SHADOW GOVERNMENT AND THE CONTRACTING OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES

WHEREAS, federal, state and local government entities throughout the country have demonstrated a growing willingness to privatize and contract out all types of government services to private for-profit contractors and to quasi-public agencies; and

WHEREAS, our government officials at all levels are choosing or being forced to contract out even the most vital and sensitive public services; and

WHEREAS, the workforce employed by government contractors has grown dramatically in recent years and now comprises a workforce that is sometimes two or three times the size of the publicly employed workforce; and

WHEREAS, the employees of private contractors and quasi-public agencies often are not included in the official counts of government employees; and

WHEREAS, the hiring and compensation of government employees is tightly controlled and scrutinized; and

WHEREAS, the decisions to contract out and the negotiations over the costs of the services provided by private contractors are often loosely controlled and not subject to public scrutiny; and

WHEREAS, the elected or appointed officials who are charged with the responsibility to monitor and evaluate the use of private contractors often aren't doing their jobs, resulting in services that are more expensive and of lesser quality being delivered to the public:

RESOLVED, that the AFT and its affiliates continue to work to bring honesty, logic and accountability to the hiring and compensation of government's workforce, including the support of legislation holding private vendors to the same reporting of full-time equivalents requirements as the governmental entities they have contracted with; and

RESOLVED, that contractors and quasi-public agencies must be held to the same standards of accountability and transparency when spending taxpayers' money as any governmental agency.  The records of contractors and quasi-public agencies must be open and available to the public, and the work of these "shadow government" agencies must be closely monitored to make sure that money is spent appropriately and that services are delivered effectively; and

RESOLVED, that any contractor or quasi-public agency being considered for the delivery of government services must demonstrate a solid record of achievement and experience without violations of state or federal law or labor and employment law in the conduct of their business.