WHEREAS:

Increasing awareness of the false promises of privatization, combined with a healthy economy, were taking their toll on the privatization movement by the end of the nineties. However, current fiscal difficulties are leading to renewed pressure to contract out public services; and

WHEREAS:

Many federal, state, local government, and not-for-profit corporation executives and managers, when confronted with the complex problem of delivering quality services at the most appropriate market established price, have been unwilling to do the tough work of engaging workers in the dialogue of redesigning work, modernizing their operations, and guaranteeing the citizen/customer quality products and services, and have chosen to out source, contract out, or privatize those products and services; and

WHEREAS:

Workers and leaders in AFSCME, its councils, and local unions have been able to show their manager partners and their public constituencies that contracting out public services is extremely risky in that the promised cost savings often fail to materialize, the quality of services can deteriorate, public accountability is compromised, the likelihood of corruption increases, and the government's flexibility to respond quickly to changing needs is reduced when services are switched to a subcontractor; and

WHEREAS:

Privatization is once again being touted as a way of saving money, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary. Examples abound. The attempted privatization of Connecticut's information technology services was a spectacular failure, as was the attempt to privatize Ohio's family and income support services. The privatization of highway maintenance in Oklahoma was in turmoil almost before it began and private vehicle inspection in New Jersey has been a disaster. A private wastewater treatment agreement in Bridgeport, Connecticut was terminated early; and

WHEREAS:

Privatization has not been proven a more effective means of delivering public services. Serious problems associated with contracting out include higher costs, deterioration of service quality, loss of government accountability and flexibility, negative impacts on the economy and economic dislocation of displaced workers; and

WHEREAS:

Privatization impoverishes communities. The local economy and tax base suffer as relatively good paying jobs with benefits are replaced with low-wage, no-benefit jobs provided by companies that may be located in another part of the country, or even overseas. Women and minorities are particularly vulnerable to this displacement of good jobs; and

WHEREAS:

The Bush Administration is setting arbitrary quotas on the number of jobs to be privatized by federal agencies. President George W. Bush ordered federal agencies to "compete or convert" a total of 425,000 federal jobs by the end of 2004. A quarter of all federal employees will be in danger of losing their jobs. Experts agree that "privatization-by-numbers" is a terrible idea. In addition, the Commercial Activities Panel, a pro-contractor panel studying the federal competitive bidding process, has recommended changes in the process that will heavily favor contractors; and

WHEREAS:

Multinational agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) are slowly taking the decision whether or not to privatize out of the hands of state and local government officials and giving wide-ranging powers to private corporations. The Metalclad Corporation is using provisions of NAFTA in a case against Mexico concerning the operations of a hazardous waste facility. A decision in favor of the corporation, currently being appealed, will have far-reaching implications for the provision of public services by private corporations, particularly foreign corporations. Similar provisions are currently being negotiated in the GATS; and

WHEREAS:

Alternatives to privatization, such as worker-initiated work process improvements, protections from layoffs and labor-management cooperation have demonstrated they can improve service quality while lowering costs, without causing the economic and social disruption of privatization; and

WHEREAS:

AFSCME and AFSCME affiliates have taken the lead in fighting privatization by mobilizing members, building coalitions and getting our message out in the media. Following the mandate of the 33rd International Convention, AFSCME established a headquarters action team to address privatization and headquarters-affiliate collaborations achieved numerous victories against privatization.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will continue to lead the fight against the contracting out of public services. We will promote high quality, accountable public services and we will fight to help low-wage, no-benefit contract workers improve their position; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME continue to aggressively oppose contracting out by educating the membership, elected officials and the general public about the problems related to contracting out; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME continue to develop an aggressive communication strategy that underscores the value of public service and exposes the practices of private contractors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will oppose attempts by the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress to privatize federal, state and local government services merely to achieve quotas without regard to quality or costs. AFSCME will also oppose questionable changes in the federal competitive bidding process that favor contractors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will monitor international developments which threaten to give private corporations too much power in privatization decisions and will fight this global expansion of privatization; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME locals and councils will seek the best possible safeguards and protections against contracting out in contract negotiations and legislation. Where services are contracted out, AFSCME will work to ensure that contractors are held accountable by advocating that the cost of contracted services is fully and accurately calculated and disclosed, including the cost of public oversight of the contractor; that contractors are subject to the same public disclosure, reporting and oversight as public agencies; that any violations of laws and regulations by the contractor are disclosed; and that the costs and performance of the contractor are compared with the previous public employee cost and performance and disclosed to the public; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME, its councils and local unions make every effort to work in coalition with other concerned groups to educate and mobilize our members and communities to oppose all efforts to sub-contract or privatize; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That, where appropriate, AFSCME, its councils and local unions initiate and/or participate in joint labor-management quality initiatives or other similar partnership efforts to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of services by developing and utilizing the decision-making skills, ideas, problem-solving abilities and expertise of workers and by eliminating costly and outdated management barriers to efficient and effective delivery of services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME councils and locals when possible will work to negotiate appropriate successor clauses in their collective bargaining agreements which would require new employers of contracted work to assume the terms of the collective bargaining agreement currently in effect and continue the strong representation of the workforce; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME, its councils, and local unions are prepared to follow the work and organize workers of any subcontractor or created entity and establish social and economic justice in that workplace, except in cases, such as corrections, where representing employees performing security functions is contrary to longstanding AFSCME policy.

SUBMITTED BY:

Patricia Moss, President and Delegate
AFSCME Local 2681, Council 8
John Lyall, First Vice President and Delegate
AFSCME Local 2729, Council 8
Ohio

Ronald C. Alexander, President and Delegate
Vanessa Tolliver, Secretary/Treasurer and Delegate
OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11
Ohio

J. Claude Fort, President and Delegate
Milton Lovett, 1st Vice President and Delegate
AFSCME Local 375, Council 37
New York