The Dept. of Education pays private firms to deliver food to public schools while an entire fleet of city trucks gathers dust. Vendors, who often fail to use refrigerated trucks, charge up to $6.64 per case of food, while DOE’s cost using DC 37 members is $1.80 per case.

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

In the new study, “We Can Do the Work II: Learning for Less,” released by DC 37 in December, the union has identified millions of dollars in waste at the Office of School Food and Nutrition Services, a division of the Dept. of Education.

“The OSFNS has a long history of contracting out services to private vendors, to the detriment of taxpayers, city workers and school children,” said Local 372 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa, who with DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts presented the union report to the city Dec. 10.

“Instead of planning to lay off union members, they should cut out the excessive spending on outside contractors,” she said.

For almost 20 years the OSFNS has overpaid private contractors like H. Schrier & Co., Chefs Choice and Louis Foods to deliver frozen foods and dry goods to schools.

According to the “Learning for Less” report, the private vendors now charge up to an average of $6.64 per case (Schrier), while the in-house cost for Local 372 Loaders and Handlers and other DC 37 members to do the work is only $1.80 per case.

Eliminating these private contractors could save the city as much as $15.6 million annually.

Contracting out has proven to be not only expensive, but dangerous to the students as well. While 15 Dept. of Education trucks sit in the OSFNS parking lot, private vendors often deliver frozen foods in non-refrigerated trucks — in direct violation of the recommendations of the United States Dept. of Agriculture.

“About a quarter of their trucks are not refrigerated, but all of our trucks are,” said Jesse Teller, a Local 372 shop steward. “The private vendors are also delivering all of the dry goods, which is a violation of our contract.”

Getting rid of the private vendors would also do away with another threat to the city: criminal price gauging and bribery. In an operation spearheaded by Joe Klien, now schools chancellor, the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Dept. of Justice has indicted and convicted 12 of the delivery companies and 21 of their officials. The Dept. of Education lost $121 million in fraud to these companies.

“We’ve got the people and we have the trucks to do the job,” said Mr. Teller, who is part of a work force of 28 Loaders and Handlers who work at the OSFNS warehouse in Long Island City. “This operation was created to save the city money, but they’re spending a lot more by contracting out.”