Beat Privatization v2-VL.ppt
Beat Privatization
WITH PEACETIME ORGANIZING
What do we know about privatization?
 “…privatization refers
to the transfer of any
government function to
the private sector including
governmental
functions like revenue
collection and law
enforcement.”

-Wikipedia
The extent of the threat – K-12
 % of U.S. K-12 school districts with some privatization
Job Group
Percent
Job Group
Percent
Transportation
30% / 31%
Custodial
13% / 13%
Food Service
25% / 24%
Health Services
13% / 13%
Security
18% / 17%
Paraeducators
12% / 9%
Technical Svcs.
18% / 17%
Admin./Clerical
9% / 7%
Skilled Trades
16% / 14%
Source: NEA ESP Member Surveys:
2002 and 2007
The extent of the threat - lately
 What’s been happening since the deep recession started a few years ago?
MEA members who lost jobs to
privatization
800
700
600
500
400
300
Members
200
100
0
Source: Michigan Education Association
(to date)
The extent of the threat – Higher Ed
 % of Higher Ed institutions that had some
privatization
Service
Percent
Service
Percent
Food service
57%
Transportation
17%
Skilled trades
29%
Security svcs.
16%
Technical
services
28%
Clerical svcs.
16%
Custodial
services
28%
Health & Stud.
Svcs.
Source: NEA ESP Member Surveys
2007
9%
ESP privatization comes in different packages
 Selected services- ongoing
or one-time
 Management only
 Total contracting out
Some major players
 Transportation: First Student – subsidiary of First Group,
plc (based in Great Britain), $9.52 billion in sales
 Food service: Sodexo, Inc. – subsidiary of Sodexo (based in
France), $19.96 billion in sales
Chartwells – subsidiary of Compass Group, plc (based in
Great Britain), $21.40 billion in sales
 Custodial/maintenance: Aramark (based in US), $12.30
billion in sales
Beyond our ESP jobs – in schools
 Other services -
health, speech,
special education, etc.
 Vouchers, charter
schools
Beyond our ESP jobs - Other govt. services
 Parking (Chicago)
 Toll roads
 Prisons - Corrections Corporation of America
Why do they do it?- Cost
 Privateers always say they’re going to save money.
Why is this often not true?
Why do they do it?- Management issues
 Reduce
management
workload, avoid
dealing with inhouse problems
Why do they do it?- There’s $$ to be made!
 Huge companies are
involved
 Favoritism/nepotism/
corruption
Why do they do it?- To weaken us!
 The privatization movement is driven by anti-
government, anti-union, anti-public employee
ideology
Why is privatization a bad idea?
 Our jobs
 Impact on the quality of
education – we are
essential parts of one
education workforce that
is serving the whole child
 Loss of accountability and
control, dependency on the
contractors
 Corruption
 Cost
When do we start to fight privatization?
 The Privatization Continuum
No hint of privatization
(prevention)
Investigation
(studies, proposals)
Complete privatization
(you’re fired!)
When do we get involved?
 Be proactive – inoculate against the privateers!

Call your UniServ Director right away. Don’t wait
until they say “We’re going to privatize you!”
Peacetime organizing- crafting our message
We have power and we can use it
 We live here
 We work here
 We vote here
Organize!
Using our power – electoral approaches
 One of the best ways to protect ourselves from
privatization is to elect school Board members who
understand privatization’s dangers and who will
support us.
 The same is true for state legislators.
Using our power – bargaining approaches
 Depending on your state’s bargaining laws, it may be
possible to negotiate prohibitions against contracting
out, or protections for employees if jobs are
contracted out.
 It’s a lot easier to bargain good contract language
before there’s a privatization threat.
Using our power – legislative/regulatory
approaches
 WA and IL have laws requiring privateers to provide
comparable benefits - these have been very effective
 Some states give unions the right to bid on contracts
 Some other state and municipal approaches:





Prohibit corporate criminals from contracting
Require substantial savings
Require thorough and accurate cost comparisons
Require specific conditions, such as an economic impact
analysis
Living wage requirements
Organize!
Water Privatization protest,
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Madison, WI, 2-15-11
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