PRIVATIZATION/CONTRACTING OUT

WHEREAS, on April 30, 1992, the Bush administration issued an executive order making it easier for states and municipalities to sell off federally financed public services; and

WHEREAS, this continues the sweeping trends of the Reagan administration under which there has been an unprecedented erosion of vital government services; and

WHEREAS, schools, state services and hospitals are being sold to the highest, and not necessarily most qualified, bidders; and

WHEREAS, as a result, taxpayers have had to shoulder the burden of a decreased level of service provided at a higher cost; and

WHEREAS, private corporations are not accountable to the people they serve, but to their stockholders, and this lack of accountability leads to widescale abuse of the system; and

WHEREAS, this selling off of the public sector seeks to discount the contributions of public employees and eats away at the pride these people take in doing their jobs and doing them well; and

WHEREAS, AFT locals have successfully fought off attempts at the privatization and contracting out of our jobs by using sophisticated research and analytical techniques, enlisting community support, investigating potential contractors and employing complex political strategies; and

WHEREAS, the current political climate in this country has dictated that we now have to take these campaigns one step farther by offering solutions to public officials; and

WHEREAS, as public sector employees, we further must position ourselves to be the first step in formulating responses to the fiscal and public image crisis currently facing the public sector; and

WHEREAS, in the face of this attack on public service, AFT locals must also respond by offering counter proposals and alternative remedies that encourage employee participation and innovation:

RESOLVED, that AFT should be at the forefront of the public policy debate and in shaping policy designed to combat privatization and contracting out. To this end, AFT will research and analyze privatization as a public policy concern that affects taxpayers and those in need of service as well as government workers. Analysis will also focus on what has been done by AFT and its affiliates and the lessons that have been learned from those experiences; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT through its Organizing, Legislative, Research and Public Affairs departments assist its locals in defeating contracting-out initiative in public service; continue to collect research and information on private contractors; support anti-privatization and oppose pro-privatization legislation; and continue to develop public relations campaigns designed to bring about greater recognition and appreciation of the work done by public employees; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue to develop materials and strategies to educate the public, community groups, politicians and school board members on the impact privatization will have on them and their constituency groups and to remind these officials that in contracting with the private sector they are abdicating their responsibility to the taxpayers of their communities. To encourage these groups to look beyond the slick sale pitches and ask the questions that contractors try hard to avoid; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue its work in assisting locals in developing proposals that compete with private contractors by recognizing and cultivating the unique talent, commitment and expertise of employees on the front lines of public service; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT further develop its resources and documentation to support and expand on these competitive proposals; and

RESOLVED, that AFT shall aid its public sector affiliates with internal organizing and training of their membership in identifying instances of contracting out and create mechanisms for combating those instances; and

RESOLVED, that as AFT pursues these innovative solutions to attacks on public service that it continue to emphasize the tremendous value of all employees in the public sector and that these employees should be employees of public entities and not of private contractors, whose bottom line is profit and not quality public service; and

RESOLVED, that AFT reiterate its commitment to the highest possible standards in the delivery of public services.