalink

Source: ZACHARY GORCHOW, Detroit FREE PRESS (MI), December 13, 2005

Wayne County sheriff's deputies are expected to take over policing Detroit's public housing facilities, replacing a private corporation that has been providing security. Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which still has to be approved by Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and county commissioners, the sheriff's department would be responsible for policing the city's 19 public housing complexes. ..... If approved as expected, the sheriff's department will replace Wackenhut Corp., a private company that now handles security for public housing. Five months ago, HUD took over the Detroit Housing Commission, which runs public housing in the city, after decades of complaints about fiscal mismanagement and dilapidated buildings. Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans said his department could better police housing units because, unlike Wackenhut's personnel, his deputies can make arrests and have the resources to pinpoint crime trends. When Wackenhut responds to a situation, its personnel have to contact Detroit police to make an arrest.

Posted by Info Center at 10:59 AM in Public Safety | Publicization | Permalink

Source: Mary Massingale, Copley News Service (IL), Friday, December 9, 2005

As state government prepares to shift hundreds of contracted positions to union jobs by the end of the month, some contractors are warning a "brain drain" could cripple state programs serving the poor and disabled. ….. As part of an agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state is eliminating 913 "personal-services" contract workers by Dec. 31 and replacing about 600 of them with current and newly hired union employees. Of those 913, 308 are computer contractors and 280 will be replaced. The remaining contract positions are primarily clerical jobs.

Posted by Info Center at 2:42 PM in Information Technology | Publicization | Social Services | Permalink