Public Service: Not a Job, a Calling

From William Lucy, Secretary-Treasurer

When terrorists attacked our country on Sept. 11, hundreds of firefighters and police officers lost their lives. EMTs, paramedics and other workers were also killed. All of them rushed to the scene hoping to save lives.

Public service workers served on the frontlines of the tragedy — as 911 emergency operators, aviation employees, emergency-preparedness workers and heavy equipment operators called to clean up the colossal mess. But whether they were sifting through the rubble looking for victims or performing another vital task, public service workers in New York, Pennsylvania and the Washington, D.C., area helped to mend America while teaching a vivid lesson on the valuable role they play. They do so not just on tragic days, but every day.

Since the disaster, the nation’s appreciation of public service workers has soared. Across the country, more and more Americans are donning caps and shirts with the logos "FDNY" and "NYPD," finally discarding the wrongheaded stereotypes of donut-eating, coffee-swilling cops and fire"men" whiling away the day at the station house. Reliable public servants are getting the respect and credit they deserve.

Needed: Dedication

All of that begs some obvious questions. What if the firefighters, police officers, EMTs and other uniformed employees who rushed to the disaster sites on Sept. 11 were not dedicated, loyal Americans who held their jobs because they loved the work and cherished the idea of contributing to America? What if they were all employees of private companies?

Would they have been as likely to rush up the stairs through a sea of people, fire, smoke and debris? If these workers had held the privateers’ calling card of low pay and poor benefits, instead of pride and dedication, would they have been as willing to risk their lives to save others? I sincerely doubt it. Just look at the example set by Argenbright Security, one of the aviation industry’s biggest privateers.

Before Sept. 11, the company was fined $1.5 million and put on three-year probation for putting untrained employees to work in Philadelphia’s airport. On Sept. 11, the company screened passengers — including the eventual murderous hijackers — traveling on two of the four downed airplanes. After Sept. 11, the company allowed a passenger through O’Hare International Airport Security with a bag of weapons.

With airlines contracting out their security needs — to the lowest bidder — it’s certainly no mystery how these breaches occurred.

Sorry numbers

Fortunately, the airline-security picture brightened last month when Congress voted to make screeners federal employees. Still, the low pay, high turnover and poor service that characterize privateers will continue to leave their mark in other industries whose performance has a heavy public impact.

In private prisons, inmate-on-staff assaults are 50 percent higher than in state-run facilities, while inmate-on-inmate assaults are two-thirds more common. I must admit that if I worked for a private prison, the likelihood of my rushing to break up fighting inmates would be pretty slim.

Corners and quality

Unfortunately, the events of Sept. 11 have given privatization greater appeal: As the nation’s economy and state budgets continue to reel from the disaster’s economic effects, government officials are bound to try and cut corners by turning to privateers.

Quality is the first element that privateers cut when they take over our services. From education and social services to corrections, and scores of other occupations, private employees simply don’t have the training, the dedication and the commitment of their public counterparts.

America learned many lessons on Sept. 11. As men and women don their "FDNY" and "NYPD" paraphernalia, I hope they will remember that the commitment that sent firefighters and police officers and EMTs toward disaster on Sept. 11 is the same commitment that clears our highways of snow, protects our children and keeps our communities — and our nation — safe, strong and healthy.

May the hundreds of lost and missing firefighters and police officers, EMTs and paramedics, serve as a constant reminder to America of the important difference between doing a job and answering a calling.