Public Employee Press


Editorial
Privatization harms the public good

Around the country, the privatization of state and local government services has led to corruption, downsizing, reduced pay, union busting, harm to public safety and the environment, and inefficiency.

"Too often, these companies make business decisions that pad their bottom line, but harm users of the services as well as broader communities," according to "Cutting Corners: How Government Contractors Harm the Public in Pursuit of Profit," a report from In the Public Interest, a public policy group.

The report discusses the privatization of school bus maintenance in St. Louis, Mo., showing how contractors harm public services: "The buses experienced a number of alarming problems due to underinvestment and a lack of maintenance, such as broken heaters, faulty brakes, excessive rust, doors falling off hinges and tires falling off axles."

The report finds that privatization often harms public employees. The contracting out of janitorial services in the Chicago public schools system led to lay offs of 290 janitors. The short-staffing forced teachers to take on the chore of cleaning up filthy classrooms and bathrooms. Overflowing garbage cans attracted cockroaches, mice and bugs.

Privatization harms the broader public as well. U.S. Investigation Services, contracted by the United States Office of Personal Management, botched security clearance checks. In 2007, despite his arrest record, the agency cleared Aaron Alexis, the military contractor who later shot and killed 12 people at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

In cutting corners, contractors damage the environment. A federal court fined Duke Energy for $102 million because its shoddy pipeline maintenance caused 82,000 tons of coal ash to spill into the Dan River in North Carolina.

The report says contract proposals should guarantee that contracting out leads to efficiency rather than service and personnel cuts. Other recommendations include assessing contractors' track records, better monitoring, and flexibility in canceling contracts.

Those steps are good government practices that would help New York and other cities avoid the perils of privatization.