State Workers Reclaim Services in Ohio

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA)/AFSCME Local 11 has demonstrated convincingly that private prisons do not save taxpayers money — and has reclaimed state services from a privateer.

In September, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) awarded the union a new, two-year contract for food services at the Noble Correctional Institute in Caldwell. Until this agreement, Aramark Corporation, one of the nation’s largest providers of institutional food services, had run the operation for the prison’s 2,500 inmates. Continental Food Services and Canteen Food Services also submitted bids.

Aramark was awarded the contract in October 1998 as a pilot project to test the efficiency of privatizing food services. Inmates had been complaining about the quality and portions of the food. Fearing a riot, state officials reworked the contract in February 1999, authorizing Aramark to charge higher rates for more and better-tasting food.

But OCSEA developed a plan that will save 20 percent per meal, based on the actual number of meals served. That differed critically from Aramark’s scheme, which was calculated on possible meals served. The union unveiled the fact that inmates consume meals only 65 percent of the time. But Aramark was billing the DRC at a rate of 90 to 100 percent. The union takeover of the contract is expected to shave $1 million off the state budget.