For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 15, 2000
AFSCME Presents Awards to Five Local Unions For Saving Taxpayers' Money And Municipal Jobs
PHILADELPHIA, PA. —Five local unions from St. Paul, Minn., Clinton, Iowa, and New York City today were presented achievement awards for successfully keeping public services public. The awards were presented during the 34th biennial convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest public sector union in the AFL-CIO. In each case, the winning local unions showed that they could beat the quality and cost estimates of a private company doing the same work.
Two years ago, the mayor of St. Paul created the Compete St. Paul Task Force, with an eye toward privatizing city services. AFSCME Council 14's Locals 1842 and 2508 forged a coalition of some 25 unions and other groups, to defeat the Mayor's misguided proposal.
Overriding a mayoral veto, the city council passed legislation last year that protects public services and public jobs in St. Paul. Now, when privatization is considered, unionized city workers will have the opportunity to show that the city benefits when public work is kept in house.
New York City's Health and Hospital Corporation tried over several years to privatize Brooklyn Central Laundry, where 200 members of AFSCME DC 37's Local 420 work. Because the jobs are vital to the community, a year-long fight commenced and the union won the battle to upgrade the laundry, keep most of the workers at BCL, and provide other jobs for the remaining workers. In another struggle in New York, AFSCME DC 37's Local 1455 members proved that they installed street signs with greater efficiency than private contractors. As a result, the city brought the work back into city government, eliminating the private contractors. Today, department workers earn annual bonuses based on the value of their work to city taxpayers.
In Clinton, Iowa, the city prepared to eliminate trash collection fees, with the intention of privatizing the service. But AFSCME Council 14's Local 888, showed city residents that their monthly trash fee was the lowest among 17 cities in Iowa. Eliminating the fee, the local warned, would require that collection funds come from other budget items, such as police, fire, and parks and recreation services. City residents voted to keep the fee and retain the city service.
